Woo Hoo!
One of my regular reads is the blog. Brian Auer, an excellent photographer, provides me with a lot of inspiration and he’s responsible for me finding many of my photography-related reads (like Syl Arena and his LIDLIPS). Occasionally, Brian reviews a book and has a copy or two to give to readers. I always enter because 1) I like photography books and 2) I like winning stuff. I’ve never won. Until tonight.
The book is Live, Laugh, Celebrate, from National Geographic. Brian asked those who wanted a chance of winning a copy to “Submit a photo and/or link to a photo you’ve taken of an event, festival, celebration, gathering, etc. The photo must be your own. Bonus points for supplemental descriptions.” My entry was that of my mountain men taken up at the Big Horn Rendezvous over Labor Day weekend (last photo in the post).
I don’t think enough attention or respect is given to those who painstakingly work to present authentic depictions of our history. They deserve a lot of credit for their attention to detail, for the amount of time they put into creating clothing, obtaining items, and for spending days and sometimes weeks in character. Forget modern creature comforts. They rough it. And many of the groups have very strict requirements to become an official representative of the mountain men — you must spend x number of days living off the land, tracking, hunting, skinning, etc. You must know your history. So the vast majority of people you see at these gatherings are the real deal. They know from experience the hardships our ancestors faced and represent them accurately.
Turns out Brian has some history of time spent with mountain men himself. That makes this even sweeter. He knows and understands why I admire my friend Lost & Found so much.
Thanks, Brian! I can’t wait to get the book and share it with my readers.
Well, thanks for being an avid reader of the blog and participating in the contests! I’m sure you’ll enjoy the photos in the book as much as I did.
Oh, and your photo has me itching to get back up to North Idaho (to my parents’ place) so I can break out my .50 caliber black powder rifle. I’ve got a powder horn and the whole works to go with it.
Comment by Brian Auer — 2009/12/02 @ 00:20
Obviously I’m super excited about this! I mean, I can barely contain myself. Kind of pathetic, huh? All I know is that this book will surely serve as inspiration for me on many levels.
Thanks again, Brian!
Comment by DaGoddess — 2009/12/02 @ 00:29
Yay! Happy dance!
Comment by Miachelle — 2009/12/02 @ 13:48
YAY! You deserved it!
Comment by Theresa — 2009/12/02 @ 16:55
Lovin’ what I’ve seen thus far. This is going to be awesome.
Comment by DaGoddess — 2009/12/02 @ 18:47