Alright, I’ve hinted at this a few times and now without further ado…
Rewind to August 1st, 2024… We had just a day or two prior returned home from our Summer camping vacation up in Vermont and were begrudgingly trying to get back into the groove when I open my email and find this -
😳
Now, I had this strange sense that I actually recognized the woman’s name who sent the email from several years ago when NatGeo used to do YourShot assignments via their website open to anyone wishing to submit. (YourShot, although still out there, is much more of an Instagram thing now.) These assignments would have curators who judged the submissions. Anyway, this is where I felt I recognized the name from. But, let’s face it - there is so much spam out there, whenever in doubt, it’s good to get a second opinion. Enter Anna, my slightly younger fiancé, much more in touch with the digital and technological world, lol!😂 She looked her name right up and found it associated with National Geographic indeed!
Wow, what a cool feeling! What else need I really say here?!
Well, you bet your you know what I got right on that! She (I am not revealing anyone’s name for respect of privacy) was immediately a pleasure to converse with - very professional, but also not unwilling to have a little humor and personality, and always right on top of things with replies despite a work load I can only imagine.
I compiled 13 images I had taken while I was on the Cruiser Lake Backpack/Canoe Voyage to give her several different looks to consider. After going back and forth a few times and the passing of time with their editorial process, eventually one day that Autumn she emailed that she was happy to tell me that this image of mine had been chosen for the new National Parks Guide Book!!!😁🙃😊
View from Cruiser Lake Trail - Voyageurs National Park, MN Brandon Kline
Ok, now before anyone gets too too excited, this is NOT a portfolio film photograph of mine that is available for purchase, unfortunately. It is a simple digital photo and does not have the enlargement capabilities of my large and/or medium format film work. Very fortunately though, it was just fine for the purposes of the book format!
Perhaps someday, I’ll get a portfolio photograph published in NatGeo or elsewhere, but you know what - I also don’t mind that those images in my collection are currently “merely” pieces of Artwork.
I do submit work to certain outlets from time to time, and you’d better believe I still keep in contact with this woman at National Geographic about what projects might be out there, so I guess we’ll just see how time plays out in that respect…
Either way, I’m pretty darn tickled over this and think it’s pretty awesome! I wish my Pap (on my Mom’s side) had lived to see this. I can credit him with getting me interested in National Geographic way back when I was just a little tike! He had an incredible collection of their magazines I would often ponder through and get inspired. He would have thought this was the coolest thing ever!😊
Ok, now to present day. This has been an eye opening experience to see the time it can take for a book such as this to get from its design stages to actual publication. I was told this past Fall that it would likely be January/February when the book would be hitting the shelves and they would be mailing out the contributor’s copies.
Well that ended up being pretty precise. I received my copy toward the end of January and as far as I know, this newest edition of National Geographics’ Ultimate Guide to the National Parks is out on the shelves!
Anything having to do with me aside, I highly recommend this to anyone who embraces the National Parks. It is an absolutely beautiful edition! (And I own a couple previous copies!😂)
But here you go, before I wrap this up down below, enjoy a few of the books’ highlights that do have to do with me!…
Front Cover
Introduction to Voyageurs NP Page
MY TWO-PAGE SPREAD!!!
Name in National Geographic Credits!!!
Alright, so to wrap this amazing news up - yes, I do realize that in some ways maybe I “dumb lucked” my way into this opportunity. But, whatever, it still happened and here I am!
In talking about all of the circumstances involved - (Backpacking and Adventuring in the first place aside, but also blogging about it, and happening to track myself with the AllTrails App, etc.) - to how this came to be with a fellow Artist buddy, he said something that has really resonated with me that I will paraphrase here… ‘It just goes to show that we are constantly dropping breadcrumbs out there that we never know when and how they may be picked up. But when we are following the path we are meant to be on, those breadcrumbs may just lead us to great things.’🤔
And that is so true, we never really know how something we have done, however long ago, may just end up playing an integral role in the path of our lives, particularly when following the path of our passion.
Cheers Pap!🍻🥃
All of my best,
Brandon
P.S. - As I promised last week, this is going to be a two part story - this today and another coming your way tomorrow. If you want to read all about my epic time in Voyageurs and if I did produce any professional photographs from the adventure, stay tuned…😉