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Don Alley
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I've read the chapters on the Channel Islands and Baja and they were wonderful. Great text, great stories and great photography.
I think this would make a fine book.
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Bob H
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Absolutely FANTASTIC! I cannot wait to read more and see more of your photography! The expressions on the faces of your photo targets are just
amazing, the eyes, the tilted heads, the mouths... everything about it. Just amazing photos Ken. I'm going back in to read more details. So far,
very enjoyable. I'd love to have an autographed copy when you go to print!
Kudos, big time!
Bob H
[Edited on 3-24-2007 by Bob H]
The SAME boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It's about what you are made of NOT the circumstance.
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bajalera
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Good text, Ken, and great pix. Go for it!
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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Oso
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Incredible! I need a lot more time to go back through this all very slowly. But, right now I want to put in an advance order for an autographed copy
of the first edition. All the time my wife and I were working for the Johnson's at the Morro Bay Oyster Company we had no idea so much beauty was
right under our feet. I was ON the water a lot, taking a bunch of teenage workers out to the flats at low tide to harvest the oysters and dump them
in big steel crates, returning at high tide with the barge & crane to pull them up. But I never was UNDER the water in the bay. What a missed
opportunity!
All my childhood I wanted to be older. Now I\'m older and this chitn sucks.
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danaeb
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Ken - I think we all look forward to your photos. It's like opening an unexpected gift - "Oh wow, look at that baby whale's eye."
I just read the PNG chapter and have a question for you. I know little about marine life, but it seems that Milne Bay produces an extraordinarily
flamboyant community of crustaceans and fish. What makes this place unique?
Experience enables you to recognize a mistake every time you repeat it.
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Baja Bernie
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Ken
I started at the front and have now read chapter one twice and took notes the second time around..............My first impression is that you do not
need an editor to mess up you photos nor your verbage...together they make up a very distinctive voice that all have related to..............don't
change the voice or the flow or you and your story will be deminished.
A little confusing where you say your friend came from north and you came from the south (where in the south) leaves the reader hanging.
Made me wonder why the increase in the 'triopha' Maculata.
At many points I wondered if you were describing the ever changing sway of mother nature...............but again you leave this non diver wondering.
So far what you have attempted is fantastic and to be applauded until the hands leak.
I look forward to reading your future journeys into a world so few understand.
Thanks
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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Ken Bondy
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I am overwhelmed, flattered, humbled by the feedback. The idea of the Baja map in Chapter 3 is outstanding. Why didn't I think of that?? Bernie
your constructive comments are much appreciated, I will clear up the traveling thing, I knew where I was coming from (in the south) but I never said
it. That's what you get when you are too close to the subject  . As to why there
are now so many Triophas in the bay, I don't think I can answer that one. I have discussed it with several marine biologists and nobody knows. It
may just be what you said, one of the normal ebbs and flows of nature.
danaeb Milne Bay is probably not all that unique. There are undoubtedly many other places with similar marine life in that general area of the Indo
Pacific. I have dived in the Solomon Islands and off the northern end of Sulawesi Island in Indonesia, and found the life very similar to Milne Bay.
I think it has more to do with accessibility and whether there is an organized dive operation in the area.
I can't begin to express how grateful I am for all the comments. Mil gracias a todos
++Ken++
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Baja Bernie
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Ken Channel Islands left me dizzy
Wild and free.......the words that echoed with me over this entire chapter.
Please do not be so humble about your contributions to Jacques.
Regarding the Garibaldi have they been overprotected.........I see them everywhere............say a little more about the
sharks...............Goodness my man..........just please introduce us to 'Coleen.'
My friend, I do not know if I can continue ........your pictures and your words are so overwheming................Tomorrow...........just so you know
I do not do burro stuff.
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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Ken Bondy
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Bernie you are TOOOO kind . I don't think garibaldi have been over-protected, as
far as I am concerned they add so much beauty to the reefs there can't be too many of them. Coleen is my daughter, I introduce her in the preface.
Thanks so much Bernie. ++Ken++
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DavidT
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I would like an autographed copy please. Where do I send my check?
David
Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.
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SDRonni
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Ken, have you any idea that there are no words to describe your photographs? Stunning, beautiful, amazing....nothing seems to fit. I can see this
book for sale in many places, but especially Costco before Christmastime! I know it would have a really great spot on many a coffee table! Would
love an autographed first edition. I agree...where do I send my check?
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Skipjack Joe
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Your "book" is wonderful, Ken. But you want some criticism so I'll do my best. I've never published anything so just take it with a grain of salt.
1. I feel that there are too many images of the same type shown consecutively. For example. In the Morro Bay the nudes are shown continuously one
after another in a stream of pictures that aren't that different one from another (including too many of Hermissenda). Janolus barbarensis is your
best in there. Another example are the siltertip sharks at Cocos Island. There are too many of them that look too much alike. Still another example
are the natives of New Guinea. The two images of the tatooed back are too similar. The pictures with the faces with yellow paint are not different
enough from one another.
I know that you have structured each chapter so that you go from subject to subject and show pictures of each subject thus producing a block of
similar images. Sometimes it works well: the brittle star invasion is all one subject but there is great variety as different subjects appear with the
starfish. The same is true of the Morro Bay pilings: one subject but a diverse community with a lot of different critters.
So I would use fewer images in some chapters. Intersperse them with others of a different subject. The mouth of the sea anemone was a great shot
because it was a different way of looking at the animal. It lends variation to the expose on anemones. I don't find artsy images to be pretentious at
all.
2. The chapters on Cocos Island and Papua don't fit well with the chapters on Morro Bay, Santa Barbara, and Baja. The narrative in the first three
chapters contain a lot of personal experiences that are shared with the reader. The Cocos Island chapter has been written more as as though for an
article for a magazines extolling the dive sites and outfitters. The exception is the episode about the man who feared sharks (but the other chapters
had more stories like that). The New Guinea chapter spends a fair amount of time on cultural anthropology and good dive spots and lacks the personal
touch of the earlier chapters. So I would suggest more personal yarns in the last two chapters to match the first three because the narrative of the
initial chapters was better. Your introductory chapter BTW (the one where you fly down the coast and remember) is your best piece of writing.
3. It would be nice to have images showing the scenes involved in the writing. You have wonderful pictures of sea life and some really neat stories
about people and events that were important to you. It would be nice to see images that connect the two. This is my own personal viewpoint but it
works fine the way you've got it as well.
4. One minor suggestion is that you often have a one sentence description introducing an image. I would just make it part of the text under the image
itself.
There you have it Ken. I am not experienced enough to tell you that all of these suggestions would improve your book but I feel pretty strongly about
my first one. The idea of organizing each chapter by going from species to species (actually family to family) is causing blocks of images which are
too similar and not displayed to their full potential. I would suggest going from community to community, or ecosystem to ecosystem. Mix the pipefish
at New Guinea community with other members of the community rather than a string of pipefish pictures.
P.S. The part about how important photography has been as a creative force in your life is right on. I have a similar background to yours and I
completely related to the fact that engineering (in your world) and computers (in my world) are creative in their own way but the creativity reached
through photography is far richer thing that just can't be achived in our professions. There were many other passages that hit 'home'. I've collected
and photographed the central california coast for several decades and know many of the spots you write of.
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baitcast
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Go for it!
Ya what Joe said,I always wondered if you would do something like this,GREAT STUFF,I have never missed any of it.
But there is one thing missing,that Guadalupe island trip I have been trying to get you to do,would make a fine addition..........Go for
it Amigo.
Robin aka BAITCAST
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Ken Bondy
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Igor
That is a tremendously valuable critique. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your comments. I think all four of your points are right on and I
will do my best to incorporate them. I must admit I was a little stung by the first point, perhaps because it is so obviously correct (another one of
those "why didn't I see that??" things), but on reflection I see you are absolutely correct. The manuscript was developed in bits and pieces over a
period of about 15 months, and your criticisms made me realize that I never really sat down and took a critical look at the whole thing, how all the
pieces fit together. When I got done with one chapter, collecting the photos and writing the text, I simply went on to the next one, working on it
when I had the time.
I like what you said about the Cocos chapter, it needs personalizing. I have many anecdotes from those Cocos trips that can be incorporated and I
will. Although I don't think any can compare with the "fear of sharks" episode. You are obviously right about the string of shark photos, fewer
would make the point. I just think they are so beautiful, particularly the silkies, that I probably just overloaded here. With great pain I will
pull some of the shark photos .
I used the two PNG male back tattoo pictures to show that one pattern was symmetrical, one was not. As an engineer I guess I fixated on that but you
are right again, to most observers the pictures look almost identical. I will have to think about that one .
Igor I can't thank you enough for all the time and effort you spent with this. Your critique will make the final document, wherever it goes, much
better. Thanks again,
++Ken++
[Edited on 3-24-2007 by Ken Bondy]
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Ken Bondy
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| Quote: | Originally posted by baitcast
Ya what Joe said,I always wondered if you would do something like this,GREAT STUFF,I have never missed any of it.
But there is one thing missing,that Guadalupe island trip I have been trying to get you to do,would make a fine addition..........Go for
it Amigo.
Robin aka BAITCAST |
Thanks Robin!! I am finally signed up for a Guadalupe trip on the Andrea Lynn (San Diego Shark Divers) this coming September 15-19. I need to get
great white sharks checked off of my short list at long last, this should do it. The photos might not make the "book", but I will sure post them here
. Thanks again.
++Ken++
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tripledigitken
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Ken,
I have just read the Baja chapter. Wonderful. I do have one suggestion. With your Baron you have the ability to take aerial shots. Why not
incorporate some aerial shots, along with maps suggested by others? I think they would greatly enhance the book. Give a context to some of the
places you highlighted. For instance I really enjoyed the above water photos you had of San Fransisquito.
What a gem you have created. I like others will want a first edition, signed of course. How about next years Book signing at the Pyramid?
Ken
[Edited on 3-24-2007 by tripledigitken]
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Baja Bernie
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The only thing I disagree with from Skipjacks evaluation is this--" One minor suggestion is that you often have a one sentence description introducing
an image. I would just make it part of the text under the image itself."--If anything I would expand it to three or five sentences--I believe you will
find that this makes it more comfortable and rewarding to read.
Well, I guess I had better go back and start at the beginning.
Words to describe you photographs--I don't believe they can be found because they cause so many different
reactions--color-composition--light--freedom--knowledge--creations of nature---this list could go on forever depending on each individuals reactions.
Without even finishing my reading I will say that you have tapped into a subject with the same reverence that John Muir attacked Yosemite.
And like I already said that ain't no burro stuff!
[Edited on 3-24-2007 by Baja Bernie]
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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Skipjack Joe
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I don't know much about the ethics of publishing photographs, Ken, but have you thought about photoshoping your images? Instead of two images of men
with tatoos perhaps one could be just the shoulders, or a closeup of the scars. Instead of full views of the sharks at Cocos perhaps one could be a
closeup of the head.
The whaleshark pictures are a great example of grouping done well: one image is of the fish in the water and the other is of it in relation to those
people in the raft. The two work well together.
I believe I read that you don't like to do that sort of thing. I don't even know if those dive magazines allow you to do that. I suppose to some
extent it stops being your photograph after a while.
I certainly don't suggest that you pull the pictures. Just rearrange them. There's one image of the cocos beach palms that stands considerably above
the rest, the one with the palms on the left and the huge rock on the right. But because it's there with the others it doesn't stand out as much as it
deserves. The viewer may not see how outstanding it is.
Speaking of Cocos it would be great if you added more writing to your 'topside' (as you call it) descriptions of your explorations of the Costa Rica
rainforest. I imagine there must have been interesting episodes associated with the search for those frogs and alligators. That section is a bit light
on verbiage.
I guess there is always room for change. It's think it's great as it is. I don't wish to give the impression that I'm making suggestions because I
don't think highly of it. I do. I took a fair amount of time on this yesterday reading and analyzing the purpose of your manuscript and trying to
decide whether it met your goals.
Igor
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TMW
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Great read Ken and the pictures were outstanding.
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Ken Bondy
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Igor, once again I appreciate your thoughtful comments. I manipulate my digital files in Photoshop to some degree, but I try not to do anything I
couldn't do with a film image in my darkroom (for many years in the "film era" I did all my processing and printing in my own darkroom). So I will
without hesitation crop and adjust contrast and brightness with PS. All that I could do in the darkroom with my enlarger, and my dodging and burning
tools. It is part of the art of photography, both with film and digital images. But I don't use any of the more exotic PS tools. That philosophy
isn't driven by any huge ethical constraints, I just want the image, to the greatest degree possible, to look like what I thought I saw, rather than
what I can make it look like in Photoshop. That said, I really like your suggestions about a tight shot of the scars along with a full back shot of
one of the men, and some head shots of the sharks rather than full body. And now that you mentioned it, memories of great experiences from my Costa
Rica topside travels are flowing back, some really funny and some just interesting and, I think, worthy of including.
Ken thank you for your review and your comments. I like your suggestion of more aerial images. When I was flying in Baja I took some aerial photos
but unfortunately I didn't fully realize what a great opportunity I had, and I didn't take as many as I should have. But I do have some and I will
root around to find them and see if any will work in the Baja chapter.
++Ken++
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