February 2011 Archives - Outdoor Writers Association of America

February 2011

OWAA staff — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 20:42:22 +0000

You can download a PDF version of OU to read and/or print at your own convenience!

The post February 2011 appeared first on Outdoor Writers Association of America.

Make weeklies work for you

OWAA staff — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:29:33 +0000

[level-non-member]
Members, remember to log in to view this post.
[/level-non-member]
[level-membersupporter]
BY BILL GRAHAM
An outdoors column in a weekly paper can work double-fold to fuel that need to play outside and bring in some dollars.
I’m not saying your words about fins and feathers in a weekly will lead the way to a six-figure salary. However, they might put you on the paper’s website and broaden your reach to readers. The weekly can boost your revenue stream and give you a writing outlet that’s often more carefree than what’s found at magazines, big-time daily newspapers or fast-paced websites.
I’ve worked at both types of newspapers. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. I was laid off from The Kansas City Star early in 2009 as the nation’ big dailies shrank due to recession and media changes.
But lucky for me, the publisher of a weekly newspaper near my home called and asked if I wanted to write for him as a freelancer. I did. In addition to the general column he wanted, I also sold him on the idea of an outdoor column for the sports section.
Before you can be an outdoor columnist for a weekly newspaper, you must be a salesperson. Lucky you, if the editor in your town hunts and fishes and is desperate for outdoor content. But I’ve yet to find that type of an editor at a weekly or a daily. Most must be persuaded.
Once my outdoor column at the Platte County Citizen was approved, a wonderful freedom arrived in my writing life. I didn’t need permission to cover the start of the white bass run up the Little Platte River or autumn duck hunting in the Missouri River bottoms. I simply piled camera and notebook into the pickup and went on my way.
The writing was my own. There was no gauntlet of editors and a copy desk to run before the story appeared in print. I shot the photograph and edited the cutline. My satisfaction was large, even if the pay was low.
But for the writers with pride, there are pitfalls.
Sharp editors at a good daily newspaper provide a safety net. I did not have that safety net. Most weekly editors don’t have time to pay extra attention to your work. Early on, once stories were in print, I noticed bumps in my writing that made me wince.
For a good writer to have fun at the weekly — before, during and after the story is written — you must be extra vigilant about your word choice, avoiding wordiness and clichés.
Another lesson I learned early on, as I set my own schedule, is that procrastination and deadlines are just as difficult for the freelancer as for the newsroom reporter with a badgering editor. You’ve got to push yourself to get moving in the field and get the words flowing in the computer. Otherwise, both the fun and the paycheck are missing.
I did discover an unexpected advantage to my outdoor column.
My work continued in the shadow of the large daily newspaper, where Outdoor Editor Brent Frazee of The Star produces one of the best Sunday outdoor pages in the nation. His stories take him to locations throughout Missouri and Kansas, and justifiably so for his readership.
But that means he has less time to report outdoor stories in my two-county area. My readers enjoy reading about hunting, fishing and nature close to home. I am also lucky to live in an ecologically diverse, semi-rural area with many outdoor opportunities.
When I started the column, I worried about running out of topics because I chose to localize my coverage. What I found instead was the opposite. I didn’t have time to do all the stories that could be done. The column format also allowed me to be versatile in how I approached stories, ranging from opinion to straight-ahead story style.
My weekly outdoor column, post-layoff from the daily, did a lot for my spirits but also paid some bills. Pay for a weekly outdoor column is not great, usually ranging from $50 to $100 in my Midwestern environment. But weekly paychecks add up at the end of the month.
While $50 is not that much, there’s competition from those who write for less. One editor told me he had offers from two different outdoor writers seeking to sell him columns for $12 to $15.
But there are weekly markets that, when cultivated properly, can pay more than $100 per column. Selling to several papers (or websites) at once is also an option to increase pay. Some editors might pay extra for photos, though mine did not.
My situation changed late in 2010. A new job writing and doing media relations work for my state’s conservation agency prompted me to retire my weekly outdoor column to avoid any potential conflict of interest.
But I’d enjoyed a very satisfying couple of years on the outdoor trail, fielded some nice compliments from readers and earned some badly needed revenue.
I’ve never enjoyed writing more.
–Bill Graham is a media specialist in the Kansas City region for the Missouri Department of Conservation. Contact him at plattefalls@centurylink.net.
[/level-membersupporter]

The post Make weeklies work for you appeared first on Outdoor Writers Association of America.

Public speaking 102

OWAA staff — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:19:24 +0000

[level-non-member]
Members, remember to log in to view this post.
[/level-non-member]
[level-membersupporter]
BY PAUL QUINNETT
If I may, I’d like to add a few lines to Tim Mead’s “Public speaking 101” craft improvement piece from the December 2010 issue of Outdoors Unlimited. Born a stutterer, I conquered America’s No. 1 fear as a 20-year-old. And now, at more than 70 years of age, and as a well-paid public speaker, let me suggest how you may speak and grow rich.
As you all know, writing is easy, public speaking is hard.
In writing, if you make an error you get to delete and rewrite. In public speaking, if you make an error the audience gets to kill you.
Yes. Kill you. Standup comics are not kidding when they say after two failed jokes, “I’m dying up here!” In ancient times, poor speakers were stoned. Today, we have pistols.
If you choose to chase the easy money of public speaking, it will motivate you considerably to imagine that everyone in your audience is packing a loaded pistol.
Never speak impromptu, Tim? Right! There are three rules to success in public speaking: rehearse, rehearse and rehearse. Only congressmen can break these rules because, as you know, they are unencumbered by facts, figures, or fear of assassination.
On the matter of humor, Tim is again correct. Funny is to humor what a pie in the face is to a slowly-erupting belly laugh from a Pat McManus punch line.
Funny is also not comedy. Funny is backing an old fishing boat off the end of a trailer and watching it sink slowly into a lake. Comedy is backing the same old boat off the end of a trailer and watching it sink slowly into a lake with somebody’s grandpa on board strapped to a wheelchair.
If you must use gags, steal the best and practice your timing. Without timing, don’t try.
Here are seven tips for making money as a speaker:
1. Write an “evergreen” speech that will work any time of year for any outdoor audience. This is your cash machine.
2. The first 10 times you give the speech, be sure to record it, listen to it and edit it.
3. Develop a 15-minute version, a 30-minute version, and a 40-minute version with the option for question-and-answer session – depending on subject, audience, topic and the host’s desire.
4. Because you can’t see yourself when talking, plant a critic in the audience to give you feedback on things like picking your nose, adjusting your glasses or tapping your foot.
5. Give this talk away at least five times before charging for it. Then let price rise with demand. If you don’t get good “word of mouth” and groups offering to pay, you don’t yet have anything interesting or entertaining to sell.
6. If you use alcohol, have that double cocktail at least 20 minutes before you get to the podium. A rising blood alcohol level lowers the panic you will feel when the first gag fails and people start reaching for their pistols.
7. Speak at 10 or 11 a.m. when the audience still cares, or right after an early dinner when the audience is still drunk.
Three things you should never do:
1. Talk more than 40 minutes.
2. Read verbatim from a slideshow presentation like PowerPoint.
3. Begin with, “Can you hear me in the back?” This single question identifies the amateur speaker every single time, and causes listeners to check their holsters.
If you intend to be paid as a professional speaker you should never rise to open your mouth unless you already have the majority of your remarks memorized, a glass of drinking water at the podium, know the sound system and projector are working, how long you will talk, whether you will offer a question-and-answer period, and that the people in the back of the room can hear you.
Finally, no one in your audience is interested in anything but a story. It may be a story studded with scientific data, photographs, or telling truths, but it better be a story. They don’t want you up there if you can’t tell a story. Without a story, audiences will forgive you once, maybe twice, but keep rambling on and on without a story and you’d better be wearing a bulletproof vest.
–A member since 1983, Paul Quinnett is a fishing editor for Sporting Classics, Sports Afield and In-Fisherman. He is also a book author and freelance writer. Contact him at pquinnett@mindspring.com.
[/level-membersupporter]

The post Public speaking 102 appeared first on Outdoor Writers Association of America.

How to be a better video editor

OWAA staff — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:00:19 +0000

[level-non-member]
Members, remember to log in to view this post.
[/level-non-member]
[level-membersupporter]
BY LISA DENSMORE
This article is the final installment of a four-part series. The first article, “How to be a better producer,” appeared in the August 2010 issue. Part two, “How to talk to a camera,” appeared in the October issue. Part three, in December OU, covered videography.
An editor is like the master chef of a television show. Armed with video cards full of ingredients — all the footage shot for the program — you must combine creatively to cook the delicacy the producer ordered. Sometimes the ingredients are superb, which makes the job easier. Sometimes they are stale, undercooked, over-chopped or downright rotten; but it’s still up to you to fix up something viewers want to consume.
I’m a producer and on-camera host, not an editor, so I rely heavily on editors to make my work look good. The editors I hire must possess the following skills:
AN EYE FOR GREAT GRAPHICS
As editor, you create the show’s open, close, bumpers and graphic visual support. While the network gives you a graphics package, there are still more important effects that need to be added to the program. Creative graphics greatly enhance the visual part of a show. If raw footage is a painting on the wall, graphics are the mat and frame. A unique frame can make a ho-hum picture really pop. Accordingly, with a little creativity, you’ll turn your programming from average into exceptional.
A KNACK FOR ANIMATION
Animation is a graphic effect that moves. Instead of having two arrows appear on a map showing the start and end of a fishing expedition, have the arrow move along the river. The static arrows and the moving arrow make the same point, but the latter does it in a more sophisticated, visually interesting way. Creating animated effects takes more work, but if time permits, they make the program more engaging.
PACING
Pay attention to pacing. Television time is greatly accelerated compared to real life. If the viewer has to wait too long for something to happen, you’ll lose the viewer. This is the challenge in outdoor programming when the gobblers don’t come into range or fish don’t bite. If the videographer gave you plenty of cut-aways and angles, use them. If they didn’t, then consider an animated interlude with narration and music to compress time, rather than use a 30-second shot fromover the hunter’s shoulder as he watches turkeys 400 yards away poke the dirt.
STORY-TELLING TALENT
Whether the field producer hands you the cards and walks away, or gives you a highly-detailed paper cut, you still have to tell a story that holds a viewer for 30 minutes. Consider starting with a “bang.” After starting with exciting action, fill in the blanks without creating a lull, then build to a climatic finale. If you leave the viewer wanting more at the end of every segment, you’ve told a good story.
Many editors hole up in front of their monitors, working in isolation until the show is done. However, it is important to get feedback from others throughout the editing process. As you’re working, show your work to other people, even friends and family, for a viewer’s perspective.
SOUND SWEETENING
We think of television as a visual medium with moving pictures telling the story. It’s natural to emphasize the visuals and then rush the sound mixing in order to meet a deadline. But audio is as important as the picture. It can make or break the production. Anything distracting to you, no matter how minor, is distracting to the viewer. Be picky about sound. Add music and other sound effects judiciously to create mood, build suspense and heighten the climax. Carefully balance ambient sound with on-camera voices and narration. Viewers will quickly change the channel if they can’t clearly discern a voice from background sound.
TRANSITIONS
Anyone can cut or dissolve from shot to shot. Think out of the box now and then, creating visually-interesting transitions between shots. Likewise, don’t overuse unusual transitions, as that can detract from the story. As a writer, I learned the importance of transitions from paragraph to paragraph. They are just as important in television production. Smooth transitions allow a program to flow, compress time unconsciously for the viewer, and carry a viewer’s interest from shot to shot. Jump cuts are just that: jumpy. Ten quick cuts in 20 seconds will make the piece seem cut up. That’s okay when you strive for that look; but otherwise, keep it smooth
ENTHUSIASM
Take interest in the topic. There’s nothing worse than an editor putting together a show about bass fishing with lead-free tackle if he has no interest in fishing. That doesn’t mean you have to love what your current project. You might know nothing about it when you’re handed the assignment. But learn as much as you can, just as the field producer and host must do before they shoot the show. The more insight and enthusiasm you bring to the edit room, the better.
FIXES
Fixing mistakes from the field in post-production is a fact of life, no matter how meticulous the field producer and videographer are. Be patient within reason. Offer constructive criticism for next time. Most importantly, do your best. And if you ever hear a producer utter the words, “Don’t worry. We can fix it in post,” I give you permission to swamp his canoe.
–A member of the OWAA Board, Lisa Densmore has garnered numerous awards during her 20-year television career, including three Emmys, dozens of Tellys and the OWAA President’s Award for television in the Excellence in Craft contests. Her website www.DensmoreDesigns.com.
[/level-membersupporter]

The post How to be a better video editor appeared first on Outdoor Writers Association of America.

What I learned from The Gusher

OWAA staff — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:43:02 +0000

[level-non-member]
Members, remember to log in to view this post.
[/level-non-member]
[level-membersupporter]
BY TED WILLIAMS
Members are encouraged to write about issues and topics. Views expressed do not represent the opinion or endorsement of OWAA, its staff, officers, directors or members. Opposing views are encouraged, as OWAA desires to create a forum for the exchange of ideas. Send commentary to aschroeder@owaa.org.
I keep reading about lessons America supposedly learned from last year’s disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. History suggests they’ll be retained about as long as dates memorized by high-schoolers for June history finals. But I learned some lessons that will never exit this cluttered mind. Lessons that haven’t even been talked about except by me.
First, I learned that President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar are not the men I thought them to be. Confronted by a furious nation, this was their battle cry: Once more into the breach dear friends, and to save our hides we’ll sacrifice our Minerals Management Service Director Liz Birnbaum, the environmentalist we chose for the job only last July.
I got to know Birnbaum when we worked for American Rivers — I as a board member, she as our general counsel. Immediately she impressed me with her toughness, intelligence and commitment to fish and wildlife. She impressed the Obama team as well — not just with her performance at American Rivers, but with her previous and equally heroic work as counsel for the National Wildlife Federation’s Water Resources Program and as counsel to the House Committee on Natural Resources. What’s more, as President Clinton’s associate solicitor for mineral resources, she’d had extensive experience in minerals management. She was the perfect choice to roust the MMS from Big Oil’s bed.
Immediately, Birnbaum set about doing just that. She helped draft safety-system regulations. She got the National Academy of Sciences to review inspection procedures. She started work on desperately needed regulations for cleaning abandoned drilling equipment. She put the environmental staff on a more equal footing with the leasing staff by bringing in a new science adviser — Alan Thornhill, director of the Society for Conservation Biology. She met with all regional staffers and informed them of her high expectations. She built trust. People began coming to her and telling her what needed to be fixed.
Birnbaum is a good soldier, classy enough to fall silently on her sword, even when pushed. But I have it from a high-ranking MMS source that when Salazar felt the heat he began distancing himself from her. First he ordered her to not attend the May 27, 2010, hearing of the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, despite the fact that she was on the witness list and would look terrible if she didn’t show. If that was his intent, it worked. Salazar’s statement that Birnbaum resigned “on her own terms and on her own volition” was not true. He asked her to resign after she’d mentioned the possibility. With that, President Obama proclaimed to the nation that the pace of Birnbaum’s reforms during her tenure (all of 10 months) had been “too slow.”
The president spoke often of BP’s “greed” and “recklessness.” But he and the rest of the nation erred in blaming BP for the disaster. BP is just another oil company, equally greedy and reckless, but no more so than any other. Americans have only themselves to blame because they swallowed the industry’s lie that they can burn as much oil as they like and all will be fine on sea and land.
◊◊◊
Another lesson I learned (or relearned) was that, especially when the public is fixated on a topic, our national media function like a vast sewer system in reverse. They seemed to go out of their way to dredge up spectacularly unqualified spokesmen, none of whom vented the honey truck quite like Plaquemines Parish, La., President Billy Nungesser. Scarcely did he pause to inhale during his five-month monologue. Typical of his pontifications (this circulated by the Associated Press) was that Admiral Thad Allen — the smart, tough, straight-talking incident commander, who has been dealing with oil spills for 40 years — should be fired because he “has failed at almost every step.”
When CNN’s Anderson Cooper ran out of news he concocted it by playing ventriloquist to propped-up guests. Cooper said (goosing the American Birding Association’s Drew Wheelan along with fiction about “experts” who supposedly possess the ability to pluck fowls from the firmament): “Right now they don’t have the expertise to go after birds that are in flight, which people can do who are experts. … Basically, you’re saying they’re just going after the birds who are completely covered in oil and unable to move, and these are the birds that are likeliest basically to die. … So birds that maybe have less oil on them and can fly, they’re not going after those birds because it’s too
much effort and too difficult.”
Wheelan: “Yeah, they just don’t have any expertise in that area.”
Cooper: “It seems there are a lot of volunteers and a lot of bird experts who would love to be down here and love to be helping.”
Wheelan: “Absolutely. … I know the Audubon Society has over 17,000 people that have signed up to volunteer on this effort, and so far they’ve not received a single phone call.”
During this and similar broadcasts I was inspecting the Louisiana coast and islands by boat. What impressed me most was howfew birds had been oiled. There were more than enough state and federal resource personnel to retrieve the lucky victims — i.e., those that couldn’t fly. No one, save Mary Poppins, could capture those that could still take to the air; and the last thing the stressed colonies needed was net-brandishing volunteers crashing through thick cover, flushing adults, exposing chicks to the fierce sun and running them into oil.
On June 10, 2010, the Associated Press quoted unnamed critics as calling bird washing “a wasteful exercise in feel-good futility that simply buys doomed creatures a bit more time.” Thirty-eight years ago, when I first started writing about oiled birds, I believed this — because it was true. Now it’s bunk. At one rehabilitation center, last June, I saw northern gannets being massaged with solvent, washed with detergents and rinsed with high-powered sprayers. A recent study of their nearly identical cousins, cape gannets off South Africa, revealed a one-year survival rate of 84 to 88 percent for birds that underwent identical rehabilitation. On our Pacific Coast, a study of western gulls found that rehabbed birds did just as well over the long haul as the unoiled control group. And the long-term survival rate for rehabbed brown pelicans is between 50 and 85 percent, probably closer to the top figure for Louisiana birds because most began feeding within seconds of release.
◊◊◊
The disaster was plenty bad, just not as bad as reported; but I learned that many Americans can’t stand to hear any news about it that isn’t just plain awful. Among the facts they don’t want to know: All feds aren’t stupid, lazy and deceitful. Unlike Alaskan oil, Gulf oil was so volatile that nearly half evaporates instantly when it hit the surface. High temperatures caused much of the remaining oil to break down rapidly. Most oil that sank or drifted below the surface in plumes now cannot be found. While fish eggs and larvae took a major hit from even light sheens, most adult fish toughed it out or, as with tunas, mackerels and billfish, fled. And because commercial and even recreational fishing was shut down for weeks, next year’s spawn will be monumental.
When my first piece appeared in Audubon magazine, the birding blogosphere threw a hissy fit. Birdspert.org’s Ted Eubanks denounced it in a rambling harangue entitled “Slick Williams” that hopscotched between everything and everyone from “Earth Day” to “the Clean Air Act” to “the Clean Water Act” to “NEPA” to “ESA” to “the Great Lakes” to “the Hudson River” to “western wilderness” to “Edward Abbey” to “Woodward and Bernstein” to “Russell Mead” to “Teapartiers” to “Nixon” to “George Wills [sic].” Typical of other posts were: “Audubon is a sellout and Ted Williams is just another crony,” “Good bye to Audubon until they get someone who actually wants to make a difference for the environment writing for them” and “You have whithered [sic] to little more than a desk jockey with a laptop.”
No one knows how the oil will affect ecosystems in the long haul. But it is clear to anyone capable of observing reality and accepting truths that most bird, mammal, turtle and fish populations will recover in the not-too-distant future. After that, for those willing, the learning process will continue.
–Freelance writer Ted Williams specializes in conservation and environmental topics. He’s an editor-at-large for Audubon magazine, conservation editor for Fly Rod & Reel and an OWAA member since 1975. Contact him at ewilli9767@aol.com.
[/level-membersupporter]

The post What I learned from The Gusher appeared first on Outdoor Writers Association of America.

Fly free to Fairbanks

OWAA staff — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:26:41 +0000

[level-non-member]
Members, remember to log in to view this post.
[/level-non-member]
[level-membersupporter]
BY PETER SCHROEDER
“I’d love to go to Alaska for the 2012 Conference in Fairbanks — but I can’t afford the airfare,” some OWAA members have remarked.
It’s true that airfare to Alaska can be expensive, sometimes more than the cost of attending the conference itself. But if you plan ahead, you can get one or two roundtrip tickets to Alaska for free — through airline frequent flier programs. It’s easy and anyone with a decent credit rating can do it. Here’s how it works, based on current airline programs.
STEP NO. 1
Three national carriers have regular air service to Fairbanks from the Lower 48: Delta Airlines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. Like all major U.S. airlines, these carriers have frequent flyer programs that award free flights when a sufficient number of points or miles have been earned. Join the frequent flyer program for each of the major carriers above that also serves your home airport. All the programs are free to join; call or log on: Delta Airlines SkyMiles program (www.delta.com, 800-528-4800); American Airlines AAdvantage program (www.aa.com, 800-433-7300); Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan (www.alaskaair.com, 800-ALASKAAIR, 800-252-7522). Simply by joining its frequent flier program (you don’t even have to apply for a credit card), Alaska Airlines will award you 500 bonus miles.
To earn a free coach ticket on any frequent flyer program, you must have 25,000 points. The airlines want you to earn points by flying their routes and accumulating one point for every mile flown. Forget this approach, because it takes years to earn a ticket. There are better and faster ways to earn the points you need.
STEP NO. 2
Apply for the airlines’ credit cards. You’re well on your way to a free seat just by acquiring the card.
→ Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines requires 25,000 Award Miles for a round-trip ticket from any U.S. city it serves to Fairbanks (although the amount can rise to 40,000 based on seat availability and seasonality). By applying and being approved for its Signature Visa Card, Alaska Airlines awards 25,000 miles— enough for a free round-trip ticket to Fairbanks. In addition, you can apply for the Alaska Airlines Business Visa Card. After the first purchase with the Business card, the cardholder earns 20,000 miles — nearly enough for another free ticket. Put a few more purchases on your card — a new laptop, camera, or monthly expenses such as cable TV or phone bills — and you’ll soon earn that additional 5,000 miles. With either credit card, you’ll also receive a $99 companion ticket to use for a second person when you purchase a coach ticket. The annual fee for each credit card is $75. If you don’t have enough miles for an award ticket, you can use a combination of award points and payment.
→ Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines offers three mileage plans that require 25,000, 32,500, or 40,000 award miles for a round trip ticket to Fairbanks. By applying for the Gold Delta Skymiles American Express card and making the first purchase, you’ll receive 20,000 miles. An additional 5,000 miles is put into the account for adding two additional cardholders, such as a spouse or child, on the same account. The annual $95 fee is waived the first year. (You can cancel the card after the first year and avoid paying any fee.)
You’ll receive a $99 Domestic Economy Class Companion Certificate each year when you renew your card. By spending $15,000 or more during the calendar year, you’ll be awarded 5,000 bonus miles, and if in that same calendar year your eligible spending is $25,000 or more, you will be awarded an additional 5,000 bonus miles. You can also get the Delta small business credit card that offers sign-up benefits similar to its personal American Express card.
→ American Airlines
American Airlines offers both a personal and a business Visa card. For each card, you’ll receive 40,000 miles after making $1,000 in purchases within the first four months. The $85 annual fee for the personal card and the $75 annual fee for the business card are both waived in the first year. After you become a card member, you’ll receive a two-for-one Companion Certificate for domestic round-trip travel when coach fare valued at $299 or more per passenger is purchased with your card.
In addition to its Visa credit cards, American Airlines also offers an American Express card that awards you 30,000 miles, enough for a domestic flight, after you make $750 in purchases within the first four months of card membership. The $50 annual fee is waived for the first year. You’ll also receive a Companion Certificate with the same benefits as offered with its Visa card.
STEP NO. 3
You have several alternatives to increase the rate at which you earn points. The easiest technique is to sign up for a second credit card under your own name. It’s legal and ethical. You can use one card for personal expenses and the other for your business. With the doubling of the signup bonus, you immediately have your free ticket to Fairbanks with enough extra points to work toward a second ticket. If your guest or spouse does the same, you’ve got two free tickets. You can also apply for a third credit card, which you can use when you’re on business for your employer or for expenses for your kids or for any another application that you want to keep separate from your other finances.
STEP NO. 4
Use your credit card extensively. Charge everything … everything. We’re almost a cashless society, and there’s practically no reason to carry cash at all. Use your card for even small purchases such as cups of coffee, incidentals at the drug store, or items at the convenience shop. That five-dollar purchase may qualify for double or even triple miles. It all adds up.
Put all your monthly bills on the credit card — telephone, electricity, garbage, water, Internet, cable TV, telephone. I do. Not only will you get frequent-flyer points each month; you’ll save time and postage by not writing a dozen checks. You can pay all your credit cards online and you’ve got a perfect record-keeping system.
STEP NO. 5
You can even go further with the credit card to earn award points. Most long-distance telephone companies have cooperative arrangements with the airlines whereby they award five points for every dollar spent. You also get additional points if you make purchases from FedEx, the Gap, flowers.
com and many other merchants.
In addition, each airline credit card offers bonus points. Every so often you’ll receive notice that a particular credit card offers double miles when used at service stations, grocery stores, and the post office. In the past, American Airlines’ MasterCard has offered 1.5 points for every dollar spent during a three-month period. When you purchase airfare with the airline’s credit card, you get double or sometimes triple points. Even if you apply for only one card, and start making normal purchases with it, you should have no problem earning the remaining miles to fly to Fairbanks.
STEP NO. 6
Two caveats: First, don’t carry balances on your cards. The astronomical interest rates will eat you alive. If you can’t pay off the balances each month, keep the credit card safely put away at home.
Second, just because you have the required number of frequent flyer miles, you’re not assured of getting a free ticket. The number of frequent flier seats is limited. It’s best to book early or be flexible with your dates of travel, arriving or departing a few days before or after the OWAA conference. If the award tickets to Fairbanks are all taken, check out awards to other airports such as Anchorage and arrange ground transportation to the conference.
Remember — This isn’t a one-way street in your favor. The airlines wouldn’t be making these offers if they didn’t benefit by selling award tickets to the banks that offer the credit cards. The banks, in turn, profit from the annual fees and the few percentage points they make on every credit card transaction you make. It’s a win-win-win game.
Finally, what are you going to do with the money you’ve saved by earning a free award ticket? Spend it on the OWAA conference silent raffle, of course!
–Peter Schroeder is a freelance writer and photographer. He specializes in recreational boating, cruising under sail, scuba diving, snow skiing, and worldwide adventure travel. Contact him at ptrschrdr@aol.com.
[/level-membersupporter]

The post Fly free to Fairbanks appeared first on Outdoor Writers Association of America.

Video editing 101, Part Two: Editing Footage

OWAA staff — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:14:29 +0000

[level-non-member]
Members, remember to log in to view this post.
[/level-non-member]
[level-membersupporter]
BY PAUL QUENEAU
As I wrote in the January issue of OU, video editing is becoming as vital a skill to outdoor communicators as photo editing. I laid out how to capture footage into your computer. Here’s what to do from there:
EDITING
Once your footage is into Final Cut, find the clip you want to open your video with and drag it down onto the timeline on the lower half of your screen.
You now have a few of options to edit a clip down further. Within the timeline, you can grab a clip by its ends (your cursor arrow will change into two vertical lines with opposing arrows) and shorten it until it is just what you want to keep. You can also use the Razor Blade tool in the Tool Palette (or by pressing “B” on your keyboard) to slice it into chucks (press “A” to get back to the Selection cursor). This is especially useful if you want to carve multiple segments out of one clip.
Once you’ve pared that clip down, pull down your next clip and place it just after the first, leaving yourself a bit of space. Edit the new clip as described above, then move it so it touches your first clip (unless you want a black screen between scenes). It should snap right into place. If not, you can choose “snapping” under the View menu at the top of your screen.
To fade between two scenes rather than cut, hold your cursor between the two clips and right-click (or hold Control-click if you’re on a Mac without a right mouse button) on Cross Dissolve. There are also additional transitions available under the “Effects” menu. I usually cut between shots taken in one location, then cross-dissolve when clips change location or any other major shift in perspective.
MIX IT OR NIX IT
You can add music or secondary audio by importing an mp3, AIF, WAV or similar audio file, then dragging it into your timeline below your other clips. Hint: when laying an audio or video clip atop another clip, be careful to drop it on the lower two-thirds of the timeline row. Otherwise it will cut the clips below it in two and shove the halves up and down the timeline rather than mixing them together.
If you have audio bound to a video clip and you’d like to delete and replace one or the other, you can select it independently by clicking on it while holding the Option key, then hitting Backspace. Another hint: if you delete a clip using the Delete button rather than Backspace on your keyboard, it will automatically pull together the resulting gap in the timeline rather than leaving an empty space.
No matter what, after each step, keep previewing your changes, which often requires rendering (available under the Sequence menu at the top of your screen). For a large string of clips, this can be very time consuming. Having a fast computer helps; but it’s one of the burliest tasks you can demand of a microprocessor, so be patient.
At some point you’ll probably want to create a title screen for your video. Hit “control” and “A” to select all your tracks and clips in the timeline (or hit “T” four times until your cursor turns into the “Select All Tracks Forward” tool), and scoot everything downstream to give yourself enough room.
Put your timeline slider where you want to place the text. Then, in the top-left Viewer window, click the filmstrip button with the “A” on it. From its menu, choose “Text,” then “Text” again. You’ll get the words “SAMPLE TEXT” on the Viewer, which you can edit the content of using the Controls tab at the top of the window. This can be one of the more frustrating menus. It controls location (origin) and size (“Scale”) of objects like text, images and video clips as they appear on the screen, along with font size and style, motion and other aspects. Once you’ve made a change, click on the Video tab to preview. If text flows off the screen, you’ll have to add hard-returns to create line-breaks. Not exactly user-friendly, unlike iMovie that makes text and titles considerably easier. Once you’ve got a title how you want it, drag it down onto your timeline.
Alternatively, you can create a title graphic in Photoshop, Illustrator, Apple’s LiveType (included with Final Cut), or in a similar application. Import the resulting image file or PDF into Final Cut as you did your video clips, then double-click on it in the file browser to preview it. You may then have to resize the image using the same Controls tab in the Viewer window as described above. From there you need only drag it to the timeline.
Once you’ve sliced, diced and cross-dissolved your video to completion, select all the items in your timeline and go to Export under the File menu. Choose QuickTime movie or QuickTime conversion, depending on the size you’re looking to output.
I’m hoping a future version of Final Cut Express will have an option to upload directly to YouTube and other video sharing sites as Final Cut Pro does now, but for the time being you need to export it to your hard drive, then upload that file to a sharing site via your Internet browser. Check your chosen site for their preferred upload format. Final Cut also has an option to send it directly to iDVD, though you will lose quite a bit of resolution if your master footage is HD.
Like Photoshop, there are multiple ways to get the same task done in Final Cut. Don’t hesitate to ask Google if you run into trouble. I’ve had great luck in this regard, as there are usually support forums filled with people having the same problem. No matter what, be patient and persistent and you’ll likely be thrilled with your final product. Good editing!
–Paul Queneau grew up in Colorado hunting, fishing and backpacking. He started with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s Bugle magazine as an intern and is currently the conservation editor. Contact him at pqueneau@RMEF.org.
[/level-membersupporter]

The post Video editing 101, Part Two: Editing Footage appeared first on Outdoor Writers Association of America.

Snowbird Resort has plenty to offer summer travelers

OWAA staff — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:59:40 +0000

[level-non-member]
Members, remember to log in to view this post.
[/level-non-member]
[level-membersupporter]
BY JARED ISHKANIAN
Snowbird Resort Public Relations Director
Even though the snow continues to pile up (310 inches as of Feb. 1) here at Snowbird Resort in Utah, we’re already preparing for your visit this summer!
For those who aren’t familiar, Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort is a legendary year-round mountain destination, offering award-winning ski terrain, a variety of summer activities, elite meeting facilities, 882 lodging rooms and 15 restaurants and lounges, all within 30 minutes of downtown Salt Lake City.
July mountain temperatures tend to peak at about 80 degrees, providing plenty of sunshine for the wide variety of wildflowers, birds and wildlife which inhabit Little Cottonwood Canyon. Snowbird offers plenty of options for visitors to take advantage of the pleasant climate. More than 30 miles of official hiking, biking and mountain scootering trails can be accessed from the legendary Snowbird Aerial Tram which transports travelers up to the 11,000-foot Hidden Peak, offering stunning views of the surrounding Wasatch Mountains and Salt Lake Valley.
The base of Snowbird offers activities for the young and old, from the excitement of the Alpine Slide and ZipRider to a climbing wall, ropes course and more. Dining options range from sandwiches and groceries (including beer and liquor) at General Gritts to progressive New American cuisine of the Aerie Restaurant, located on the tenth floor of the Cliff Lodge. The Cliff also boasts the newly remodeled Cliff Spa, offering more than 30 treatments and salon services as well as a yoga studio, full fitness center, rooftop pool and hot tub with unparalleled mountain views.
In addition to all that Snowbird has to offer, we’re also conveniently located only minutes away from neighboring Alta, 30 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City and 45 minutes from Park City. We hope you’ll attend the 2011 OWAA Conference and experience all that Snowbird and Utah have to offer. For more info about Snowbird, visit http://www.snowbird.com.

[/level-membersupporter]

The post Snowbird Resort has plenty to offer summer travelers appeared first on Outdoor Writers Association of America.

Promises of adventure led to career in outdoors writing

OWAA staff — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:51:56 +0000

[level-non-member]
Members, remember to log in to view this post.
[/level-non-member]
[level-membersupporter]
BY JESSECA WHALEN
Searching for an airfield over the Andes in a single engine plane, being held at gunpoint by South American soldiers, and getting lost in the Arctic: These are just a few of the experiences Mark Sosin has had while working in the outdoors.
Sosin, 77, could tell 350 such tales about the perils of capturing an elusive story. One for almost every day of the year –– one for every gritty situation he had to escape during the course of his career as an expert fishing journalist.
“I have a whole book full of these things,” Sosin says with a chuckle. “I lost hundreds of stories in that book.”
A natural storyteller, Sosin loves sharing his adventures with others. Titled “A Sportsman’s Memoir,” his first published work holds a myriad of tales he wrote down after some prompting from his wife, Susan.
Sosin has been an outdoor journalist for 50 years. He is well known for his how-to fishing videos and CBS radio travel writing. He’s been to every U.S. state and 50 countries. He also started the first saltwater fishing show in the United States, and has been working for Saltwater Sportsman Television for 26 years.
“My friend asked me once, ‘What do you do?’ I said, ‘I’m an outdoor journalist.’ He said, ‘No, what do you do?’ Well, that drove me crazy,” Sosin says.
“Finally I went back and told him, ‘I’m an educator and a journalist. I display information and I share knowledge.’ He said,‘That’s right, and never forget it.’”
Sosin joined OWAA in 1965. In a major bylaws change duing 1976, the first vice president was to be named president-elect to ensure his automatic election to the presidency the following year. Mark Sosin was the first president-elect, serving from 1977-78.
Sosin says he joined because it’s important to expand one’s knowledge of outdoor journalism by interacting with those who focus their work on other aspects of the
outdoors.
“I like coming into contact with different ideas,” he says. “Seeing what other people are doing, you get a better feel for what you’re doing.”
Interestingly, Sosin never planned to be in journalism for long. A Wharton business school graduate in management and industry, writing was supposed to be temporary job
until Sosin could find employment related to his degree.
“I made a serious mistake,” Sosin laughs. “I was supposed to work in business for 25
years, get a gold watch and retire.”
But the promise of adventure, among other things, held Sosin fast. His love of fishing never released him, either. As Sosin tells it, he began fishing when he was three years old.
“He never said [it], but I think my father hooked a fish and let me crank the reel.”
He attributes his writing skill to his mother, who believed her sons should learn to both write and speak well.
“My mother was an incredible woman,” Sosin says. “She taught me that if you can’t communicate properly, you can’t succeed.”
Sosin and his friend, C. Boyd Pfeiffer, are always willing to help each other become better writers.
“I think most outdoor writers are willing to help each other,” Pfeiffer says. “But Mark and I hit it off right away. It’s nice to find a similar dog in the same kennel. Outdoor writers are a strange breed.”
A Washington Post freelancer, Pfeiffer presented Sosin with the 1991 OWAA Excellence in Craft Award. Sosin has won many awards throughout the years, but he is particularly proud of his induction into the International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame for his outdoor journalism efforts. Sosin was the 50th person from all over the world who was honored.
“Mark’s really a master of all trades,” Pfeiffer says. “He has good spirits and an optimistic attitude. He’s one of my favorite people.”
Sosin has no immediate plans to retire. He still works in television and writes two columns a month. Angling continues to be his passion, too.
“I like to sight fish,” Sosin says. “The ultimate challenge is fishing for what you can see. If I tell you, ‘There’s a bass, go catch it!’ What’s the likelihood of that happening? Not high.”
Sosin may not always be able to hook what he can see, but he’s had the good fortune to gather rich memories from the unanticipated catch, living a life that makes for one heck of a story.
“It’s been a good ride,” he says.
— Jesseca Whalen was the fall 2010 intern at OWAA HQs. Born and raised in Idaho,
she’s been in Montana for five years while completing a B.A. in journalism and B.S. in
marketing.
[/level-membersupporter]

The post Promises of adventure led to career in outdoors writing appeared first on Outdoor Writers Association of America.

Nikon Coolpix P7000

OWAA staff — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:47:06 +0000

[level-non-member]
Members, remember to log in to view this post.
[/level-non-member]
[level-membersupporter]
BY JON LAWTON
For Nikon, the P-Series designation is reserved for their highest-quality and most technically-advanced compact digital cameras. The Nikon P7000 is the flagship model of the Coolpix camera lineup and was specifically designed to satisfy the needs of serious amateurs and professionals alike. By combining features of an SLR with the form of a point-andshoot, Nikon created quite an impressive pocket camera.
The Nikon P7000 replaces the 1 1/2-yearold P6000. Typically, new models are released with subtle upgrades and minor improvements over their predecessors. However, the P7000 breaks that trend, as almost the entire camera was redesigned. The overall shape of the camera changed and it is now made of metal, while the key control switches are now located in areas where your hands naturally grip the body. The camera still features a large format 1/1.7-inch CCD sensor. However, in order to increase low-light sensitivity, the resolution was reduced to a reasonable 10.1 megapixels. A noteworthy improvement was made to the camera’s lens. The P7000 now sports an image-stabilized 7.1-times optical zoom (28-300mm 35mm equivalent) This versatile lens distinguishes the P7000 with the longest zoom lens in its class. On the back of the camera, the 921,000 dot LCD screen grew to three inches, allowing easy image composition and playback. Fortunately, Nikon also included an adjustable optical viewfinder that is helpful when shooting outdoors.
One attribute that sets the P7000 apart from nearly every other compact camera is the ability to shoot in full manual mode. Being able to select the aperture and shutter speed combination you want allows for more creative control. In addition to the standard JPEG image file, the P7000 also supports the uncompressed RAW image format. ISO settings can also be selected manually and range from 100 to 6400. Other notable upgrades include 720p HD video mode with stereo sound as well as a built-in virtual horizon that helps ensure your photos are level.
Operating the P7000 is very straightforward. You can quickly adjust important settings like ISO, white balance, picture quality, exposure compensation and the shooting mode with the thumb-operated wheels on the top of the camera. With its compact size and impressive feature-set, the P7000 has definitely earned its place at the top of Nikon’s Coolpix lineup. If you are interested in a travel friendly compact camera but still crave the creative control of SLR, the P7000 is a great alternative. The P7000 kit includes: one rechargeable lithium-ion battery, charger, USB and AV cables, neck strap, and the Nikon software suite CD-ROM. The P7000 currently sells for $449.95.
— Jon Lawton is a sales associate at Hunt’s Photo and Video in Melrose, Mass. Contact him at jlawton@wbhunt.com or 800-221-1830.
[/level-membersupporter]

The post Nikon Coolpix P7000 appeared first on Outdoor Writers Association of America.