Spread from the book - Flipping Brilliant
It's a great example of creating new opportunities to share your work - in a market filled with expert wildlife photographers tripping down to Antarctica every year it's not easy selling a title about penguins. We cant all get a slot in National Geographic after all, so what do you do with a set of great images that might otherwise never see the light of day? You put a little of yourself into the package.
Not that I would suggest Jonathan Chester's primary motivation was anything less than to sell a tonne of copies and fund a few more travels, but his book is fun and full of feeling. It says as much about himself as it does the penguins. Even better, although the book is a technical publication from a photographic or natural history perspective, the quality of images presented are technically masterful.
Expanding your idea of what constitutes a worthy publication has real implications for all of us, whether we intend to make a professional career of photography or not. My practical philosophies chapter on 'Research' makes a case for publishing your work as an act of self examination. Putting your work out there to be seen and enjoyed will make you a better photographer.
(http://photographyfortravellers.com/article.php?story=1095)
I recently reviewed my own penguin shots to accompany a published article about life on the ice. It had been two years since last I rummaged through them and so I had fresh eyes to view them with. They disappointed me a little, my memory of them was much more impressive. This highlights the value if research, of reviewing your own work and expanding your view on other relevant photographers. I now have some useful inspiration and motivation when chasing flippers in Antarctica next month.
That's flipping brilliant!
