Category : Pilgrim’s Chronicles

Construction on the new bookstore is underway, we hope to be open for business by the 15th!!! The initial offering will be a 6 book series called Bill Fortney’s Reliable Guides the Foundation Series. (illustrated above).  These 6 books will cover the most important foundational principle of photography in a easy to read, to the point, concise way!  Each book will be priced at $4.99 each or $24,95 for the full set of six!  Three additional books will also be in the store upon it’s opening.  Many more are planned!!!!  This is the story and statment behind the series:

 

The Why and How?

Life’s greatest revelations come in the strangest ways.  It was over a dozen years ago that I had accepted a position as the Nikon Professional Service’s tech rep for the Southern United States.  My long time friend, and then boss at Nikon, Bill Pekala instructed me to put my film cameras away and start to learn everything I could about digital, as he said, “it is the future!”  Learning the photography side of digital was pretty easy, in most ways, much the same as my 35 years of experience with film photography.  The hard part for me was post processing, this program Photoshop was an absolute bear!  I went out to the book store and bought a couple of “How to” Photoshop books, after a few days of trying to understand them I was ready to give up photography and go to work at Wal-Mart as a greeter!  I picked up a couple more and they were even worse than the first two, I was really feeling desperate!  These books tried to tell you the 50 ways to do each simple task!  By the time you got to method three you couldn’t remember your own name!

 

Then someone asked me if I had a copy of Scott Kelby’s,  The Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers.  It was not one of my first four books so I rushed out and picked up a copy!  It was “the” solution to my major problem!  This guy, Scott Kelby, (who later became a great friend and photography buddy!), had written a book that showed you exactly how to do just the things you needed to do, in a step by step, to the point, clear and concise manner, and he was funny too!!!!  In no time I was using Photoshop to do all the things I wanted to do to my images.  I could never thank him enough for demystifying Photoshop for me!

 

So that is exactly what I’m going to try to do for you with Cut To The Chase books!  These are books for people that simply want to know how learn about photography and make better images!  Simple, to the point, clear and concise and minus all the mumbo jumbo!

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE      

PLEASE READ THOROUGHLY!!!!!!!

 

These books are not for pixel peepers, science majors, engineers, bean counters, measurebaters or anyone that wants 1,000 word paragraphs to explain something that can be clearly stated in a couple of short sentences.

 

If your desire is for this to be complicated, THESE BOOKS ARE NOT FOR YOU! These books are designed to convey simple, easy to understand photographic concepts, in the easiest way to learn possible.  Lots of big pictures to illustrate the points and very few, but important words will guide you through each step of learning this craft of photography.

 

 

What makes me think I’m the guy to write these books?!  I have made photography, with the exception of my faith and family, the most important thing in my life for 45 years.  I’ve spent countless hours, days, months, years and decades studying the craft.  I’ve bought tons of gear and tested everything I could borrow, and I’ve formed strong opinions about many of the subjects people care about!  I’ve shot hundreds of thousands of images all around the world, a few have even been good!  Most importantly for the past 30 years I’ve actively taught photography to groups from 3 to 300 in size, and I’ve been a student of learning.  I think I have discovered how to make things simple for people that truly want to learn!  You can be the judge and that is why I have;

 

 A Money Back Guarantee

 

If for any reason, you did not find them helpful, or worth the price, (come on guys, I’ve made them super affordable, most titles only $4.99)!  I will gladly refund your money, no questions asked, but before you ask for a refund please read this Important Notice again, be sure these books are for you!!

 

One more thing, these books are affordable so that you will not be tempted to copy and distribute them to others.  I am supporting myself with my creative efforts, so please kindly give me a hand here!  That’s it, please enjoy, and your comments are appreciated!   billfortney@earthlink.net  and visit me at my website:  www.billfortney.com

 

To sweeten the deal when you make your first visit to the site you will receive a free copy of the 127 page book:

 

Traveling tomorrow to my 50th Anniversary Football Teams gathering!  Reports Monday!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

 

 

I was sitting on the couch last night thinking about the loss of Scott Hughes, feeling sad for us, and happy for him.  Sad for us because he was great friend to fly with, and happy for him because all the pain is over, and he is soaring all the time now!

 

I was playing some contemporary Christian music I like on the iPad, lost in thought.  Then a song came on that hit me like a ton of bricks, one I love, but brought all my feelings together at once.  Wynonna Judd belted out “I Can Only Imagine”!

 

I can only imagine,  it’ll be like, when I walk, by your side

I can only imagine, what my eyes will see, when Your face is before me.

I can only imagine……..

Surrounded by Your glory what will my heart feel

Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still

Will stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall

Will I sing Halleluiah will I be able to speak at all….  I can only imagine

I can only imagine…….

 

As I wept uncontrollably all I could see was a picture of my son Wesley when he was just a little boy with his arms outstretched as far as he could reach.  I went to my computer, still weeping, and found that image, and stared at it for the longest time. I used to ask him how much do you love me?, and his answer was to stare at me and thrust his arms further than I thought he could reach.  In that moment looking at him on the computer screen I felt just how much God loves us! His Son stretched his arms out and allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross for me, and you.

 

Wesley knew how to show his father just how much he loved him, as far as he could stretch his little arms.   If our own family can love us so much, I can only imagine, how much He loves us!  As I write this blog entry, if it was the last thing I ever wrote, the last time I could ever leave a message for anyone, I would beg and plead that you accept that unimaginable love.

 

If you haven’t, you can only imagine what it’s like to be love that way!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

 

 

Sometime in my youth my father taught me, “if you want to be a success in life, help others make their dreams come true.”

 

Today I lost a dear friend, Scott Hughes.  Scott taught me to fly powered parachutes, and I never saw anyone who could fly them quite like he could.  Today he is flying freer and higher than ever before.  My dream since childhood was to be a pilot, and I wanted to learn to fly everything that went into the air!  A lot of that dream came true, and Scott was big part of it. Scott sponsored Mark Kettenhofen and I when we did the second America from 500 Feet book.  I will always cherish the time we had in Wharton with him, the flying community won’t be the same.

 

I miss flying every day, but I’ll miss it more now!  Thanks for my wings Scott, safe landings my friend, you deserve it!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

Photo Note Image by Mark Alberhasky, of me flying the Predator PPC that Scott designed and built for me.

 

It was Fall of 1976, my daughter Catherine Anne was three months old and my father is holding her.  The shutter clicked and one of those images that defines your life as a photographer was exposed on a roll of Kodachrome!  For many years those yellow canisters filled the outside pocket of my camera bag.  Kodachrome was, for many years, the king of slide films.  As the T-shirt says; Paul sang about it. (Kodachrome  Paul Simon)  A state park was named after it, (Kodachrome Basin in Utah).  National Geographic shot their most famous photos on it.  With the advent of Fuji Film’s Velvia, then digital, and finally the EPA, it died.  Fuji became the rage, Kodak refused to understand that people wanted the brighter deeper colors, of course digital changed every thing for all films, and the Kodachrome process was highly toxic and the last straw was drawn when the Environmental Protection Agency said that Kodak could no longer run the film’s processing machines.

 

The image above is of  my daughter Catherine being held by my late father William Pelle Fortney, The image means a great deal to me, it was a tender moment of my father holding my daughter.  It is one of those images that endures in our hearts, our memories, and on film.  I’m glad I was shooting Kodachrome that day!  Seems funny but from time to time even shooting a digital camera when I’m in the thick of shooting and enjoying just the feeling of making images, I can hear Paul singing, “Kodachrome, you gives those nice bright colors, you give us the greens of summer, makes you think all the worlds a sunny day, oh yeah, I got a Nikon camera, I love to take a photograph, oh momma don’t take my Kodachrome away…..”  ……………. but they did!

 

 

Dwayne’s Photo developed the last roll of Kodachroime on December 30, 2010 for Steve McCurry of National Geographic.  For the images on that last roll see the link below:

 

http://stevemccurry.com/galleries/last-roll-kodachrome

 

If  you want the shirt, use the link below!

 

http://www.dwaynesphoto.com

 

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim