After a month long contest, we had some great entries. Here are the top 5 finalists selected by number of votes. Each contestant was responsible for promoting their entry and securing their votes. The five finalists are now being judged by a team of a few key people. Chris Duggan, a Creative Director at DDB who has art directed a couple campaigns I’ve shot, Jennifer, on of my reps from Greenhouse, Tim Willis my producer, and myself. The images will be judged based off of moment, composition, and overall feeling.

Here are the finalists by number of votes:

Columbia, by Alejo Henao with 475 votes.

Objects in Mirror, by Nick Keating with 427 votes.

Venice Beach, by Stephanie Mcbride with 385 votes.

Redwoods, by Annie Fredrigo with 194 votes.

Journey, by Kathryn Page with 187 votes.

As a reminder, the prizes are as follows.

1st prize: A trip NYC from anywhere in the continental US, and a one night stay at the ACE Hotel in NYC the night of the party, access to the VIP hour of the Photo Trekking release party, and a signed copy of Photo Trekking.

2nd prize: A one hour consult/portfolio review with me over the phone and a signed copy of the Photo Trekking.

3rd-5th prize: A signed copy of Phototrekking.

We’ll announce the winners tomorrow.

Don’t worry contest finalists/winners, your photos won’t be used for anything but the contest. For some reason people have been too protective thinking I’m going to sell the images or something of that nature. It’s purely a contest, and now you’re being featured on my blog.

In lu of my January post “Only You Can Make S%#@ Happen“, I thought I’d take a second to talk about the Making Things Happen 2010 workshop that my friends Lara Casey and Jeff Holt are running around the US doing. From talking to them it’s been some pretty amazing experiences and time, with many people’s lives being changed to find their passion and go for it.

I am excited to be guest speaking at the New York workshop on March 22nd. I’ll be talking about my story of my journey over the last few years. The Transitions, Passion, and Sacrifices it took to get to where I’m at now, as well as a Q&A. We’ll be talking more about the artistic journey of doing what you love than the technical side of photography. I will also be giving away 2 signed copies of my Photo Trekking book at the workshop.

Check out the MTH 2010 site for more info. Would love to see you there!
http://laracasey.com/mth2010/

Next to launching the new website, which has been getting some rave reviews I’m excited to launch the new blog, Shoptalk. My boys over at We The Media did a rockin’ job. They’ve done some killer work for big brands in the blog department. Definitely recommend them. It’s got some new features that were thought through from a usability standpoint, and some design features I haven’t seen done yet in a photography blog, namely the scrolling content under my logo tag in the top left, and the static footer that allows all the navigation to be done in a pop up nav box. This feature makes it easy to browse the blog by topic or time of posting. We’ve also included live search so you can see the archive of posts pop up as you type a keyword. Also integrated is a pop up nave for my social media profile links.

Naturally as the nature of Shoptalk is to share the things I’ve learned and thought about along this artistic journey of a career. It’s to serve as a resource and to give back to the photography community. Many people have commented, and emailed in about how much they’ve learned from the blog, and that’s my hopes for what it may be, so thanks to you for reading and being a part.

I also thought I’d take a second to highlight some of my favorite and most read posts over the last couple of years

1. Only You Can Make S#%@ Happen!
2. Expanding Your Default
3. ABS Theory
4. Two Rules of the Photography Game
5. The Importance of Branding
6. The Secret is Seeing…
7. Your Own Branding Imagery

Feel free to comment some of your favorite posts to share with other readers.

We’re looking for some interns in New York City for the next few months for a few things, but mainly setting up for a gallery show and book release party. Give my last post a read for the type of candidates we’re looking for.

Send us an email to info@nickonken.com and tell us a bit about yourself.

• Where you’re from
• What types of projects you like to work on
• What are you passionate about
• What tech skills do you have?
• What skills outside of photography do you have
• Most of all, what would you like to learn?

The internship will be 1-2 days a week from now through March on average.

Take a read of Adam Swords’ post on his interning attitude and POV:
http://www.adamswords.com/blog/?p=57

I truly believe that while photographs can make a huge impact and tell many strong stories, there is nothing like being there and experiencing things first hand. The energy, the smells, the sounds, the interactive moments with the people you come into contact with are worth way more than 1000 words. This is a big reason why I love travel photography in 3rd world countries. The experiences change me because I see things that you just don't see living in a 1st world bubble. Interacting with people that literally have nothing, and a lot of times are some of the happiest people I've met is so impactful. If you ever have or make the opportunity to go and visit these places, I say do it. It will change your life.

Laos was pretty incredible. The people are pleasantly kind and helpful. When I arrived, we hit the ground running, and venturing out to PoP locations. We rode out to Pha Thong, which is the first PoP school that was built. We rented motorcycles and brought out some pencils and crayons to the kids. Riding a motorcycle in a 3rd world country really makes you feel like you are traveling, even if you're not he back of one. Roads in a third world country are usually pretty chaotic and you're passing/dodging other vehicles, most of which are much bigger than you. Photographing kids in 3rd world countries has become a favorite of mine. There's always a joy in them that resonates even if they have nothing but a rock to play with. Much a reason why this job was a great fit for me. Pha Thong was a lovely little village, the kids seem to be excited about the school. Its so amazing to hear the stories and see first hand how much the people appreciate the school. The great thing about the PoP model is that village has to put in 15-20% of the building costs, which since they have nothing usually ends up being labor and some materials that they can make themselves. By them putting in this percentage, it gives them pride in the structure and they take care of it. The kids are very eager to learn, and enjoy being in school.

The other village highlight was Pha Thong, which was still being built. The amazing part of this experience, was how far into the countryside we had to go to get to this village. When we arrived, we looked at the site where the school is being built. Men from the village are hard at work mixing cement and working away on the school. A few of the kids are helping out too. Other kids are playing in the structure and you could see the excitement for their new school. This village hardly has any electricity, so we were without for the evening. The next morning the education ministry came down for the Handover Ceremony. We handed over the school to the country, who intern handed it over to the village. A pretty powerful moment to witness because of all the hard work that has been involved. After the ceremony the village and officials had a Basali blessing ceremony for us, where they pray blessings upon us and tie many strings around our wrists. A very powerful moment to see the people's appreciation.

Overall an amazing trip. Traveling with Adam and Leslie was a blast as well all clicked well. Many inspiring and productive conversations came out of our travel together along with many laughs.

I will say Adam Braun, the founder of PoP is a truly inspiring individual, and a huge reason I support the organization along with the great cause. He's a great visionary with a business mind. I believe anything successful has to have both. I believe PoP will be very impactful because of this combo.

For more info on Pencils of Promise visit: http://www.pencilsofpromise.org

See the full photo story here: http://www.nickonken.com/Stories/Laos_PoP

The thing I love most about this job is being able to sit down and dream up whatever photographs I want to create. Naturally, what I like creating is newer and better images. I’m always looking into how I can make better images and expand my default of my photographic vision and skills to then show more people, and THAT is the name of the photography game. (if you want to be successful that is.)

Part of my agenda this week is to dream up some new tests that I want to do, and part of that dreaming requires research and drawing inspiration from other photographs. It’s a bit of a love/hate part of the creative process. As I’m sure you can relate to, looking at the work of those that inspire you also gives you the feeling of being schooled.

One thing I do is when I find imagery I like, (inspiration board) is to break down the image and decide what it is I like about it. Is it the lighting? the moment? styling? Location? Models? What are the production elements that went into that image? How can I integrate the things I like into my own work?

Lets take this image by Dewey Nicks shot for Tommy Hilfiger a while back:

What elements do I like about this?
•The Location. Probably a lovely exotic place that is hard to get to
•The movement of the models.
•The moment that is happening between the models
•The simple lighting. Probably one overhead angled strobe in a beauty dish. Something of that nature.
•The styling is great. Poppy colors, flowy dresses, in a sophisticated fashion
•The props: cabana setup with lantern and pillows
•High end models($60K/day models). Casting can make or break your shoot.

The overall vision of this image is what I love. The feeling that is created by those elements. When you break down the elements, you can figure out what you want to integrate into your own work and tests to develop your own style. How do you make that happen? You gotta be a hustler. You’ll never get anywhere in this business if you don’t hustle.

So lets bring it back to my point. Looking at other imagery and breaking it down should school you and inspire you to create better images, in turn causing you to raise the bar in your own work. Let good work inspire you to create rather than get you down. Keep aspiring to close that creative gap between what you envision and what you actually produce.

This last week was quite amazing to get out of the country and reflect on how lucky I am to have such a dream job. It's a dream job that lends to dreaming and doing. I've dreamed of going to Iceland for a few years now. I've seen many amazing images from there and heard so many amazing things. What's great about being a photographer is having the availability and time to do the things that I love to do, as in travel and take photos. Great for turning vacation trips into business trips.

Iceland is one of the most beautiful countries I've been to. It's so bizarre from the lava rocks to the icebergs.
Check out the photo story:

http://www.nickonken.com/Stories/IcelandRingRoad/

I definitely recommend taking a trip there. It's much more feasible to go since their economy crashed it was a bit more feasible to make happen. Prices are pretty comparable to New York cost of living. Gas was a bit out of control at about $5.85/gallon but that's normal for Europe. Before the economy crashed, it cost 2.5 times more than it does now. Icelantic people are super nice and friendly as well.

In the words of my friend Mark Leibowitz:

"The business of photography breaks down to two main parts, 1: Make better pictures, and 2: Show more people."

I thought this was great advice, because being successful in this business is really all about those two things. Granted there are a million things that go along with that when you break it down, but I think it's fair to say that sums it up.

I'll break it down lightly, here. In the commercial world(much different than the wedding world), the bar is set quite a bit higher when getting hired for the big jobs. Your body of work has to be properly curated, show a solid style, and show the breadth of what you can do enough to give your client the confidence that he/she can hand you $1/$10/$20/$50/$100/$200/$500K to produce them images that are what they signed off on. The quality and production value of your work will have to show that you can handle that.

1: Make better pictures. So, what does that mean? You have to make better images that shows the kind of work you want to be shooting. In the path that I've taken, I've followed this theory whole heatedly. Through time, development, and persistence, you will begin to get hired for the jobs at the level your portfolio is conveying. Since photography is a artistic journey, your skills are refined as you go and it's not really a field that you can just jump in with the big boys if you have the money. (granted seed capital sure makes it easier). You have to constantly work and hone your craft to become better and better. That will naturally be conveyed through the work you produce. Everyone is different, and enjoys shooting different subjects and styles. Find what inspires you the most, produce better images in that realm, create a consistent style within that that is different than everyone else, and that's what the buyers are looking for. Developing a unique style takes years and is something you have to have the drive and perseverance to get to. All the top photographers sucked at the beginning points of their careers.

2: Show more people. I've thought about this a lot lately. Your work HAS to get in front of the right people for you to get hired. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it does it make a sound? If you make a great image, and no one sees it what value does it have? That said, the first part is showing the right curation of your work. I like the word curation rather than "edit" because you are essentially pulling together a finite collection of your work. Just like a museum. A curation that is a true testiment to who you are as a photographer. This is obviously unique for every photographer. The right curation is just as, or more important than shooting great images. It tells the story of who you are. Most photographers are terrible at curating their own work, and need to realize that. Then hire people that can do it for them. It is a definite investment, but a person who knows what they are doing in that realm can make you look like a much better and put together photographer. You first have to have the body of work that is broad enough for them to curate.

Part two of showing more people, is the packaging that people are seeing it in. AKA your branding. I've already written on the importance of it, but I will reemphasize it again. Branding is something that the average person doesn't see because they weren't formally trained in it. Bad branding can make a good photographer look like they beg for money on the street. Do yourself a huge favor and realize when branding isn't your forte then hire someone to do it for you. If you can't fully afford it, try teaming up with graphic design student and working with them for their portfolios. It gives them real world experience. Hire people that do what they do best. I recommend my http://www.brand-envy.com (as you can see they designed my killer biz cards).

Part three is getting your work out there. This comes after your proper curation, branding, portfolios, and website. Getting your work in front of people is a big process. Something that I hired my consultant for. Amanda Sosa Stone: http://www.sosastone.com There are many of them out there which it's best to find the right one that best fits you. These guys can take a look at your work, and figure out a game plan. Even help you "curate" your work. Then figure out a good game plan to get it out there to the world.

As you may know, I'm writing a book on travel photography. I've created this poll to see what title people would be most inclined to purchase. Please help me by voting and passing this on to any people you think would be interested in buying a book on travel photography.

If you haven't checked out Vincent Laforet's blog, you should. Not only is his work amazing, he's been doing some fantastic video with the 5DMKII Check out this behind the scenes video footage of them shooting with it on a steadycam.

http://blog.vincentlaforet.com/2008/12/03/behind-the-scenes-footage-steadicam/