One Day in the Life of a Writer/Photographer

Ever wonder how one works at home all day?

Here's one day of activities from the life (guess it's mine) of a freelance writer/photographer:

After looking at the two (K)Cates and Brad yesterday all day, preparing an article for a local paper, I now am back to my roots--signs, signs and more signs.

Today I find myself revamping my Book of Signs--The Twentieth Century. I've spent years on this book, and am adding my images from North Africa (see below). I'm going to submit this beast to Princeton Architectural Press, and hope for the best.







I also have a book signing on January for my book, Digital Art Photography for Dummies, I'm preparing for and wrote a letter pitching myself to a San Diego television station to round up some people to show up when I sign.

Here's the letter. I never have any expectations for a response, so I don't often get disappointed.

Hi Kelli,

I'm Matt Bamberg author of "Digital Art Photography for Dummies" and want to share digital photography tips with your viewers sometime prior to my Borders book signing at 7 p.m. on Jan. 25 in the Mission Valley Borders.

As an accidental photographer here's a brief skinny as to how I got started. After I stopped teaching school in the Bay Area, six years ago when I moved to Palm Springs, CA, I wanted to be a writer.

I learned that I'd have better luck if I submitted photographs with my writing. At the time I was also working as a buyer for mid-century modern furniture and accessories. Buyers in the rough-and-tumble world of resale are called "pickers."

Hence, my first article was called "Confessions of a Picker." The article made the cover of the Palm Springs weekly, the Desert Post Weekly, a publication that, at the time, was filled with photographs of the strange 50s and 60s items I'd picked up around the country.

Items to buy from the mid-century dried up and I was out of work, so I started photographing mid-century motel signs and selling them. They were a hit, and the rest was history, got a book deal telling my story with all the tech knowledge I taught myself along the way (a MA degree in Creative Arts from SF State helped).

A press release and bio are attached below.

BTW: I had two very successful appearances on two Phoenix TV stations (so much so they asked me back) prior to a book signing late last year.

CREATE GALLERY-QUALITY DIGITAL PHOTOS WITH DIGITAL ART PHOTOGRAPHY FOR DUMMIES“

With digital camera technology improving almost monthly and the price of sophisticated digital SLR cameras dropping, more and more people are turning to digital cameras for their advanced photography needs. In Digital Art Photography For Dummies“ (Wiley; Dec. 2005; $34.99), award-winning journalist and photographer Matthew Bamberg, covers the steps and techniques needed to take and print gallery-quality photos with digital equipment.
This full-color guide uses the fun, friendly For Dummies style to guide readers through
*Selecting and using high-end photo equipment
*Shooting in a variety of artistic styles including landscape and portrait photography
*Working with special effects while shooting
*Mimicking the work of famous artists and photographers
*Using Photoshop“ to enhance photos
*Printing high-quality photos
*Presenting the finished product online or in a gallery

Digital Art Photography For Dummies“ also includes hundreds of example photos to provide guidance and inspiration for would-be artists. For further inspiration, readers can visit Bamberg's photoblog (where he calls himself the "Digital Traveler") at http://digitalartphotographyfordummies.blogspot.com/, where the author takes bloggers on a world journey through spontaneous text and images from world heritage sites and throughout the world's greatest cities.
Digital Art Photography For Dummies“ helps readers channel their inner Ansel Adams and go from hobbyist to photographic artist with ease.

Matthew Bamberg Bio:

Several years ago, Matthew Bamberg began to photograph for the articles he was writing while working for the alternative paper, the Desert Post Weekly. His writing focuses on popular culture: essays about topics from the Santa Cruz, California surf culture to the mid-century modern architecture revival around the world. Curious by light striking his lens (direct and bold or soft and willowy) and the sounds (especially of the shutter opening and closing), he struck a relationship first with film and then, like so many, with the digital camera's sensor.

Aside from writing about f-stops, shutter speeds, and the fabulous job the digital camera manufacturers have done that permit photographers to take almost noiseless pictures in the dark at high ISO speeds, Matt has written content and provided photographs for articles on Homestore.com, America Online, and The Weather Channel. He currently writes entertainment columns for the Press-Enterprise in the Inland Empire and the Bottom Line, Palm Springs and is an online instructor at Betterphoto.com.