Outdoors Unlimited® Online | The award-winning publication of the Outdoor Writers Association of America

By Dave Carlson

Houses start in the forest. Steel, ore. Plastics, oil. Glass, sand. Boots, a cow.

On and on.

In the cosmic high-definition world of TV, images in and of themselves are meaningless if not linked.

Linkage is editing. And editing begins in the field.

Plans and themes guide the gathering of images, whether photography or videography. A basic videography principle: you can’t use it if you don’t have it!

Shoot spontaneously! Shoot prolifically. Get a feel for what your producer and host wants. And how they begin to use your stuff. You’ll learn what to shoot by process of elimination and inventiveness. In the end, shooting plenty of the good stuff makes everybody’s job easier, especially the job of the editor.

Look for the pearls. Those are the pretty treasures – sound or video, or both – that become pegs for good storytelling. Shake them out the way a creek miner pans gold.

As you photograph for the editing bay, think wide, tight and tighter. Think cutaways: faces, objects, signs, passersby – those “thank God I got that” extra shots bridging your unedited chains of video. Try to keep the scenes that attract a viewer, who then gets the full story with details in the narrator’s or the subject’s words.

Other suggestions:

• Don’t break the 180-degree rule. Stay within that plane with people, objects and landscapes. Breaking time is a no-no, too!
• Sparingly replace natural sounds with music of any persuasion.
• Experiment with varying speeds when panning, zooming and slowing motion.
• Don’t interrupt a series of dissolves with a clean cut.
• Glitzy edits can substitute for solid journalistic storytelling for only so long.
• Eliminate camera jarring often found at the end of a scene because the videographer has moved before shutting down the equipment.
• Use longer (several seconds) sound pauses more often than not. This gives viewers a chance to absorb what’s said and anticipate what’s spoken next. Clip those disturbing ticks and other audio glitches. Trash the cliches!
• Maintain extensive B-roll files. Search out alternative video sources, usually governmental. Usually free.
• Make sure to credit sources and people used or appearing in the product.
• Ask subjects on field tape to spell and pronounce their names and titles.

Lastly, develop a style. The most successful shows are those that look different and sound different.

That’s usually because they are. ◊

Dave Carlson is a writer, producer and host for “Northland Adventures” and a field editor for Wisconsin Outdoor Journal. A member since 1988, Carlson resides in Eau Claire, Wis. Contact him at dcarlson@wqow.com.

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By Pat Wray

Want to improve your craft? Start by improving your communication, specifically your e-mail communication.

As in, answer your e-mails. Now. Not next week or next month.

Oh, I know. You get 20, 50, 80 or more each and every day. Many e-mails are junk. You are so busy. Dealing with e-mails is not a good use of your time. Yada … yada … yada. Oh, woe is you.

News flash! You are not alone. Everyone has the same problem. But many people deal with their e-mails far more effectively than you do, and as a result, they miss far fewer important messages and alienate far fewer people. Because they are responsive, theirs are the first names considered when new opportunities arise.

How do they do it? Why are they not overwhelmed like you? Here’s why:

1. They unsubscribe. They eliminate junk. Upon receiving an unwanted e-mail the first time, they take the time to respond and opt out of future communications. They do this with businesses and with friends from college who have devolved into serial forwarders of bad jokes and political attacks. They deal with unwanted e-mails one time rather than four times a week for the rest of their lives.
2. They use their e-mail program’s filtering system. It is far better to review and delete your junk mail on a weekly basis than to fiddle with it daily.
3. They organize the remainder. We have all lost important communications in the labyrinth of an overgrown inbox. This is why God gave us folders. Use them.

But you still have a pile of e-mails needing responses and there’s still not enough time. So, deal with the ones requiring immediate action and put the others in a to-do-soon folder. Get them out of your inbox, but never put an e-mail in that folder until you have responded, in some fashion, to the sender. Let them know their e-mail did not disappear into the lost galaxy of the Internet.

Your response may be as simple as “Got it—get back to you soon,” or something a little more substantial. This will take almost no time, you can even copy and paste it if you want, but it will accomplish two things. First, it lets the senders know you value their time and effort. Second, it eliminates their tendency to send their message a second or third time.

And don’t forget to deal with the contents of the to-do-soon folder soon.

One final note: E-mail is wonderfully quick but speed is not, or should not be, the same as abrupt. Remember your e-mail conveys a message beyond the words. Take care to ensure the hidden message of your e-mail conveys the respect you intend. A simple salutation goes a long way.

Make sure the time you save with e-mail is not purchased with injured feelings, a poor trade indeed. ◊

Pat Wray, of Corvallis, Ore., is a freelance writer, photographer, book author and regular contributor to Game & Fish Magazines. Contact him at patwray@comcast.net.

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By Jim Foster

If you are one of many photographers who enjoy taking photographs of wildlife, then getting as close as you can to your subject is very important. The process of getting close could mean putting yourself in harm’s way, which brings up an interesting question: When is close too close?

A photo vest worn over a long-sleeved t-shirt was all I needed to ward off the slight morning chill. A few light clouds appeared just after sunrise and a slight breeze blew intermittently along the dry riverbed. It was my last day photographing wildlife in Kenya. The next day I would fly to Nairobi before heading back to the United States.

Rounding a sharp bend in the river, I could tell we were nearing a small pride of lions. At least two of the pride’s females were in heat and a large male with a dark mane had caught the attention of the females.

Photographing these big cats in the wild was a thrill and I am sure my motor drive ran more film through the camera than I normally would have shot. But this was real and the beauty and wildness of the moment became intoxicating. Little did I know what was waiting for me a quarter mile ahead.

The lion pride stopped to rest in shade near the riverbank. We made a short detour away from the river, hoping to intercept them in an area where the light was better.

My guide mentioned how rare leopard sightings were and how, despite growing up in Kenya, he had been close to only three leopards. Just as he finished talking, I glanced up and froze in my tracks, touching his arm as I halted.

“You mean like that one?” I whispered.

His silence was my answer.

Less than 30 yards ahead, a mature male leopard was resting on the limb of a large sausage tree. He was alone and did not have a kill in the tree with him. His large yellow eyes were clear through the 300mm lens. I held my breath when he looked directly at me. While the leopard knew we were there, he didn’t seem concerned. I was shooting as fast and as much as I could. My digital camera is relatively quiet and the leopard closed his eyes, seemingly going back to sleep.

I switched back to my film camera and snapped several frames. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open at the sound of the loud shutter. I felt like food.

The big cat stood and stretched, looking us over. As I have been known to do in sticky situations, I kept shooting until I was out of film. Then I switched back to my digital camera. I didn’t stop until the leopard had climbed down the limb, jumped to the ground and slowly walked away. He stopped only once to mark a small bush and tree with his scent.

The answer to the question, “when is close too close?” can be a bit vague, but at the same time easy. Look over the situation, know the animal you are photographing, use common sense and use the best equipment you can afford. Let the equipment get you close.

Photographing animals in the wild requires at least a minimal amount of special equipment. Buying the best that you can afford will take you a long way in the direction of producing some very rewarding images that capture the essence of wildlife and the outdoors.

The equipment I used on this trip was exclusively Canon. I was shooting the EOS-3 film camera and the EOS D-10 digital camera with several EOS lenses that would quickly change between the two bodies. Even though they were never needed, backups of both camera bodies were stored in my camera bag. Lenses I used were an EOS 100-400 zoom telephoto lens, a 70-300-zoom telephoto lens with a 1.4 doubler, a 17-35mm wide-angle lens and a 70-200 zoom lens. In addition to these basics, I carried a Canon flash and two slave flash units.

Traveling with photography gear in Africa can be interesting because of a few obstacles that are rarely encountered in the United States but must be overcome in other countries.

Any electronic equipment you bring will need to be battery-operated or you will need the correct plug-in adaptors for a European outlet. Making a mistake here can burn up your equipment. I will sometimes bring a solar charger to recharge laptop and camera batteries while running a laptop at the same time.

I have had a number of close encounters with wildlife over the years. Several of these were with North America’s largest carnivores, the brown bear or grizzly. I have photographed these huge mammals across the country and twice have had encounters that could have proven dangerous.

Wildlife photographers have a way of wanting a certain shot so badly they forget safety and their good sense. If you will be traveling where dangerous animals live, use your head. In Yellowstone Park, bear, elk and bison injure many tourists. Add the grizzly and black bear to the mix, and strict caution should be observed.

Getting a good photograph is wonderful but ending up in a hospital bed, or worse, is not worth it. ◊

Jim Foster is a full-time writer, photographer and lecturer specializing in writing about and photographing nature, the outdoors, travel and adventure travel. Foster makes his home in Salmon, Idaho. Contact him at jim@jimfosteroutdoors.com.

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By Mary J. Nickum

You may not have considered writing for the children’s magazine market, but perhaps you should. Children’s magazines are growing in number, especially with the advent of the e-zine, which is particularly attractive to a younger tech-savvy generation.

“Magazine Markets for Children’s Writers 2010” provides submission information for more than 650 children’s magazines.

As with adult magazines, children’s magazines publish many types of articles, including fiction, nonfiction, how-to, word puzzles and other learning activities. Articles are sought on a variety of topics for readers aged 3-to 12-years-old. Article lengths for the 3- to 6-year-olds are usually no more than 400 words; 400-800 words for 7- to 9-year-olds; and 500-1200 words for 10- to 12-year-olds. These word counts are strictly enforced, but vary considerably from one magazine to another.

Currently, many magazine editors say they’d like to see more nonfiction, as well as craft projects and word puzzles, for publications geared toward 3- to 9-year-olds. How-to and how-things-work articles are especially sought for 7- to 12-year-olds. Teaching children the way to do or understand something you know well is an excellent way to break into a magazine market. Not only are how-to and how-things-work articles fairly easy to put together, your personal enthusiasm will fuel reader interest.

It is important to remember readers don’t know your topic as well as you do. If you’ve been writing for adults and this is your first foray into writing for children, it is easy to assume your readers know the basics. Young readers may not. They may not know relevant terms. They may find a project doesn’t work because you left out a fundamental step, one that is simple and obvious to you but not to them. Never rely on editors to uncover errors or gaps in an article or project. If your piece isn’t well-written with clear explanations, your chances for a sale will drop to nil.

Although many writers want to create enduring children’s fiction, they’re much more likely to sell a nonfiction piece. Juvenile magazines do publish a fair amount of short stories, but they’re generally outnumbered by articles and activities. An increasing number of magazines focus on nonfiction topics, such as science, nature and technology. Interestingly, most editors want nonfiction that reads like well-written short stories. The best juvenile magazines run articles that paint vivid pictures of historical events, or use colorful, down-to-earth imagery to explain a scientific phenomenon. Children want to hear the crash as Thomas Edison’s prototype lightbulb shatters on the floor.

To begin, you need to put aside any preconceived notions about childhood. The world has changed since your own formative years. Children are a lot more sophisticated these days and they want articles relevant to their world. Pastimes and hobbies may be a lot different, too. Small-town kids may still visit the old swimming hole in the summer, but suburban and urban youngsters are more likely to play youth soccer or take to the streets with their skateboards. You need to familiarize yourself with what kids are doing if you want to write for them. Borrow a friend’s children, teach a Sunday school class, coach a sports team or eavesdrop in the children’s section of the local bookstore – anything to get an idea of what kids are like.

Keep in mind before you sit down to write, that today’s children are computer literate and visually perceptive. Raised on video games and MTV, modern kids aren’t going to sit still for a story that doesn’t grab them right away. (Truth be told, they never did!)

Editors look for the same things you look for in adult writing: a solid plot, interesting characters, humor, sharp detail and good research. One of the most common mistakes is writing down to children – being too sweet, jaunty or didactic. Children don’t want to be patronized or instructed. Also, talking animals or other anthropomorphic devices are not recommended.

Nature is a perennial favorite, but most magazines already have backlogs of articles about really interesting animals or fascinating natural phenomena. It’s not that these ideas can’t make good reading, it’s that they need a new approach. The worst crime of all is to try to wedge in some kind of moral. If there’s a lesson to be learned, fine, but you have to show it, not tell it.

Here, then, are eight easy steps to writing articles for children:

1. Choose a topic. It should be something of interest to many children. It should also be something you know well or are interested in learning more about.
2. Narrow your topic. Concentrate on just one aspect of it.
3. Research your article. Use online resources, books and articles.
4. Organize your research. Jot down the main points you want to make, then go through your notes and plug them into your outline.
5. Write the article. Decide what age you are writing for, and then try to keep your writing on that level. The “Children’s Writer’s Word Book” is a valuable resource for this step. MSWord is also equipped with the Fleisch-Kincaid grade level scale. The scale bases its rating on the average number of syllables per word and words per sentence. You can access this through the Spelling and Grammar Tool.
6. Revise and edit your article. To make sure it flows smoothly, read it aloud to yourself or to willing family and friends.
7. Research the markets. Get a copy of “Children’s Writer’s” and “Illustrator’s Market” or research children’s magazine publishers online.
8. Submit your article. Then get busy writing another one.

That’s all there is to it. It’s really not different from writing articles for adult magazines. The basic procedure is the same. The only things that need additional consideration are reading level and magazine titles specific to children. ◊

Mary Nickum, of Fountain Hills, Ariz., has been an OWAA member since 2000. Her children’s chapter book, “Mom’s Story, A Child Learns About MS,” is available from amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com as well as her website: www.marynickum.com. Contact her at mjnickum@hotmail.com.

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By Peter Schroeder

“Do you want to go fishing … or do you want to catch fish? There’s a big difference you know,” my guide at the fish camp inquired.

Fish aren’t the only things that can get hooked. Writers strive to create strong leads that will lure the reader with an enticing first sentence or two. When it’s done right, the reader feels impelled to read the next sentence (which is what I hope my introduction above does). But what about the end of the article, known as the kicker?

Often, articles simply fade away at the end, trailing off without any sense of conclusion. Other times a story has been told, but the writer continues to pile on words and flog the reader into near exhaustion. Alternatively, lazy writers take the easy way out and conclude with a quote, again a cheap way to wrap up the article.

The kicker deserves as much attention as the lead since it serves up the final comment that should make the story memorable. Think of it this way: while the lead drives the reader into the article, the kicker drives the story into the reader.

Rob Kaiser, the writing coach at the San Antonio News-Express newspaper, encourages writers to create a “rattlesnake kicker,” which he likens to a pair of size 12 cowboy boots powerful enough to kick a rattlesnake (remember, he’s a Texan). Since this final sentence provides the last contact between writer and reader, it should stride across the page with wallop.

Although it means violating the basic “less is more” rule, Kaiser says that sometimes the writer should add an extra word or two to maintain the rhythmic and lyrical flow of the conclusion. Another approach uses the kicker to go full circle, bringing the reader back to the lead.

Like this:

As we returned to the fishing lodge, the boat full of freshly caught salmon, our smiling guide summed up the day: “The best thing is that it’s Tuesday. Somehow, fishin’s more fun when you know that all your friends back home spent the day in the office while you were out on the water.”

Good catch? ◊

Peter Schroeder is a freelance writer and photographer. He specializes in recreational boating, cruising under sail, scuba diving, snow skiing, and worldwide adventure travel. A member since 2005, Schroeder hails from Seattle, Wa. Contact him at ptrschrdr@aol.com.

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By Paul Queneau

With stock agencies on the skids, online sharing sites offer a powerful way to get your work in front of buyers. Just choose your keywords carefully.

I recently typed “Grand Junction” into Google Earth and plunged toward western Colorado like a meteor. Once in town I skated east with a flick of my mouse to state highway 65, then south to get a birds-eye view of a new conservation easement I was writing about in my job as an editor of Bugle magazine at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Pure magic, and that wasn’t the half of it.

A tiny dot appeared near the easement linking to a geo-tagged photo on Panoramio, a Google-owned photo-sharing site. I clicked on it to see a gorgeous lightning-strike photo right over the very spot I aimed to write about. All because the photographer had tacked on latitude and longitude for his shot as he posted it to Panoramio to share it with the free world.

Sometimes the free world has a pocketbook

A moment later I was sending him a message to see if we might purchase the image to fill a full spread in our magazine to accompany my short write-up.

Talk about easy for us both. These days there is a real opportunity for photographers and videographers to troll their finest work by harnessing the popularity of sharing sites like Flickr, Picasa, Pbase, Youtube, Vimeo and a myriad of others. Most are free, and most offer powerful search engines.

It wasn’t the first time we’d made such a purchase. When our bimonthly photo requests for little-known locales come up short, we’ve mostly quit turning to the stock agencies for lack of success.

We search Flickr and Pbase, and sometimes Google Images. We rarely have to search further. The thought may terrify those who fear posting to these sites will result in stolen photos. But a well-watermarked photograph will do more for you out where buyers can find it than hidden from the world on your hard drive.

Limiting the size of your images to 1,000 pixels or so wide and creating a substantial watermark will do much to keep your photos from being illegally appropriated. Just don’t watermark it to death. You have no idea how many photos editors pass over because they can’t stomach the frame-width watermark.

Every hook needs a barb

When it comes to search engines, an image is only as good as the information you describe it with. Take the time to properly label your photos. The work you do on the front end will pay dividends once a search engine catalogs it.

Be forewarned, though: a person can go loony trying to think of every possible keyword for any given image. Believe me, I’ve been there. Here are a few hints to make it easier:

1. Channel your quarry’s query: Start putting yourself in the shoes of your buyer. Who would purchase your image and why, using what search terms? Brainstorm a few keywords that best summarize your image, but give yourself a time limit, for the next step might just make it unnecessary. Then think of a catchy title but provide solid info in your caption.
2. Borrow the billionare’s powertools: Google has made a killing with its keyword-based advertising—$21 billion in 2008 alone—so it’s invested wisely in creating a killer tool to generate keywords. Dubbed the Adwords Keyword Tool, its intuition can be uncanny. Luckily it’s not limited to advertisers, so co-opt it for your own needs: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal.
3. Get with the program: Once you’ve got your keywords, you can plug them in as you upload photos or video to various websites. Better yet, though, is to employ the power of modern photo suites to insert your titles, captions, keywords and copyright info as metadata that will travel with your image wherever it goes. This often relieves you from having to retype or re-paste it every time you upload it somewhere, and it’s just good etiquette in this day and age. Adobe Lightroom and Apple Aperture truly streamline this with easily customized keyword-sets and options to insert keywords as you import images off your camera. Many applications also allow you to automatically inject elegant watermarks to help protect your work from would-be cyber-thieves. Both also have direct upload tools available for Flickr, Picasa and other many other sites.

Ever the optimist?

It’s easy to feel your images will get lost among the endless chaff of photos and videos, but stay positive that the quality of your photos will carry them. You have to choose wisely about what images to take the time to prepare, though, and as always, only include outstanding shots.

But also keep an eye toward the multitudes of forgotten markets out there. Case in point: at Bugle we get an endless supply of stunning images of elk sent to us. We buy a fraction of them. But shots of elk crossing busy highways or standing among new housing developments are actually very hard to find.

People don’t realize the potential of the everyday things. If anyone can send us decent video of a wild elk walking in front of a bulldozer, I can almost guarantee we’ll buy it if the price is reasonable. Most folks would turn off their camera at that moment, but such imagery perfectly illustrates the Elk Foundation’s mission. I remember book publisher Bill Schneider telling me that he once couldn’t find a good photo of a red-breasted robin from stock websites to save his life. Look carefully at the topics magazines are covering and practice being perceptive about the sorts of images they might need. And if you see a crystal ball for sale, buy it.

Blogs are no exception

A couple years ago I was searching for a shot of Rifle Falls, a scenic waterfall in Colorado, for our “Name That Elk Country” department. After we’d searched the major stock agencies, I resorted to searching Google. I found a photographer’s Blogger page who had visited the falls on vacation and written up a short travelogue complete with her fine photos.

A day later she wrote a new post about selling her image to a magazine she’d never heard of before.

Take the time to optimize for search engines, whether it’s a photo, video or a Web page. If there is a spot to enter keywords, don’t ignore it. It may be your best route to let your work find its own way to new markets. ◊

Paul Queneau is conservation editor of Bugle magazine at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, where he also works on video, television and Web productions. Contact him at pqueneau@RMEF.org.











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Lead … or readers won’t follow!

By Wayne van Zwoll

First impressions can fuel or sink a new relationship. So a lead can define a story. You knew that.

You’re reading this far because I just implied you might find something here you didn’t know. And because the lead sentence has less to do with writing than with living. Like me, you’re probably on the prowl for anything that can make you more money or earn you more recognition or just plain satisfaction. Reading, you also find human-interest angles compelling, largely because you’re human.

Writing will reward you if you remember that human-interest imperative – and lead with it.

These days, you must hook readers fast and deep to keep them reading.

Snag them with tight, short, active sentences. Shun self-serving prose and needless words. Show immediately that you consider the reader as important as the story, and that even a few minutes with your writing will benefit him.

Some leads are truly memorable: “Call me Ishmael.”

No thinking reader will quit after those first words. They involve the reader, they reference the outcast, they imply that the name is less important than the life story; they indicate this man has little use for hyperbole and is, by extension, a man of action. Who wouldn’t want to join him?

In your lead, choose words with particular care. They not only give the reader a thin slice of the story; they show your priorities and abilities as a writer. I’ve little interest in squandering time on mediocre writing. I’ll ditch it at a glance unless it’s a report unavailable from more skilled journeymen.

Say what you must directly and with short words. Say something important, but leave the reader unfulfilled. Say what you’d find of interest if you weren’t trying to make a dollar writing a lead.

Here are some things you don’t want in a lead:

• Adjectives – They soften impact; any you include must darn well earn their keep.
• Weather – To set a mood, use instead human reaction to the weather: “She knotted her shawl against a freight-train wind.” In particular, don’t use “it” to describe weather – it was raining, it was snowing. It then becomes a story not worth starting.
• You – Unless you’re a protagonist and can say something truly compelling about yourself or your role in the tale, bring the reader into the story first.
• Explanations – Good writing spools out understanding with studied care. It lets the reader in on plot and characters as if both are guarded treasures. The lead should tease. If it looks like the body of a college lecture, you’ll get a predictable response from readers.
• The conclusion – Don’t deny the reader the pleasure of his journey. Don’t make the story unnecessary.
• References to pop culture that presume a reader’s interest in them – Putting a character in a dusty Deadwood street or in the Crimean cavalry quickly brings time and place into focus. History matters. Writing as if the historical hinge is a Rolling Stones album or a Star Wars episode suggests to the well-read that the writer is not, and that the story will lack depth.
• Judgments – Tipping your hand as a narrator impairs your credibility and can reveal too much of you and of the story’s direction up front. If you’re a flawed character in the story, of course this caveat may not apply.
• Formula events and language – Some formula leads have made lots of money for journalists. They’re also the mark of lazy writing. Be original. Fresh writing impresses readers who have other choices.
• Profanity – It is almost always a crutch. If it doesn’t offend readers, it will confirm your limited vocabulary and imagination.
• Front-loading quotation marks – An editor brought this to my attention. “I really like your use of dialogue, Wayne. But bumping up font size on the lead page is difficult if it starts with a quote – especially if there’s a photo in the background.” In books, this is rarely an issue, but when writing for magazines, keep the layout artist in mind.
• Though I write leads first, some writers leave them for last, rightly divining that a lead must suit the story in its final form. I find the considerable time I spend crafting a lead sharpens my focus for the story. But I always return to the lead and re-work it with great care with each story draft. It’s that important. ◊

A full-time outdoors journalist, Wayne van Zwoll has published more than 2,000 articles and twice that many photos for more than two dozen magazine titles. Once editor of Kansas Wildlife, he has also edited Mule Deer for the Mule Deer Foundation, and Stoeger’s Shooter’s Bible. Van Zwoll’s Rifles and Cartridges column in RMEF’s Bugle has run for 21 years. He has authored 13 books on hunting, shooting and history and he has won numerous awards for his writing. Now Special Projects Editor for Intermedia Outdoors, van Zwoll is a professional member of the Boone and Crockett Club and is a former OWAA board member.

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By Mark Sosin

Editor’s note: Sosin’s article is the second of a two-part series. The first part focused on developing a game plan, making your show professional and contract options. More advice on setting income goals, how to get paid, legalities and rights purchased is found in the Freelancers Guide to Business Practices. Compiled by more than 50 OWAA members, this must-have book is available through OWAA’s store: http://shop.owaa.org/main.sc.

Pre-production

A finished show involves three phases: pre-production, production, and post-production. Each step becomes a critical part of the finished product. It all starts with the planning stage (pre-production). Pick a location and the species you intend to catch or shoot or what you want to show the viewer if you are not fishing or hunting. Develop a detailed written treatment, including key shots, to share with everyone on the shoot. This structure puts everyone on the same page and leaves little doubt as to what has to be accomplished. Then, work out Plan B, just in case your initial goal cannot be reached. And, it doesn’t hurt to prepare for Plan C. Barring a crisis, you want to come away with something useable.

During pre-production, you handle all of the logistics involved in travel to the destination, where to stay when you are there (if that is necessary), permitting (if required), transportation on sight, and the list goes on. You then have to schedule the crew and anyone else you intend to take with you. Remember that the more people you have in the field, the more problems you will encounter when you try to shoot. Unnecessary bodies get in the way. Also, you may have to extend a shoot because of weather or other factors. Make sure everyone with you has a flexible schedule and can give you the extra time if needed.

Remote areas create additional problems. Because you may not get backup gear by simply making a phone call, you have to anticipate what might break down while you are in the field and take spares with you or figure out in advance how to get it if needed. If electrical power isn’t available around the clock, take more batteries and don’t forget more tape than you think you will need. If you run out of tape or batteries on a shoot or even during the day, that’s your fault and it can be a costly mistake, even if you have more back in the motel room.

Production

Production takes place in the field and it holds the key to the quality of the finished product. Tape is the cheapest commodity you have. Shoot all you think you need and then shoot more. Taping should start as soon as there is available light and it should continue throughout the day. Shoot cutaways in the same light as the action so they match and can be edited together. The prime mission, however, centers on capturing the action. While you are waiting for something to happen, the cameras can be shooting footage of the area and other scenes that could be used in the finished product. Make sure everyone refers to the treatment and shot list you prepared before leaving for the shoot.

Your job in the field goes beyond simply hunting or catching something. As you gain skill, you begin to work with the cameramen to make certain they can get the necessary shots. Look at it as a team effort. You’re part of that production team. Making it easier for the cameramen means they won’t have to grab what they can in a typical TV news scenario.

Each finished tape should be numbered sequentially along with the camera designator. If you have one camera, it is the A Camera. The second one becomes the B Camera. Tapes would be labeled 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, etc. Be sure to label the tape itself and the case that protects the tape. Finished tapes must be cared for in the field and accounted for continuously. Before you go home at the end of the shoot, put all the shot tapes in a bag or backpack and keep them with you. If you have to board an airplane, carry them aboard with you. Never put finished tapes in checked baggage or let them get out of your sight for any reason.

Post-production

Unless you have your own editing equipment, post production usually will be billed on an hourly basis depending on the time of day you edit, the equipment you need, and so forth. Anything you can do to reduce the amount of time keeps money in your pocket. It may make sense to purchase the bare essentials that allow you to edit offline. Then, when you enter the production facility, you already have a rough cut and the time needed for the online edit has been reduced dramatically.

If you’re going to require voiceovers, they need to be written in advance and arrangements made for the voiceover talent unless you plan to do it yourself. Production houses often have music libraries available which they can use in your show, but they will charge you for each needle drop. If you do use the facility’s library, be sure to find out what rights they are offering and if those rights cover your needs.

It makes sense to cut your standard open and close before you edit your first show. Schedule post-production time for these cuts and be sure to have the necessary logos for billboards along with whatever shots or artwork you plan to use. Some stations and networks simply have you insert two minutes of black where commercials go and they place the commercials. You send your commercials to the station separately and then each week you send them an insert order designating which commercials go where. If you have to insert the commercials in your show, be sure to take them with you to the production facility.

Networks have their own set of post-production guidelines that you are required to follow. Most insist on specific graphics and even give you a window for the length of each segment. Be sure to study these and make certain the editor complies with these rules. If you don’t follow them, the network or station may reject a show and make you change the parts that don’t match their guidelines.

Finally, pack each show carefully and ship it to the station or network in plenty of time for them to air it. No one likes to receive a show at the last minute, because many stations want to preview anything and everything they put on the air. Whatever you ship should get to its destination within one or two days. You don’t want tapes lying idle in hot warehouses for prolonged periods. Make sure you keep track of the shipment and check it off once you get a confirmation that it was received.

To conclude:  It may look easy to someone peering in from the outside, but producing quality video on a consistent basis ranks as an extremely challenging and demanding job. There are no shortcuts and no one else to blame. It’s your name and your show, and the outcome reflects on you. ◊

Sosin’s article is the second of a two-part series. The first part focused on developing a game plan, making your show professional and contract options.

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By Linda Steiner

Editor’s note: Steiner refers to the March OU article, “A honking good time in Rochester.” Information reported by the Rochester CVB was checked for factual accuracy. Sources include the U.S. Department of the Interior, Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Great Plains Nature Center.

I’m allowed to be critical. I’ve been an editor of several state organizations’ magazines, newsletters and brochures. I’m also a longtime freelancer of everyday hook-and-bullet and other outdoor recreation topics. I’ve reported on scientific projects for agency publications, where my articles had to be cleared by experts before publication. As such, I know the value of “getting it right” and how critical that is not only for authors, but also for editors.

In the Outdoors Unlimited article, “A Honking Good Time in Rochester,” this statement appears, referring to Canada geese: “This species, once thought to be extinct, now thrives in Rochester after being re-discovered in 1961 as part of the Mayo family’s flock.”

Funny, I didn’t know all Canada geese were almost wiped out and we owe their recovery to people in Minnesota. The giant Canada goose subspecies (Branta canadensis maxima) was almost lost, but not every Canada goose is a B. c. maxima.

When I first read the above in OU (the piece courtesy Rochester CVB), I chuckled. The problem with such errors of details is that published words become facts that could and probably will be referenced by others, leading to false beliefs that can persist. Such mistakes can become problematic for the editor and the organization, agency or business represented. Readers may snicker, but their faith in what they read in the publication and their trust in the worthiness of the publication may erode.

This is something we all have to guard against. As an editor and writer, I’ve learned, sometimes the hard way, that I need to have a wide and sufficiently deep knowledge of the subjects I’m dealing with to not make, or rarely make, errors. As a freelancer this may be easier; I tend to write about subjects with which I’m already knowledgeable, so I’m not as likely to make gaffs. If I’m out of my depth, I double check my facts and anything questionable that an interviewee says if my life experience sends up a “red flag.”

Editors usually deal with a broad array of topics sent by freelancers or produced by staff. That’s even more reason to become widely informed and to develop an at-your-fingertips store of knowledge that sends a warning signal to do additional research and verify facts. It also helps to have more knowledgeable folks to call on to review articles or answer doubts about what a writer has submitted.

Getting an expert to go over an article is fine if an editor has enough time in the production process to send out the piece for review. Usually the task of catching errors falls on the editor’s shoulders. The rule should be if it sounds wrong, check it out; don’t move it on to the next production step.

I try to be especially careful when it comes to laws and regulations regarding hunting, fishing, boating, etc. I’ve been involved with enforcing conservation laws, so violations jump out at me.

When I was editor for Pennsylvania Wildlife magazine, one of the columnists sent a piece about wild turkeys. The columnist was a wildlife biologist, so he knew his stuff about game birds. In one column, he said he had encountered turkey poults having trouble getting over a wire fence along a road. He got out of his car and caught one. He wrote he was thinking about taking it home to show his wife and kids, but then decided not to and let the turkey go.

That part of the story never made it into the magazine. I knew that what the writer had done was against the law. Can you imagine reader reaction if we had published the columnist’s momentary lack of judgment? And how the publication would have been taken to task for tacitly encouraging readers to capture wildlife illegally?

Some publishers use common copy that appears in all regional or state magazines they produce. Editors of the regional or state editions must be sure that these articles, which may have been originally written for another area, are applicable to their publication. For example, in hunting magazines, a mention of baiting where it isn’t legal or the use of a prohibited hunting arm will be a glaring error to savvy readers or could mislead readers new to the sport.

Safety in outdoor sports is always vital, and it’s up to editors to also not tacitly support unsafe recreation practices. One hiking magazine I read was severely chastised by readers for promoting solo hiking, especially to backcountry destinations, where having an accident with no way to get help is a real possibility. The magazine responded by devoting a whole issue to hiking safety.

Recently, another outing magazine was taken to task for showing photos of whitewater kayakers not wearing helmets. Kudos to the readers who noticed the unsafe boating practice and jeers to the editor for not picking up on it before the pictures made print.

Similarly, a fishing magazine I read showed a fly fisherman in a rough river, with one arm out, as if trying to retain his balance. Anyone who knows anything about wading can see the guy is about to drown. The editor should have avoided unconsciously glorifying pushing the edge of wading safety, even if the photo was dramatic and eye-catching.

Nothing brings bigger reader uproar than a photograph of a firearm muzzle used as a leaning post or appearing to be pointed at a fellow hunter or sporting dog or an other unsafe direction. If editors choosing photos for their publications don’t already know the 10 rules for safe gun handling, they need to learn them and post them beside their computer monitor.

Editors also need to bridge the disconnection between a writer who knows his stuff and an illustrator who doesn’t know anything about the subject. A natural history column in a magazine I receive discussed black flies. Also known as buffalo gnats, they are the biting, nasty bane of the north country. The author got the story straight, but the artist showed horseflies, not black flies.

If I was the writer of the article, I’d have been more than mildly annoyed. The gaff reflects on the writer, even though the writer didn’t assign the artist. As an editor myself, I wondered why the magazine’s editor hadn’t given the artist the proper information to produce the correct insect for the drawing or why he hadn’t sent the artwork back for revision. Then I wondered if the editor knew the difference. If I was a reader who didn’t know what a black fly was, I’d think they look like houseflies. The message I got as a reader who knows what black flies are is that this magazine doesn’t know what it’s talking about. If that is true, what else in the publication is bad information? Maybe I shouldn’t subscribe.

Although I’ve been discussing print media, video media isn’t exempt from blunders. In a TV news show for a major U.S. city, the voiceover report talked about the opening day of trout season, while the video showed file footage of an angler with a largemouth bass. How did that affect the credibility of the station with many trout fishermen in its viewing area?

The bottom line for editors is this: have a working knowledge of topics you’re editing, be aware of safety practices and laws pertaining to the subject, and be sure photos and illustrations correctly represent the writing. Why do this? To be brutally honest, how badly do you want to keep your job? ◊

An OWAA member since 1989, Linda Steiner is a freelance editor, writer, photographer and seminar speaker. Contact Steiner at linstein@galacticis.com.

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By Mary J. Nickum

Does criticism by other writers really help? The short answer is yes, it can. How can criticism by other writers, especially those who don’t write the same kind of articles I do, help me?

First of all, you won’t just be criticized; you’ll get some praise too. While feedback from other writers as focused as you can be frustrating and exhilarating, there’s a flip side. You will have to return the favor. How? Read on.

But aren’t critique groups just for fiction writers or graduate students? No, they are an important part of any writer’s life, no matter the genre. Editors and publishers state that a major reason for rejecting submissions is poor organization and writing skills. This problem can best be overcome by the writer receiving feedback from other experienced writers. Fresh eyes can spot problems you might overlook in your attention to subject matter detail. You, in turn, can look at other writers’ work with fresh eyes and spot deficiencies or find explanations of details expressed that are entirely new and meaningful to you. There is give and take in a critique group.

While practice is the best way to improve your writing skills, you won’t know whether you’re on the right track—what you’re doing right or wrong—unless you get feedback. You have to show your story to others.

At first, while you’re still feeling your way, you’ll probably show your story to friends and family. But friends and family don’t know how a story is created, only whether they like it. “I like it” is not a constructive comment, no matter how well-intentioned the reader. People who know nothing about writing can do little to help you improve your writing. So where can you get constructive feedback? From other writers. And you connect with other writers through writers’ groups and critique groups.

Critique groups can benefit you in more ways than the obvious one of having good and bad aspects pointed out in your stories. As strengths and weaknesses in others’ work are called to your attention and examined in critiques by experienced members, you’ll learn about the elements of good writing and techniques you can apply to your own work. It’s often easier to see mistakes in others’ work than it is to see what’s wrong in your own. You’re too close to your own work to see its flaws. As you learn to recognize weaknesses in others’ work, you’ll be able to distance yourself from your writing to apply new analytical skills, allowing you to recognize and avoid those same weaknesses.

How to Critique:

1. Don’t think you have to cover every point in a story. Look for ones that stand out for you and comment on them.
2. Do try and give feedback on what could be changed to improve the piece.
3. Don’t say: “You should have written it like this.” We all have our own styles and we should respect that. That isn’t to say you can’t offer examples of how you would have written it, but that is all they should be, examples.
4. Do say what you felt about the piece as a reader. As a writer we need to know what readers feel about our work. So say whether it moved you, confused you or made you laugh.
5. Never criticize the author, only give criticism of the work.

How to Receive a Critique:

It is equally important to know how to react to a critique of your work. Submitting your work to others is daunting, but if we are to be published writers then this is something we must do.

1. Do take time to thank the person who has done the critique. Reading and providing feedback on works can take a long time. It is only polite to acknowledge.
2. Do think carefully about the comments that have been made.
3. Don’t immediately fire back defensive messages. You might feel that the reviewer has got it all wrong, but wait before you act. Take time to re-read your work and consider the comments made about it. It is hard to see your work being criticized, but if you want to grow as a writer, you need to learn to take criticism and learn from it where you can.
4. Do post clarifications if you think they are necessary and valid, for instance “The source’s dialogue is deliberately misspelled because that is an indication of how they pronounce the words.” Or “I was intending to hide the sex of the speaker by means of …”
5. Do take the time to critique others’ work, too.

Critiquing isn’t hard. It isn’t an obscure science. It does, however, take time and practice. Remember the critique is only a suggestion. You, the writer, have the final say as to how the work is presented for publication.

Mary Nickum, of Fountain Hills, Ariz., has been an OWAA member since 2000. Her recent children’s chapter book, “Mom’s Story, A Child Learns About MS,” is available from amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com as well as her Web site: www.marynickum.com. Contact her at mjnickum@hotmail.com.

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