Emerald Bay Photography News and Updates

A week ago, I wrote about the perils and joys of selling your images for book projects.

In volume 2, it's pretty much all about the joys. Because this time, it didn't take very long - and the image wasn't for some far-away Midwest book publisher, but rather for a friend who lives in my own town.

I had had conversations with Stan about his book before. It sounded like an intriguing story, and I was thrilled when he called me last December to tell me he was ready to publish. All's he needed now was a fitting cover image.

So I went over to his and his wife Rika's house, tripod and camera in tow - and as it turned out, Stan had a painting of the city of Portland he himself had painted many years ago that looked perfect in layout and context.

So here's the evolution:



I shot the painting ...



... cropped it, cleaned it up a tad, then sent the file to the graphic designer, who turned it into this:



And so for the second time in only a few weeks, I was able to hold a book in my hands I had contributed imagery to. How cool.

Labels: Bend, Bend Oregon photographer, Bend photographer, book publishing, books, Central Oregon photographer, product photography

Book publishing can sometimes be such a sluggish venture. In this impatient age of instant gratification - fueled by the net, Facebook, Myspace and, yes, blogging - the thought of selling an image for a project that's not going to come into existence until 6 or 8 months later, can be a trying thing.

Luckily, I have plenty of experience in the field, having worked for four years in PR and marketing for a technical book publisher. I know that from the time of idea conception (ie. sitting around with your buddies, brain storming over a glass of beer) to the proud and satisfying moment of actually pulling the finished book off the store shelf, it can be a long and rocky path - littered with endless rewrites, changes of direction, fights over cover design, marketing snafus, wheelin' and dealin' with retail outlets... and so on.

That's why when I sold a few images for a how-to book on concrete to a client last Spring, I literally forgot all about it. Right after I cashed the check, anyway...

A few weeks ago though, while organizing my tax stuff, I suddenly remembered... that's right ... the book was supposed to publish last Fall! And sure enough - a quick check on the website confirmed it - it was out! Whoohoo!



A quick reminder email to my awesome editor, and a comp copy was at my doorstep two days later too.

Truly - there's hardly anything more satisfying than leafing through a book, seeing your images printed in it, and knowing that someone will assign space for it on their bookshelf for years to come.

Labels: architectural photography, architecture, Bend, Bend Oregon photographer, Bend photographer, book publishing, books, Central Oregon photographer, concrete, interior architectural photography