4th March 2010

Knocking on Doors

General Interest

© 2007 Todd S. Klassy

The rolling slopes and farm fields of rural Rock County, Wisconsin.

I haven’t written much since Sunday. I have been very busy packing up my house and saying goodbye. After Tuesday I will have a chance to get caught up and then I can post something daily again.

Lately I have found myself devouring many common, everyday sights and sounds near me; many of the things I have taken for granted over the years. I consume even the most mundane task, whether it is going to the store or picking up the mail. I find myself looking around more and listening better. Looking around was always a strong suit; listening not so much.

My new habits are a byproduct of the realization that it may be the last time I visit some (or all) of these places, see these people, and do these things. I’m sure I will have an abundance of new sights and sounds, but I grow a bit melancholy thinking about what I’m leaving behind.

The urge to explore, it seems, is in my genes. One grandfather and boat full of great grandfathers and grandmothers once left their home on a voyage westward, too. They ditched their homeland without any knowledge of what waited for them on the other side of the ocean. And each of them did so with a hope that the life waiting for them over the horizon was better than the one they left behind. In each case their hunch was right.

My grandfather was the only one of the pioneers in my family I personally knew. And although he was very proud of his new home and wouldn’t trade his life for anything back home, he still missed his place of birth.

I fear the doors I am about to knock upon may be closed. Rather than a solution, I concede my journey may end in defeat. But like my relatives before me, I am comfortable with my fate, despite what I may leave behind.

A vestige of my grandfather’s pioneering spirit now guides me. I think of him often as I prepare for this move.

1st March 2010

Packing Light

General Interest, Travel

© 2005 Todd S. Klassy

A frost covered tree on a farm outside of Sauk City, Wisconsin.

I told myself I would pack light. “Only take the bare essentials,” I told myself.

Doing so is harder than I originally thought.

I spent much of today sorting through my belongings. I made three piles of stuff; (1) stuff I’m taking with me, (2) stuff I am giving to friends, family, or St. Vincent de Paul, and (3) trash. The pile I plan to take with me is much larger than I imagined. I will need to pare it back tomorrow.

It is amazing how much crap one accumulates in a lifetime.

I decided to adopt a goal of living a life of minimalism this past summer. The more stuff I have means the more stuff to move, dust, clean, insure, fix, remove, etc. It all seems so pointless. Sure, there are basic necessities and keepsakes we all need, but in the end what’s more important? A big pile of stuff that depreciates and gets used less and less than we thought when we first purchased it? Or experiences that can last a lifetime?

Yes, some of that “crap” I will miss. Hopefully I will be moving too fast to notice.

28th February 2010

The Making of “Havre, MT”

Learning, Video

© 2008 Todd S. Klassy

A lone tree silhouetted against a blue, winter sky outside of Monticello, Wisconsin.

Today I began production of my weekly YouTube video series “Havre, MT: The Chronicles of Me & Steve.” I call it my quasi-documentary.

I’ve never worked with video before, so this will be quite a learning experience. As such I’m a little worried about all of the layers that go into the making of a video. And then consider having to do it every week. I just hope I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew.

There are several key elements I am working on for my first video. The most difficult task will be figuring out a way to firmly attach my camera in the back seat of my truck. I am setting it up so it will take a photograph every 20 seconds along my long trip from Wisconsin to Montana. When I’m done I will have captured 3,240+ images during the 18-hour, 1250-mile journey it will take to drive to Havre, MT. Then I will need to process all of the images and stitch them together to create a 2 to 3 minute video segment. I will also interlace some video I shoot along the way. In other words, you should see just about everything I see on the first leg of my journey.

Another key element will be the “intro” and “outro” for the video. These are the brief interludes at the start and end of a video. Once completed I will reuse each of them in all future episodes. I know how I want them to look and feel; now I just need to figure out how to do it. Of course the music I use will be important. More on that topic later.

Audio is the last big obstacle I need to overcome. Again, I am a still photographer and not a video or audio person, so understanding and overcoming this will be a hurdle. I don’t think I will use much audio captured from my camera itself. I will instead narrate the videos after the photographs and video have been spliced together. I need to purchase an Edirol R-09HR MP3 Recorder this week in order to accomplish this task. I also plan to use it to capture some of the ambient sounds while I’m taking pictures (i.e. birds, waterfalls, thunder) and use them on later videos.

After I tackle each of these hurdles then I need to start planning episodes two and three.

Ugh, all in a day’s work.

27th February 2010

Chances of Dying

General Interest, Montana, Outdoors

© 2007 Todd S. Klassy

Wild redcurrants succumb to the winter's cold outside New Glarus, Wisconsin.

As I planned for my journey out west I began to consider all of the dangers I might face. There is always the fear of the unknown. And certain amount of danger is necessary if a photographer is going to successfully capture remarkable images of nature’s glory.

I worried about the obvious. I could get mauled by a bear, bitten by a rattlesnake, or gored by a bull elk in heat. Not very pleasant ways to die if you ask me.

So I decided to arm myself with a gun; a very powerful hand gun you see. Sure, I shot a gun when growing up on the family farm, but I have not done so for many years. Learning to shoot a gun all over again is not something I worried about. How hard could it be?

I also decided to arm myself with knowledge. The more I knew about the dangers lurking in the woods of the western United States the better prepared I would be if and when something dangerous happened.

Here’s what I learned:

In 2009 there were only two fatal bear attacks in all of North America.

In 2008 there were three.

There are approximately 12 fatalities from venomous snakebites each year in the United States. Oddly, almost all of the victims are men (not good for me) and under the influence of alcohol (very good for me). Of course if I traveled to India my chances of dying from a snakebite increase dramatically. More than 10,000 people fell there last year from poisonous snakebites.

27 people died in 2009 under the fall of an avalanche. 36 died the year before. Even more died in Canada.

There is a 1-in-300,000,000 chance of dying in a fairground accident, which isn’t a big deal if you consider there is also a 1-in-250,000,000 chance of dying from a falling coconut. Lucky for me there aren’t many coconuts in Montana.

I have a 1-in-83,930 chance of being hit by and a 1-in-10,000,000 chance of dying from lightning. But my chances are probably far greater since I’m often outside taking pictures in the rain. I am also very tall.

Approximately 62,000 people die annually from natural disasters. Statistically very few of them are from the United States. So I have a .000062% chance of dying from a tornado, earthquake, tsunami, or hurricane…in Montana.

I have a 1-in-500,000 chance expiring in a train accident. There is an Amtrak station in Havre, you know.

There were a total of 1,100 fatalities occurred last year due to the accidental use of a firearm.

There were 5,357 motorcycle fatalities in the U.S. in 2008…and the figures for 2009 are expected to be much higher.

There is a 1-in-100 chance of dying while driving. More than 43,000 people died on American highways last year. I am driving 1300 miles to Montana and will put another 25,000+ miles on the road this year, which is many more miles than the average U.S. driver so I suppose my chances of dying in a car accident are higher.

Oh, and my chances of dying from heart disease or stroke are 1-in-2.5 (probably even higher).

Now that I think about it, I don’t think I need to buy a gun after all. I also better put away that cheeseburger…while driving…my motorcycle…in India.

Sorry, I couldn’t find any statistics about those who were killed by bull elks in heat.

26th February 2010

Comparing Havre to Home

Montana
© 2008 Todd S. Klassy

Grain bins are silhouetted against an evening sky outside of Rapid City, South Dakota.

I have no doubt the move from Madison, WI to Havre, MT will be interesting. Yes, I have lived in many different places around the country (and one place outside of the country), but every change of scenery for me is still met with some fear and consternation.

I know the differences between Madison and Havre are stark. I have already visited Havre and I have done some research online. There are some very real advantages to living in Havre (otherwise I wouldn’t be going there in the first place), but there are some disadvantages, too. Such as:

Plus: There is no sales tax in Havre. In Madison’s it is 5.5%

Minus: State, county, and local sales taxes are 10% in Havre and only 6.93% in Madison.

Plus: The speed limit is 70 to 75 mph, depending on the highway.

Minus: You will burn more fuel doing so, and there are fewer gas stations in between.

Plus: There is a better ratio of women in Havre than Madison.

Minus: There are fewer single women.

Plus: Housing, utilities, and health care are much cheaper.

Minus: Groceries, clothing, and gasoline are more expensive.

Plus: Air quality is much better in Havre.

Minus: Water quality is much lower.

Plus: I will be surrounded by many national, state, and county parks.

Minus: I will not be surrounded by plush, green farm fields and red barns.

Plus: Havre’s crime rate is much lower than Madison’s.

Minus: Havre’s temperature is much higher than Madison’s.

Plus: It is a dry heat.

Minus: It also gets colder in the winter.

Plus: Havre is near the mountains.

Minus: Havre has no lakes.

Plus: There is no traffic in Havre.

Minus: It will take two hours to drive to the closest big city, Great Falls, MT (pop. 58,827).

Plus: There are few Democrats in Havre.

Minus: There are few Democrats in Havre.

Plus: They play more poker in Montana.

Minus: They don’t play euchre or sheepshead.

Plus: I won’t have to worry about road construction delays in Havre.

Minus: I will have to worry about grizzly bears, mountain lions, and rattle snakes.

Plus: Havre is close to the people, places and things I want to photograph the most.

Minus: Havre is furthest from the people, places and things I cherish the most.

26th February 2010

Update: Tiger Woods Photo

Photography

I guess my suspicions were correct.

In a previous post I guessed that the photographer who took the photograph of Tiger Woods jogging prior to the much ballyhooed press conference was a shill for Tiger, the PGA, and Getty Images, the stock photography company peddling the image online. According to TMZ.com approached Getty with the idea of taking the photographs. In other words, they were nothing but propaganda. And the photographer who took the images? Sam Greenwood? Tiger has “known him for a long time.”

Interesting.

What’s more, the CEO of Getty Images, Jonathan Klein, was interviewed by CNBC and made the following well rehearsed comment:

Well what I can tell you is this. Over a long period of time, Getty Images has established itself as the gold standard in terms of not only the image quality, but the way we behave. As a result of that, we don’t do paparazzi images and as a result of that, we often get a called in either for a non-profit basis like we do all the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie photos entirely non-profit.

We were approached and Tiger happened to know the photographer (Sam Greenwood) and has known him for a long time.

Hogwash. Getty Images has been selling paparazzi style photographs for years.

And it would seem as though Tiger Woods did not only screw a bevy of beauties and dupe his wife. He also screwed hard working photographers and duped the American public in the process.

25th February 2010

A Memorable (And Timely) Rant

Photography, Video

I discovered this YouTube video of Harlan Ellison, an author who has written many, many short stories, novels, and screenplays. This is exactly what I think every time a company calls me to use one of my photographs for free.

Amateurs who are flattered by a byline without a pay check (or pennies on the dollar, as many stock photography houses now offer) are stupid. I get worked up about as much as Ellison does.

“I don’t take a pee without getting paid!”  Absolutely love it.

25th February 2010

My Trip West

Montana, News, Travel
© 2008 Todd S. Klassy

Fog draped over the Astoria-Megler Bridge in Astoria, Oregon.

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods;
There is a rapture on the lonely shore;
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more…

–Lord Byron


It’s about time I fill in everyone on my journey west. Until now there has been a lot of speculation, plenty of rumor, and constant nagging. Frankly, If I had to do it all over again, I would have kept my mouth shut and just vanished one day. Live and learn.

A few months back I made the decision to sell everything I own, move west, and spend a lot of time focusing on photography and focusing on myself. I called it Project 730:  take one remarkable photograph every day for two years…or 730 days. In doing so I will visit some of the most beautiful places on Earth. I will spend this time working and improving my photography. Hopefully I will learn a little bit about myself in the process.

My plan is to photograph the Canadian Rockies, polar bears crossing the waters of Hudson Bay, the caribou migrating over the slopes of Alaska, and hard working men fishing in the Bearing Sea. I will photograph try to capture seascapes off the coast of Oregon, canyons in Utah, and the beautiful landscapes of Montana. If I am near a striking person, place, or thing, I will find it and photograph it.

Make no mistake…this journey is no vacation. While it is the experience of a lifetime, it is still a job…arguably more arduous than any job I have ever had in my life. I am also fortunate I will have a day job near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains to help pay bills and fund my trips. Before work and after work I will spend my time photographing Montana and on the weekends I will visit places like Banff and Jasper National Park in Canada, Glacier National Park in Montana, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, Devil’s Tower, the Badlands of South Dakota, the Palouse of eastern Washington, and a lot of interesting things in between.

By moving west I will be making a tremendous sacrifice, too. I will shutter the small business I started and owned for nearly eight years. I will sell my dream house and everything inside. And I will leave behind my family and friends exploring the west largely on my own.

I will live in a place roughly the size of the master bedroom I am leaving behind. I will not have many of the amenities I grown accustomed to and I will survive on a spartan budget. I will unplug from the 24-hour news cycle, and my only real connection to the outside world will be what information I gather from people I meet on the road and and Internet connection…when I have one.

Some might consider Project 730 crazy.

Maybe it is.

But at my stage in my life this may be my last chance to do something a little crazy. In turn I hope I will advance my photographic skills become a better person in the process.

Every day for 730 days I hope to find a remarkable image. Every day for 730 days I aim to improve my craft and advance my knowledge. Every day I want to learn something new about myself. And I will chronicle my voyage right here with the photographs, video, and the words that come to me along the way.

I leave late next week. So sit back and enjoy this journey with me. I can’t guarantee how it will end, but it should be an interesting ride!

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