p.1 #1 · Curated China : Guizhou (my first China book - of 16 planned over the next 2 years)
I'll start off stating this is NOT an ad. ! I just thought some people may find this of interest or even inspiration to do something similar.
I've been seriously busy of late, not much time for forums and the like. I made a second trip to Guizhou province since I loved it so much the first time around (3 weeks) and this time went for 4 weeks. The near 8 weeks encompassed mostly ethnic minority villages and events but also some epic landscape scenery.
The 156 pp book is out in lay-flat hardback in China (I bought a few copies to the UK to sell), it's been uploaded to Bookvault (so they will distribute to Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble etc.) and I'm working on finalising the upload for Kindle etc. I just received my Bookvault Test copy today (looks good as Perfect Bound - Case Bound) !
Everything was shot on either an OM-3, OM-1i (mostly 20/1.4 + 45/1.2 + 75/1.8) or Sony A7r5 (16-35/4 PZ + Tamron 70-180/2.8 + Samyang 24 and 45)
I shot, designed, edited and produced the book myself (AI was so helpful with ideas, layout suggestions and instructions for implementing those into Affinity Publisher 2 - not the castrated Canva version)! It's on sale in the Artscape gallery in Shanghai. Happily my investment has already been recouped from pre-sales in China, so my wife is happy and it gives me the green light to continue!
The biggest issue / obstacle so far is the format. It's an A4 landscape format book, which many aggregators / printers can't handle. I may make small adjustments (smaller, even vertical) to future books because of this.
Anyway you can see a 2 chapter sample in the Flipbook below (I send the full book out as a Flipbook and in 2 PDF formats to PDF buyers).
My intent is to have 16-18 books, in the 'Curated China' (copyright applied) series, out in the next 2 years (I've shot many of them already, I just haven't put the images into books yet). And then have residual income over the rest of my life, whatever few years are left. But also have some memories for my family of my footprints on this earth.
My second book (same length, many others will be shorter, around 100pp, on specific topics/subjects), '25 Jiangnan Watertowns' (located between Shanghai and Suzhou), these are the ancient villages set on canals, up to 2,000 years old, will be out in September/October.
Note the flipbook sample below is best viewed on a computer monitor or Pad. It's too small for a phone IMHO.
P.S. there are a couple of images repeated in this sample flipbook - they are not repeated in the actual physical book or full flipbook. Click the loudspeaker icon to switch off the music.
p.1 #3 · Curated China : Guizhou (my first China book - of 16 planned over the next 2 years)
Douglas L wrote:
Amazing work, Kevin! I could tell you didn't use "paid models".
Haha thank you Douglas ! No, I like to spend time in the villages, I go and stay there for a night or two (any day trippers that stop by for an hour or so will have long gone) to gain the villagers trust and acquiescence for portraits. Often sitting around with them when permitted.
P.S. there are a couple of images repeated in this sample flipbook - they are not repeated in the actual physical book or full flipbook. Click the loudspeaker icon to switch off the music.
Great stuff. Well done. I flipped through the pages on a 32" screen. I appreciated the possibility to enlarge the pages and enjoyed looking at everything!
I don't know if you want any kind of feedback?
p.1 #6 · Curated China : Guizhou (my first China book - of 16 planned over the next 2 years)
Jonas B wrote:
Great stuff. Well done. I flipped through the pages on a 32" screen. I appreciated the possibility to enlarge the pages and enjoyed looking at everything!
I don't know if you want any kind of feedback?
Thank you Jonas ! Feedback always appreciated. I can't change anything in this book but I can certainly bear it in mind for others in the series
p.1 #10 · Curated China : Guizhou (my first China book - of 16 planned over the next 2 years)
Frogfish wrote:
Thank you Jonas ! Feedback always appreciated. I can't change anything in this book but I can certainly bear it in mind for others in the series
OK, FWIW, I print A4, A3 and A3+ at home. Sometimes I squeeze in four images in an A4, mostly for giwe away after some social happening like grandchildrens birtharthday parties and such. The prints are appreciated among parents but I always have a feeling they somehow hurts my eyes. The images are too small and there are too many of the white borders all over the page. So I do this less now and limit myself to two images/A4. That is hard with the paper in landscape format.
To me your idea about having the books still in A4 format but in portrait mode sounds good. Then two images on one page is easier and it will look better (to my eyes) than four images on the same page.
Well, that's my 2 cents. Take them (and do whatever you want with them) along with my congratulations!
p.1 #12 · Curated China : Guizhou (my first China book - of 16 planned over the next 2 years)
Jonas B wrote:
OK, FWIW, I print A4, A3 and A3+ at home. Sometimes I squeeze in four images in an A4, mostly for giwe away after some social happening like grandchildrens birtharthday parties and such. The prints are appreciated among parents but I always have a feeling they somehow hurts my eyes. The images are too small and there are too many of the white borders all over the page. So I do this less now and limit myself to two images/A4. That is hard with the paper in landscape format.
To me your idea about having the books still in A4 format but in portrait mode sounds good. Then two images on one page is easier and it will look better (to my eyes) than four images on the same page.
Well, that's my 2 cents. Take them (and do whatever you want with them) along with my congratulations!...Show more →
Thank you Jonas ! I appreciate your time and input and I'll play around with the formatting and layout in the next book
p.1 #13 · Curated China : Guizhou (my first China book - of 16 planned over the next 2 years)
johnvanr wrote:
Congratulations, Kevin! Quite an achievement and ambitious plans.
Thank you John ! I hope you are well - still in the EU?
SInce I have maybe 80% or more of the photos I'll need for those books (I've been working on them for a few years now) it won't take much more work to finalise them.
For this book I had 5,000 images that I cut down to 1,000 on the first cull. Down to 500 on the second. I then processed/edited all 500 and then selected 300+ for the book. I have similar numbers for my next book with 22 of the watertowns completed and I need to go back for a few re-shoots and 3 more overnights to complete the 25 (these watertowns are no more than 60-90 mins from home so an easy drive).
For many of the other books planned (most 70-100 pages) I know I already have the images in the bag (Chongqing, Furong, Fenghuang etc,) so they will be relatively 'quick' to knock out now that I am conversant with the software and formatting and the demands of Bookvault and Kindle (I've set up pre-sets in Affinity Pub 2 to handle those).
Now I see how authors of novels can bang out a book a month
p.1 #16 · Curated China : Guizhou (my first China book - of 16 planned over the next 2 years)
Great stuff and reignited my more than a decade old similar projects (BIFs, Flowers and Macros). I started some pages in Serif at that time and playing with Affinity Pub when I got lazy again (exploring the transition to Canva as well). Now fully retired, need a push to get it going again. Did you use the often default 300 dpi for printing? Thanks for providing that great push.
p.1 #17 · Curated China : Guizhou (my first China book - of 16 planned over the next 2 years)
gil3 wrote:
Great stuff and reignited my more than a decade old similar projects (BIFs, Flowers and Macros). I started some pages in Serif at that time and playing with Affinity Pub when I got lazy again (exploring the transition to Canva as well). Now fully retired, need a push to get it going again. Did you use the often default 300 dpi for printing? Thanks for providing that great push.
Thanks Gil !
The dpi will vary depending on the output and printing method used. Some of mine were exported at scaling when over 375 dpi and others 300 dpi. But nothing below that.
Good luck with your projects ! It is well worthwhile creating books from them. A source of pride, memories and gifts for friends and family even if not taken on commercially.
p.1 #18 · Curated China : Guizhou (my first China book - of 16 planned over the next 2 years)
Frogfish wrote:
Haha thank you Douglas ! No, I like to spend time in the villages, I go and stay there for a night or two (any day trippers that stop by for an hour or so will have long gone) to gain the villagers trust and acquiescence for portraits. Often sitting around with them when permitted.
I can't tell you enough how much I enjoyed looking at the unscripted photos of the ethnic folks. I know a lot of photo workshops in China and many parts of Asia have paid models for their shoots, such as old ladies in colorful costumes smoking pipes, fishermen in a little sampan casting fishing net at sunrise... I can pretty much tell by the perfect background, lighting, matching colors, etc. They can fool a lot of people if not disclosed. Kudo to you for not using these kind of paid models in your book.
p.1 #19 · Curated China : Guizhou (my first China book - of 16 planned over the next 2 years)
Wow, Kevin, you deserved a big applause for accomplishing that. Whether with AI help or not, since you did everything yourself, the book showcases your dedication to the art of photography and the love for your adopted country. Since the first one is the hardest, the subsequent books should and would be easier to produce.
p.1 #20 · Curated China : Guizhou (my first China book - of 16 planned over the next 2 years)
Nice work, Kevin.
You did a wonderful job of capturing enough variety in these images to give the reader/viewer a feel for the life of a people many of us will never experience.
You did a masterful job of layout in my opinion, which certainly is one of the most time consuming parts of such a project. Honestly, I spent so much time laying out wedding albums when I was shooting professionally, that viewing this could make me break out in hives!
Seriously, I applaud your ambition, skill, and perseverance in this project and hope you find it both rewarding and successful.
