Weeks have passed since the end of the printing work on the previous print, but there has just been so much other stuff getting in the way (mostly for the Gift Print stuff ...). I had some time yesterday and today though, so got down to work on the first steps on the next one, which will be the Seacoast in Winter.

Bit of a problem with this one - there is a bit of a disconnect between what I want to do, and what the place was actually like during my visit. The Pacific coast of Japan can be a pretty wild place, and I have to use common sense when taking the tent down to 'my' beach to spend the day and night there. On gentle summer evenings, there is no danger of course, but when things get stormy, it's a different story!

When it came time to make the trip for this chapter (some years ago), I had to balance my desire to see a 'wild' view of the shore, with considerations of safety. I watched the weather forecasts carefully, and chose to make my visit on the day after a very heavy storm. I thought that this would give me a view of some good crashing waves, yet not be particularly dangerous.

It turned out well. I had a good visit, and was able to write a (hopefully) interesting story. But in those days, I had no good camera at all (this was pre-digital), and came home with only the most basic snapshots of the kind of scene that (now years later) I need for the print. Stuff like this:

So I could certainly use a pile of better photos to help with the design, but here in mid-November, it's still too early in the season to think about making another 'stormy' camping trip to get some more, and anyway, I have to get going on it now. So I'm going to have to build the design I want by myself.

Here's a shot taken during one of my more recent trips to the coast - on a pleasant summer day:

My challenge is clear; create a good composition of rock/wave/sea/sky ... and then 'energize' it with the stormy mood to match the story ... More later ...

The thread continues in [Seacoast in Winter - 2] ...

Posted by Dave Bull at 7:37 PM | Comments (1)

I got a fax this afternoon, another one to add to the pile of notices that I have received from my suppliers over the past half-year or so, letting me know about yet another price increase.

This time, it is the supplier of the custom cardboard boxes I use to ship the prints in my current 'My Solitudes' series. The new price will be 160 yen, up from 130. It was 75 yen when I ordered the first batch at the beginning of this project!

Every single one of my suppliers - without exception - has now raised the price of the stuff they sell me: the washi for making the prints, the nice paper for printing the body of the books, the heavier paper for the book covers, the acid-free boards for mounting the prints, the toner for my laser printer to make the page printouts, even the silk thread we use for binding the books ... every single component is now considerably more expensive than when I began this project, getting on for two years ago.

It's interesting that in the time immediately following the spike in oil prices last year, they all sent me immediate price increases, but now that oil is back down, I have yet to receive a single corresponding notification of a price decrease!

Anyway, all this is just to let you know that starting with the next print, there will be ... no damn change in my price! I set the price at 8,000 yen per print/book when I started this project, and I'll stick with it ...

(But it would help greatly if subscribers would make remittances fairly soon after receiving each shipment ... thanks!)

Dave

Posted by Dave Bull at 1:51 PM | Comments (4)

We recently see stories in our newspapers discussing 'transparency' - both in government and in business. Given that the lack of transparency (and comprehension) in business dealings seems to have played a large part in the problems affecting our financial systems these days, and that 'transparency and accountability' seems to be the hot new buzzword in government, I though it might be fun to play along.

Does anybody other than my accountant - or the tax inspector! - really want to look inside my account books? I have no idea, but if you are interested, please visit my new Business Transparency page!

Posted by Dave Bull at 9:15 PM | Comments (1)