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2013-06-19 04:14:47 (13 comments, 2 reshares, 99 +1s)

WILDLIFE WEDNESDAY
Curated by +Morkel Erasmus and +Mike Spinak         

Yes, it's still Tuesday in California, but I may not have a chance to post tomorrow. Here's an American Kestrel flying toward me. I hope you enjoy.  

Remember that every Wednesday is Wildlife Wednesday. Post your pictures of wildlife. Do a search and look at other people's pictures of wildlife. Any wild creature will do. Big or small. From bugs to birds, snails to snakes. All you have to do is post a wildlife picture, and mark it with #WildlifeWednesday .

I hope to see a lot of your wildlife pictures. Show the wild animals you've encountered!

2013-06-18 18:31:22 (12 comments, 2 reshares, 60 +1s)

Shooting Stars

It's #FloralFriday , and it's been too long since I've posted some flower photos, so here are a couple of shooting stars (Dodecatheon ssp.). I hope you enjoy.

2013-06-17 07:41:51 (4 comments, 3 reshares, 15 +1s)

Introversion is its own reward.

2013-06-17 00:07:55 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 12 +1s)

How to be Weird

Seriously? Am I really explaining how to be weird? Yes, I really am.

Many photographers, writers, and other artists want their work to be unique, but they fall into an unfortunate trap when they try to make it so. There's a right way and a wrong way to weirdness. My article explains how to get it right. 

I hope you find it worthwhile.

2013-06-16 19:16:38 (17 comments, 3 reshares, 84 +1s)

Happy Father's Day!

Thank you, fathers, for everything you do. I hope you have a great day.

2013-06-15 18:23:12 (20 comments, 8 reshares, 106 +1s)

Why Most Photographers Can't Give You Useful Gear Recommendations

People often write to me and ask me for gear recommendations.

"What's the best point and shoot camera, right now?"

"Which DSLR should I get, for under $1000?"

"What camera gear for a vacation?"

Someone just asked me to recommend a travel tripod for less than $150.

I get questions like these a few times per week. People even walk up to me when I'm out shooting, and ask me for gear recommendations before introducing themselves. And the vast majority of the time, I have absolutely no idea. That's for several reasons:

1) I bought what I needed, and then stopped looking.

For example, I bought the main tripod I use in 2002. It still works great, so I don't spend any further time and effort keeping... more »

2013-06-14 23:32:44 (20 comments, 6 reshares, 89 +1s)

"Whoa. Natasha would have lost her mind over this a few years ago. Most kids picture books are neither so detailed in text, nor so well illustrated. They tend to rely on broad information and stock photos and a child can go through a huge number of, say, bat books, without picking up many specifics at all . Spinak shows two young hummingbirds ... and follows them until both have left the nest... Day by day you can see their feathers coming in, their beaks lengthening and straightening, and their mother getting tired of it all. The close up photography is amazing."

"I think both kids and parents would enjoy this enormously, even on multiple readings."

- from one of the 5 star reviews of my book, Growing Up Humming, on Amazon.

For close to a month now, it's been the #1 top rated book in its category on Amazon ( http://amzn.to/1toprated ) out of... more »

2013-06-14 19:10:23 (16 comments, 2 reshares, 34 +1s)

Pay the Artist

Someone just wrote to me, seeking to use one of my pictures in exchange for rock star exposure.

It'll be on an album cover. It'll be be used by the musician as his Facebook cover picture. 

Just think of the exposure! What more could I ask?

I replied as follows:

Thank you, but your offer is not compelling to me. I need the featuring of my work to be accompanied by a cash payment at my standard rate; it cannot be in lieu of payment, nor do I consider any such exposure to be payment in of itself.

Best,

Mike Spinak

See how easy it was to not give away my work away without adequate compensation? If you've been a pushover for everyone who tells you they want your work for commercial use for free (and will "pay" you with exposure), then you might want to try saying, "I charge... more »

2013-06-12 20:06:45 (22 comments, 2 reshares, 115 +1s)

WILDLIFE WEDNESDAY
Curated by +Morkel Erasmus and +Mike Spinak        

Here's a Northern elephant seal emerging from the sea. I hope you enjoy.

Remember that every Wednesday is Wildlife Wednesday. Post your pictures of wildlife. Do a search and look at other people's pictures of wildlife. Any wild creature will do. Big or small. From bugs to birds, snails to snakes. All you have to do is post a wildlife picture, and mark it with #WildlifeWednesday .

I hope to see a lot of your wildlife pictures. Show the wild animals you've encountered!

2013-06-12 02:03:11 (4 comments, 3 reshares, 23 +1s)

I like this quote.

"If your works gains attention because of your extraordinary craft and technique, your fame will be fleeting. Pretty soon, everyone will be able to easily do work that is just as good as your masterpiece of craftsmanship from today. When that happens, your work will have to stand on the merit of its artistic content alone. When “everyone can do it” is when the artist’s role is clearest." - Brooks Jensen

2013-06-10 19:00:34 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

Advice for Starting as an Illustrator?

I want to get serious as an illustrator for some books I'm going to make.

I used to be pretty good at drawing and painting (about equal to my abilities as a photographer and writer). I stopped drawing long ago, to put all of my focus into other areas. Now I want to get back into it, with an explicit purpose of illustrating picture books.  I'm sure I've lost some of my ability, but I'm also sure I can get it back.

I've never done digital illustration. Is Photoshop (which I already have) adequate for this? If so, then I would like any suggestions you can give for how to get started. To be clear, I mean how to get started form the very beginning, assuming zero knowledge.

Or would it be better to do it with pen and ink, watercolors, or acrylics? 

I appreciate any knowledge, information,ref... more »

2013-06-10 17:14:24 (27 comments, 7 reshares, 159 +1s)

Here's an old bristlecone pine tree in the White Mountains. I hope you enjoy it.

2013-06-09 22:56:19 (3 comments, 2 reshares, 9 +1s)

THis film by my new friend +Artur Homan is amazing! Well worth the 35 minutes.

2013-06-08 21:28:35 (13 comments, 0 reshares, 73 +1s)

Here's Ocean Reflection, #2. I hope you enjoy it.

By the way, if you've ever heard or read my long story about what incited me to switch from film to digital photography - this is the slide photo the custom printer was printing for me.

Edited to add: For those who want to hear the story, it starts here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BhCK6LCky_o#t=55m57s
It goes until 1:01:18

2013-06-05 22:10:19 (56 comments, 33 reshares, 155 +1s)

WILDLIFE WEDNESDAY
Curated by +Morkel Erasmus and +Mike Spinak       

Here's a great blue heron parent and chick on the nest. I hope you enjoy.

Remember that every Wednesday is Wildlife Wednesday. Post your pictures of wildlife. Do a search and look at other people's pictures of wildlife. Any wild creature will do. Big or small. From bugs to birds, snails to snakes. All you have to do is post a wildlife picture, and mark it with #WildlifeWednesday .

I hope to see a lot of your wildlife pictures. Show the wild animals you've encountered!

2013-06-04 18:54:48 (12 comments, 0 reshares, 23 +1s)

Thank You

To everyone on G+ who has reviewed my book, Growing Up Humming, thank you for making it the #1 Top Rated Children's Nonfiction Animal book on Amazon.

:-)

2013-06-04 04:50:38 (4 comments, 5 reshares, 16 +1s)

This is a super article with many excellent passages, well worth reading.

2013-06-04 01:29:19 (25 comments, 9 reshares, 118 +1s)

Here's Morning, Tenaya Lake. I hope you enjoy it.

2013-06-02 19:49:15 (24 comments, 23 reshares, 98 +1s)

Here's a great horned owl chick. I hope you enjoy.

This chick was sleeping most of the time. On the few moments the chick was awake, the chick had no interest in looking my way. I had to use flash, and the flash made the chick's eyes look glowing reddish when he chick was looking anywhere but my general direction. Finally, a woman (rather foolishly endangering her dog) walked her dog by me. When her dog was immediately behind me, this chick woke up and looked my direction (at the dog behind me). I got an alert looking shot, and the flashed eyes didn't have that reddish glow.

2013-06-02 06:08:35 (7 comments, 16 reshares, 27 +1s)

This film by Samuel Orr is fantastic and worth watching.

2013-06-02 01:04:19 (9 comments, 0 reshares, 51 +1s)

Here's a phone snapshot portrait I made of +Scott Jarvie, last year. 

Today is his birthday, so let's wish him a happy one.

Happy Birthday, +Scott Jarvie!

2013-06-01 17:42:57 (11 comments, 8 reshares, 71 +1s)

Nature Photography Chat

Right here. Right now. If there's anything you'd like to ask about wildlife photography, landscapes, floral and fungal photography, patterns in nature, or whatever else - ask here, now. Or, if there's anything you'd like to say on the topic, go ahead.

If you want to learn, give, or just enjoy the conversation, just post your comments below.

2013-05-30 21:32:08 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

Here are some of the reviews Growing Up Humming has received on some book blogs. 

http://mikerm.blogspot.com/2012/09/growing-up-humming-by-mike-spinak.html

http://xgobookyourselfx.blogspot.ie/2013/05/review-growing-up-humming-by-mike-spinak.html

http://blithelybookish.blogspot.com/2013/05/growing-up-humming-by-mike-spinak.html?zx=87438d3d3fe50516

2013-05-30 19:43:32 (3 comments, 3 reshares, 7 +1s)

It's amazing to see what's been happening in the world of newspaper photojournalism, and newspaper journalism generally, in recent years.

2013-05-30 05:30:29 (21 comments, 6 reshares, 95 +1s)

WILDLIFE WEDNESDAY
Curated by +Morkel Erasmus and +Mike Spinak      

It's a bit late, but it's still Wednesday. Here's Be Still, My Beating Heart, from my.Sleeping Sea Lions series. I hope you enjoy.

Remember that every Wednesday is Wildlife Wednesday. Post your pictures of wildlife. Do a search and look at other people's pictures of wildlife. Any wild creature will do. Big or small. From bugs to birds, snails to snakes. All you have to do is post a wildlife picture, and mark it with #WildlifeWednesday .

I hope to see a lot of your wildlife pictures. Show the wild animals you've encountered!

2013-05-30 01:38:42 (12 comments, 1 reshares, 11 +1s)

Here's my latest blog post, sharing my take on the question many authors have, "Why Isn't My Book Selling?" I show that this may be the wrong question to ask, and may be based on fundamental misconceptions. I give my idea of what may be a more productive way to reframe the question, and explain how I approach the situation and try to fix it.

I hope some of you find it worthwhile.

2013-05-28 19:26:34 (11 comments, 1 reshares, 68 +1s)

Here's Perchance to Dream, from my Sleeping Sea Lions series. 

Have a great day.

2013-05-25 17:14:41 (8 comments, 2 reshares, 51 +1s)

Today is +Melissa Beagle's birthday, so I'm re-sharing a picture she made from when she visited me and I showed her how to photograph pelicans in flight, last Summer. 

Happy Birthday, +Melissa Beagle!

2013-05-25 05:50:17 (35 comments, 22 reshares, 159 +1s)

Here's a white-tailed kite staring at me. I hope you enjoy it.

Have a great weekend. 

2013-05-24 04:45:42 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

I hope my friends a little further North didn't spill their beverages in the earthquake. ;-)

2013-05-23 03:22:04 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 8 +1s)

Everything you want in a space opera, only darker.

Ready for Prime Time Indie Book Review of:
Forging Zero
By +Sara King 

Joe Dobbs was big for his age and all he ever wanted to be was a soldier, like his dad. But not this way. When aliens annex the Earth and conscript every able-bodied child between the ages of 5 and 12 to serve in their Congressional Army, 14 year old Joe is accidentally swept up in the draft and forced to fight for people and politics he'd never even heard of before the aliens landed. As the oldest of the human "recruits," Joe quickly becomes big brother to an entire generation of frightened children, and must help them pull together to survive the brutal training regimen of a cold and calculating alien government.

Author Sara King paints a complex portrait of one boy's life and forced journey into manhood, set against... more »

2013-05-22 18:40:07 (18 comments, 6 reshares, 118 +1s)

WILDLIFE WEDNESDAY
Curated by +Morkel Erasmus and +Mike Spinak        

Here's a Rocky Mountain elk cow at sunset, in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. I hope you enjoy.

Remember that every Wednesday is Wildlife Wednesday. Post your pictures of wildlife. Do a search and look at other people's pictures of wildlife. Any wild creature will do. Big or small. From bugs to birds, snails to snakes. All you have to do is post a wildlife picture, and mark it with #WildlifeWednesday .

I hope to see a lot of your wildlife pictures. Show the wild animals you've encountered!

2013-05-22 03:10:24 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 9 +1s)

Introducing Snapsation

Amongst the greatest human needs is the need to tell stories, to record memories, and to share our moments with the people who matter the most to us.

When you need an awesome dating profile picture, a business portrait, photos of your family reunion or milestone events. You need an amazing local photographer to help you to capture all of  life’s moments.

As a local business you want to show off how amazing your restaurant is, the decor in your Bed and Breakfast, to show off your beautiful store or great new products, to record your industry happenings and events.

Finding a photographer is intimidating. And harder than it should be.

Photographers need customers. No matter how experienced a photographer is, there never seems to be enough time to focus on getting new customers. And for the many passionate andta... more »

2013-05-21 20:31:31 (11 comments, 1 reshares, 23 +1s)

Thank You

To everyone on G+ who has reviewed my book, Growing Up Humming, thank you for making it the #1 Top Rated Children's Nonfiction Animal book on Amazon.

:-)

2013-05-21 18:40:01 (16 comments, 5 reshares, 23 +1s)

"...today, with cameras as pervasive as they are, there is no such thing really as professional photographers...." +Marissa Mayer, C.E.O. Yahoo!, May 20, 2013
http://screen.yahoo.com/yahoo-event-155000760.html

"Today, with web services as pervasive as they are, there is no such thing really as a reason to ever spend any money on Yahoo!'s services." +Mike Spinak, C.E.O., Naturography, May 21, 2013

2013-05-21 03:48:24 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

Austrian economics and online RPGs in one post? That's my kind of article!  :-)
This author makes the exact same analysis and critique I made to my brother and my dear friend Ms. J. about Dialo 3 months ago.

2013-05-17 20:06:30 (19 comments, 2 reshares, 54 +1s)

As a follow up to the photo I showed a couple hours ago of +Barry Blanchard photographing a seascape, here's another little glimpse of what seashore photography is like. Here's a phone snapshot showing Barry's feet buried in sand (wearing shoes!), and showing his legs and his tripod's legs wrapped in seaweed. 

2013-05-17 18:09:14 (21 comments, 17 reshares, 69 +1s)

I'm rummaging through my phone snaps, and I thought some of you might enjoy this behind-the-scene view of what it looks like when +Barry Blanchard makes a seascape photo.

+Paul Porter, +Francesco Gola,  +Luca Gerardi, +Patrick Smith, and +Jim Patterson also joined us out in the waves for some seascape fun, that evening. I hope we can all get together and shoot again, soon.

A lot of people make half-hearted efforts for their photos, because they don't want to get wet / dirty / tired / whatever. And it shows in their pictures. Here, Barry demonstrates admirable doggedness to get the best shot he can, regardless what's involved. 

(One of the top five or so things I look for, in someone worth shooting with regularly, is is a willingness to do what it takes to get the shot.) 

2013-05-17 05:30:39 (30 comments, 0 reshares, 24 +1s)

Not to be all complaining about the Google+ redesign, but: I like to be lazy efficient. I want to accomplish tasks with a minimum number of steps and work. It seems like many aspects of the Google+ redesign increase the number of steps necessary to accomplish the same goals as before. Here are a few examples:

1) The stream of posts used to update automatically. Now, the ."stream" (put in quotes because it's no longer streaming, thus not a stream) requires clicking to update it.

2) It used to be that with a medium -length comment discussion on a post, you could see all the comments after you clicked to show the comments. Now you have to scroll through to get to the bottom of them after you click, even if it's just a handful of comments which wouldn't go off the edge of the page.

3) It used to be that you could hover your cursor over... more »

2013-05-16 05:24:50 (28 comments, 4 reshares, 146 +1s)

Here's Passiflora Tendril and Leaf Tip. I'm just posting this to see how my vertical photos look with the new changes to G+.

I hope you enjoy it.

2013-05-15 22:57:00 (19 comments, 0 reshares, 15 +1s)

So, with this new update, why are some picture posts shown really big and others shown fairly small? How do I set whether a picture should be a big post or a little post?

2013-05-15 20:45:42 (16 comments, 9 reshares, 87 +1s)

WILDLIFE WEDNESDAY
Curated by +Morkel Erasmus and +Mike Spinak       

Here's a black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) nest with a parent, a chick, and an egg. I photographed this at Point Lobos, a few years ago. Since Morkel posted a Black-crowned night heron, I thought I'd post BCNHs, too. I hope you enjoy.

Remember that every Wednesday is Wildlife Wednesday. Post your pictures of wildlife. Do a search and look at other people's pictures of wildlife. Any wild creature will do. Big or small. From bugs to birds, snails to snakes. All you have to do is post a wildlife picture, and mark it with #WildlifeWednesday .

I hope to see a lot of your wildlife pictures. Show the wild animals you've encountered!

2013-05-14 19:59:21 (7 comments, 2 reshares, 39 +1s)

It's National Children's Book Week. For those of you who don't know, I published a children's book (or perhaps I should say a children suitable book, because it's suitable for adults, too) called Growing Up Humming. Here's an excerpt from one of the five star reviews of my book, on Amazon:

"...the photos are absolutely gorgeous. The story itself is wondrous - Mike simply wrought words from inspiration that the hummingbirds gave him. Prose felt natural and the birds nearly fluttered off the screen... very informative, chock full of neat facts that I enjoyed learning and will enjoy passing on to my curious children... a resounding thumbs up."

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1480165220/


#NationalChildrensBookWeek #ChildrensBookWeek #ChildrensBook 

2013-05-12 22:50:48 (14 comments, 1 reshares, 54 +1s)

Happy Mother's Day!

In case you missed my earlier post: I hope you have a splendid day. Thanks for doing what you do.

2013-05-12 18:57:38 (13 comments, 1 reshares, 42 +1s)

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope all of you wonderful mothers have a great day. Thank you for doing what you do.

2013-05-08 22:20:25 (22 comments, 3 reshares, 80 +1s)

WILDLIFE WEDNESDAY
Curated by +Morkel Erasmus and +Mike Spinak      

Here's a crab spider and a hoverfly locked in a deadly embrace.

Remember that every Wednesday is Wildlife Wednesday. Post your pictures of wildlife. Do a search and look at other people's pictures of wildlife. Any wild creature will do. Big or small. From bugs to birds, snails to snakes. All you have to do is post a wildlife picture, and mark it with #WildlifeWednesday .

I hope to see a lot of your wildlife pictures. Show the wild animals you've encountered!

2013-05-08 19:40:11 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 11 +1s)

My latest blog post deals with the fact that some criticism is right and some criticism is wrong, and it can sometimes be hard to distinguish which is which. I suggest a starting point for determining when you should not abide by criticism. 

I hope you find it worthwhile.

2013-05-08 05:23:04 (18 comments, 1 reshares, 17 +1s)

Not that I'd ever thought about buying clothes from Abercrombie and Fitch before, but now that I've read this, I'll be sure to avoid them. The fit wouldn't be a problem, but I wouldn't want any "beautiful people" to mistake me for being "cool and popular". ;-)

2013-05-07 00:12:29 (35 comments, 1 reshares, 8 +1s)

Several months ago, someone on G+ predicted this, and I disagreed. I'm not sure I'm remembering correctly, but I think it was +Mike Wiacek who predicted this.

Anyway, I was wrong.

My initial reaction to this Adobe plan is negative, but perhaps I'll change my mind after I think about it further.

2013-05-04 08:08:15 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 20 +1s)

To celebrate that today is Star Wars Day, I'm dictating this post into my Galaxy phone from far, far away. May the fourth be with you.