One of the best things, if not the best thing, about being a photographer is all of the cool people — from all over the world — you get to meet. From athletes to creatives, the people I share time with are just plane [sic] awesome. Plus there’s no better way to learn more about what’s going on in the outdoor industry or the photo world than to hear it from the people that are shaping its future. So with that idea in mind I’m excited to roll out my first one on one interview written exclusively for this blog. I’m not sure what I’m going to call these yet, maybe ummm… Straight Talk..?!
I act as the editor and chief, but honestly, that title sounds a bit pretentious so I try to avoid such titles… We share many responsibilities at the magazine. Some days I am editing photos or text, other days I am licking envelopes. Licking envelopes sucks, so I would hate to ask one of our employees to do it, so I’ll get my tongue wet to keep them happy. (insert joke here)
Yeah. The youth climbing market is growing exponentially, but currently there is only one other magazine catering to the youth market. Their image is a bit different from ours. We saw the need for a magazine that gave kids something they really wanted- a free climbing publication that embraces the core lifestyle of real climbers.
There is a lot of energy out there right now, and our prediction is that the pie will grow. Having our publication online for free opens up new markets for advertisers that were not available before. Our hope is that we can turn people on to climbing in those markets, because if the sport grows, all of us will grow with it.
We are a global publication. How many countries actually have climbing magazines? Not many. The other thing to consider is the fact that less than 100k of the 10 million climbers in the US actually buy climbing magazines, so we are talking about a big opening.
Four
Over ten million people participated in the sport of rock climbing last year. I think that number is a good start. We can hope, right?
A lot of our inspiration came from the skate/snowboarding magazines and media platforms. Future Snowboarding (R.I.P) and Focus Skate Magazine were big inspirations because the guys who ran them were core to the bone. They played hard, and didn’t candy-coat the media they provided. Their articles always were gritty, and they weren’t afraid to use the word “fuck.”
My flexibility! In all seriousness, I heard a quote once, “When you are satisfied with your performance, improvement has stopped.” We are a new publication, there is much to improve on.
One major thing I would like to improve is photo rates. We already have better rates than the other “youth” mag, but I would like to see Dead Point’s photo rates be the highest in our industry. There are a lot of starving photogs out there that work really hard. Most of them are forced out of our industry because of paltry rates. It would be nice to change that trend, but we need more industry support to achieve that goal.
I think both have a place. We can’t put videos in our magazine yet, so for our printed publication, the photos have more value. In our online publication, we incorporate videos to provide a true multi media experience. Videos provide a very rich dynamic form of media that cannot be duplicated by a photo. For our online publication, the video is more valuable.
People can inquire about submissions or get our rates by sending a query to photos@deadpointmag.com
A high percentage of the magazines at shops and climbing gyms are sent back for credit because fewer and fewer people want to shell out six bones for a paper rag. I think that trend is a clue about the future of magazine.
That maybe the future, but I do not think our industry is ready to let go of print nor do I think that it will be completely replaced by the internet. I just think print demand has, and will continue to decline in popularity. As for paying contributors better, it is a goal of ours. Right now our photo rates are far better than the other youth based magazine, our editorial rates are match or exceed all the mags in our industry, and we just got started. Lend some industry support, and better rates will be just one of the things we will do to help feed our community.
Jorge Visser, Simon Carter, Carlos Mason, Paul Dasatko, John Dickey are just a few I can think of off hand. As far as outside the climbing community I would say Mack Dawg Productions, Absinthe Films for video work and Chad Riley, Tim Zimmerman, and Jeff Curtes are some of my favorite action sports photographers outside of the climbing world.
Ha-ha!… I’m not giving you any ideas. Nice try.
FeedTim Kemple is an action sport and lifestyle photographer and video producer... mountain summits to city streets.
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