Well, I entered my first ever photo cont est

“I've never entered a "real" photo contest before, with prizes and all that stuff. It's not why I take photos. But I saw the Sacramento Bee was having their annual "Travel" photo contest with a first place prize of $300 and I thought, hmmmmm..., that's a lot of venti lattes, why not give it a shot? Well, short story long, I just got an e-mail from the nice folks at the Sacramento Bee and they said I won first place! Whoa! I'd tell you all "I'll still be me" and all that, but I'd be lying. I'm gonna change. I'll deny I know ALL of you in public. I'm all that and then some. I'm gonna see what it's like on the other side. Now that I'm rich, recognized, AND really really really ridiculously good looking, I'm a triple threat guy. Watch out folks, here comes Buck Forester. None of you are gettin' a free ride on my coat tails, no sir reee. And I only jest, I'm actually very humbled. But I am excited. Prints will be available for $1.2 meeeellion dollars, no Canadian coins accepted. Here's the super saturated Velvia 50 3-stop hard GND image they selected, which is the inlet creek to Lake Ediza at the base of the Minarets in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. I'd tell you where it is and what I used to shoot it with but it's my little secret. Wait, I already did. Shoot. :



I'm guessing Bush is now gonna nominate me for Supreme Court Justice.
last edited: 10/28/05 7:12:04 PM”

“Blue ribbon, first prize, you are the winner.”

“GREAT!! Congrats! I have my 1.2 meeeelion dollars ready, it's all in pennies though; is that ok? Let me know so I can start the convoy of 18 wheelers your way.”

“Awesome pic, Glad you won. Do you take monopoly money”

“Hey Buck, great job. Bee you tee full!

And... your views on Roe vs. Wade??

LOL”

“Way cool Buck!!! Congrats!
Great photo...love the extended dynamic range.”

“Congrats Buck! It's well deserved.

I've been enjoying your pics these last couple years.”

“Fantastic! It is a beautiful photo.

Can I say I knew you when? Even though I don't know you yet.

Extended dynamic range? Like a histogram that covers all the space from left to right? And just how do the rest of us get that to happen?”

“nice pic....i guess (heh heh)”

“Congrats Buck!

BTW, Bush called me this morning!”

“Karen....Buck said he used a "3-stop hard GND " that's a 3 stop graduated neutral density filter. It's like dark sunglasses for the brightest part of the sky and the rest is neutral....giving you more dynamic range than is possible without the GND filter. Ever notice in some photos when you can see details in the shadows, the sky is all blown out? or If the sky is exposed properly the shadows/ foreground are pitch black? The GND helps balance the shadow and highlight detail by extending dynamic range.

Simple ...eh? :)”

“Great Pic! Congrats.”

“Buck, I think your name sounds porno! LOL


oh, and good job :)”

“Congratulations Buck!

With all the beautiful pictures I've seen, I'm surprised that this is your first.

You know what they say about your first don't ya?

Well, I don't remember, but it seemed pretty important and all that stuff.

Good job dude.”

“I entered a picture of scissors in that same contest. Damn! Rocks beats scissors.”

“Great pic as always Buck. You thought about pitching your work to the outdoor firms whose kit you're using.
Those Kayak pics at Mono lake in particular. You get the name of the Kayak in the shot and you can bet they'll wanna use it somewhere.
A longlong time ago in my youth when I was actually getting to see some of the world, I ran into a pro-snapper who usually filmed adventure sports, but also had a nice little sideline taking pictures of outdoor gear in various locations. He was basically able to pay the cost of his budget travel and get a bunch of free gear to boot. just an idea, but those Mono Lake (I think that's what it was) pics are my very faves and I'm sure the maker of the yak would be delighted to use it in it's publicity material.... is the brand name in it?”

“That's awesome Buck! I tell all my friends I know you.

Don't spend it til you get it. Remember, after taxes it's about $75.00.”

“excellent picture, just like always..damn you ;)”

“Buck, that photo is in the same league with David Muench's work. If you happened to capture it on 4x5 film, and wanted to blow it up to a 40x60, you could get around $2500 for a limited edition print, assuming it's sharp corner to corner. (kind of hard to tell from a computer monitor). All I can say is I'm in awe dude. Congratulations.”

“THANK YOU, TTers! You're way too kind.

hobbit, I'm hoping to get a Pentax 67II medium format camera.

Y2, I'm gonna try and start doing something on the side with my photography, hopefully making enough to start ordering the Double Whopper Meal Deal instead of the single.

I think I know which kayaking pics you're referring to... I entered one of them in the contest as well and they said it made the top 10. Here it is:



You can't see the Prijon Kodiak label on the deck though.

But you can see the label a little on this one, taken at almost the same time while a storm was clearing on Mono Lake.





I LOVE WILDERNESS ADVENTURE!”

“None of the photos are displaying. I guess you blew out the server (or you have anti-Violin software).

I knew you'd won as soon as I read the title. You take awesome pics.”

“I can no longer see the picture, either.”

“Those are the most beautiful red x's I've ever seen - they bring a tear to my eye....”

“Buck, I've got two Mamiyas laying around that seldom get used anymore. An RB67, and an M645 Pro S. They are both wonderful cameras and I love the format, but if I were going to get serious about making money with my landscape photography, I'd get on ebay and hunt me down a good deal on a used 4x5. They are usually there by the dozen. Photo students around the country buy them for school assignments, then after they finish their classes they unload them.

A couple of advantages of the view camera for the type of work you like to do is first of all the obvious, bigger piece of film = bigerr prints. Secondly, you can use the camera moves to your advantage in order to increase depth of field, rendering a tack sharp image corner-to-corner. And third, most view camera lenses will stop down to an F64, something none of my cameras will do.

I may just order one of your prints now.... if you promise to sign it. That way when become as famous as Ansel Adams, I will have something of value hanging on my wall.”

“Ha, I already copied it. Sold 6 so far on e-bay for $65 each.”

“Photo.net is down. None of my photos will display there either. Hmmmmm..... I guess Webshots isn't the only place that has troubles from time to time.”

“I also get the red x. Please post again. :)
It's gonna be hard to say I knew you when, cause I never really met ya even though through reading your posts I feel that I know ya. Did that make sence? Who cares. Anyway, I always enjoy your pics. One of these days I will run in to you at the REI. Are you still at the Roseville store?”

“I think gallery.photo.net is down...meanwhile, your photos are always great, Buck...I think you'd win almost any contest you entered...
last edited: 10/29/05 8:43:34 AM”

“Congratulations! Still red x's. Looking forward to seeing the pics later.”

“Can you tell me where you found those beautiful red x's, buck? They are so beautiful, I want to go there and take pictures of them myself....”

“Yay for you!!!! I knew you were that good. It's probably great to get the validation from an outside source as well.


Good for you!


Hey, I bet I could produce such a great red x too and win 300 smackeroos.”

“Thanks, Wind Walker. The acronym passed me right by. I should put a GND on my Christmas list, huh? Does the greater range show up in a fuller histogram?”

“Photo contest is good. Congrats.

Truth is, though, you should be selling it hand over fist. Enter your work in a juried show and put a hefty price tag on it. You'll soon be a professional backpacker.”

“There, now I can see the pics.

But seriously, Buck. Would you sell some of your prints? I'd pay you real money even.”

“hey Buck, I at least thought there would be giraffes in a first place entry..so, where are the giraffes!”

“Buck, When do the photos show up in the paper?”

“Awesome pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Song I think he told me...Nov 6th
(Sac. Bee)”

“Thanks again!

songbyrd, the photo will appear in the Travel section of the Sac Bee on Nov. 6, both online and in print. No, I don't work at REI right now, I gave my notice when I got married. I will return though, just not sure when.

Ruby, thank you, I will have a website up fairly soon and yes, I will have some images available for sale. I've been inquiring as to the best places to have drum scans and prints made. I'm gonna go with the same place my hero Galen Rowell used... Color Folio for high end drum scans and Calypso Imaging for Lightjet 5000 prints on Crystal Archive paper. I could go a cheaper route but if I sell an image I want it to be top quality that will last a long time with vibrant colors. But my markup won't be high, I'll still be relatively cheap. I'm always on sale. :^D Unless, of course, lots of people buy them, then I'll ream the public a new one and laugh at people who can't afford me.

Thanks again, folks! We all take images that come out nice, even if it's only luck now and then. I shoot enough that I'm bound to get lucky often.”

“awesome!! i'm not at all surprised you won. whatcha gonna buy me with the prize money?
;-)

the 2nd kayak pic is my fave out of the ones posted here!”

“Right on with the right on! Great job Buck! Don't forget about me when you are rich and famous.
I like the picture of the Minarets. I hiked that area a couple years back and got some awesome pictures Ritter, Banner, etc. I went on an in-and-out trip to Iceberg Lake (just above Ediza). The purpose of my trip was to investigate off-trail Cabin Lake to see if there's goldens in it as advertized. Well, after the a$$busting it took to get there, it was more like Cabin Pond instead of Cabin Lake and had no fish in it what-so-ever :(
”

“Now I can see them.

None of them look like Earthly scenes.

What planet do you hail from again?”

“Mono Lake is otherworldly in and of itself. You can put that lake on any planet in the solar system and it would look at home.

Depending on how your monitor is calibrated, the Minarets pic can either look colorful or gaggingly oversaturated. It looks fine color-wise on my home monitor (CRT), but my less expensive, high-contrast Dell LCD monitor at work makes it look cartoony. The prints will be color managed in a replica of my original Velvia 50 slide, which will still have colors that pop, but not in such an obvious way.”

“nice image, the flip®. I love Banner Peak, Mt. Ritter, and the Minarets!”

“Amazing picture Buck! That's awesome that you took that big step onto the doorsteps of "professional" photography. Your pictures and your attitude on life are very inspiring. Any suggestions on how to convince the MRS. to sell everything and become backpacking nomads so we can see all the places you've been?”