If you’ve read this blog for more than two weeks, you probably know that every now and then I tend to ruffle feathers. I do it not for the sake of doing it. I do it because they are related to topics that I truly care about and I’m just as passionate as any other artist. I do it because I want to see the industries I care about move forward. And yes, I do it because I enjoy a good (respectful) debate.
Sometimes I know the posts will ruffle feathers, but I take the risk and post them anyway. Sometimes I have no idea they’ll get the reaction they do and I’m genuinely surprised. So, here’s a look back at the top 11 Dare Dreamer Mag posts of 2011 that got people talking, yelling or asking “Ron, are you high?”
#11 – Photographers Should Go the Way of The Dinosaur
In retrospect, I think my satirical humor on this one was too subtle. I thought for sure when I suggested becoming a politician as an alternative to photography people would get it was satire. Oh well. So, the next day I tried to make my satire a little more obvious when I wrote…
#10 – The Top 5 Reasons Citizen Kane is Crap
Surely, the mere fact that I would call “crap” what many call the greatest film of all time, would be an indication it was satire. Or the fact that the #3 reason I called it crap was because it was shot in black and white. Not necessarily. Bottomline: no matter how obvious you may try to make a satire obvious, there will always be some who miss it. But that’s a risk I’m willing to take.
#9 – FCPX and the Death of Final Cut Pro 7 is all Vincent Laforet’s Fault
This is my ingenious theory that Apple is targeting pro photographers with FCPX. The jury is still out on my predictions. We shall see in 2012.
#8 – Five Tips to Make Your Movie More “Cinematic”
This was one of those posts whose comments surprised me. It was a satirical, tongue-in-cheek look at five things that videographers do (including myself, as I point out in the comments) to make their videos feel like a real movie. I thought it was clearly a fun way to poke fun at myself and the industry. Some thought I was being mean-spirited. What do you think?
#7 – Should Today’s Filmmakers Know the Masters
This post was inspired by a conversation I had with a really talented young filmmaker. I was mentioning names like the Coen Brothers and Wes Anderson, and movies like “The King’s Speech” and he hadn’t heard of any of them. I was floored. But, the guy is great at his craft and have the views on Vimeo to prove it. So, it got me wondering, how important is it really for today’s filmmakers to know the masters?
#6 – The Future is Bleak/Bright For Small Business Photographers and Filmmakers
This was one of the first times I when I refrained from replying to comments people left on the blog. It all started with me listing all the reasons why I feel this is a crappy time to be in this business. In part two I listed all the reasons why this was a great time to be in this business (and they were the same reasons). I then finally came clean in part 3 and revealed that it’s all based on your perspective. Perhaps my favorite part of this series was the clever use of Disney characters. 🙂
#5 – The Double-Edged Sword of Pro Wedding Videos Going Viral
For the first time in history, professional wedding videos hit viral video numbers on YouTube and Vimeo (i.e. 1 million +). But as I wrote about here, it was the harbinger of ill-times ahead for wedding videographers.
#4 – Haters are Gonna Hate: A Surefire Strategy for Dealing with Trolls and Other Dregs of the Internet (Parts 1 and 2)
I’ve come to the conclusion that if you ever write a blog post that either 1) has Jasmine Star as the main photo and/or 2) refers to her success in any kind of positive way, you are going to get flack. Even if the blog post isn’t about Jasmine entirely. Try it. Write a blog post about fly-fishing, but put Jasmine as the main photo and in the last line say something like “Due to Jasmine’s success as wedding photographer, she was invited twice to speak at CreativeLIVE.” Then run for the hills and take for cover as the darts and arrows come at you. 😉
#3 – FCPX and the Problem with Creatives
When Apple released the long-awaited update to Final Cut Pro 7 with Final Cut Pro X, thousands of people jumped on the bandwagon and purchased the uprade within a day of its release. A whole hoard of them then started to cry fowl when they realized that FCPX was more like iMovie Pro. They were pissed and wanted their money back. The discussion on the blog and the links to it became so great that if you Googled FCPX, this post came up #3. (I believe it’s still on the first page if you Google that term).
#2 – The Music Licensing Chickens Come Home to Roost
Except for #1 on this list, no single post has spread so fast. I honestly had no idea this article would go viral. I think a lot of professionals in the industry were helped by the bravery of Joe to come out and share his experiences. I believe many other professionals who might have also been tagged by the music labels avoided trouble once they realized how real the threat was and took down their offending content. The world of wedding and event videography has forever been changed.
#1 – Jesh de Rox’s “Beloved” Seminar Ignites a Twitter Tempest
Hands down, this was the most “spirited” discussion on the blog this year. (Google “jesh de rox” and as of this writing, it’s the sixth link on the first page). It took the cake on bringing out the best and the worst in people. When popular Canadian wedding photographer Jesh de Rox announced at the end of his pitch for his “Beloved” seminar that he charges $20,000 for a day-long consult with him, Twitter exploded with the hash tag #onedaywithjeshinstead (i.e. I was going to put my kid through college but I spent #onedaywithjeshinstead). No doubt the fire was largely fueled by the social media power of my good friend Zack Arias who couldn’t keep silent about the topic.
For those of you who have been loyal followers of this blog, I am truly appreciative. I do this as a labor of love and it means the world to me when I get emails from people all over the world saying how much they are inspired or encouraged by the articles I write. I know that every now and then I may even upset you loyal readers. Know that it is never my intent to purposefully harm or hurt anyone. I know that sometimes that happens unexpectedly and when it does, I am sincerely sorry. I hope that overall the good far out-weighs that bad.
Be safe this new year’s eve and as you enter 2012, make it a year where you take risks and push yourself beyond where you’ve ever gone. That’s my plan anyway.
God bless.
