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Hannah Stonehouse Hudson
A session that lasted maybe 5 minutes – and was simply a favor to a good friend who loved his dog – changed all of our lives.
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Hannah Stonehouse Hudson
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Hannah Stonehouse Hudson
My first encounter with the world stage was launched on Easter Sunday, 2009, when a friend on Madeline Island told me to get down to the shore – a black bear was swimming toward the mainland.
I have been struck by lightning twice – photographically speaking. Two of my images – both on Lake Superior near my home area of Bayfield, Wisconsin – have made the rounds on the world stage and gone viral thanks to social media.
Both images struck a chord with people across all nations, though they came from very different situations. They both, however, reflect the artistic philosophy I use in my photography business: “Let us capture your story.”
The stories these images convey probably are what created the intense interest across the globe. In both cases, while I certainly knew they were good images, the interest they generated surprised me. In the most recent case, the response has changed my life.
My first encounter with the world stage was launched on Easter Sunday, 2009, when a friend of mine on Madeline Island sent a message on Facebook telling me to get down to the shore – a black bear was swimming toward the mainland.
Many of us from town followed this exhausted bear as it made its way from Madeline Island to Bayfield across the melting ice. We watched it, on and off, for about 8 hours until it finally hit land on the beach by the ferry dock. Many were worried that the bear might drown in front of us while we were powerless to help it. When it made landfall, we all cheered.
I took photos of the bear in the water and on ice, using my Canon 50D with a 70-200 zoom lens. Although the action and conditions might be unpredictable, I never use the auto setting on any camera because I never get what I want and the camera is doing the thinking instead of me. I do often use aperture priority, which I did in this case. The photo here was done with an ISO of 160 and f/5 at 1/1000 second.
I posted several images on my blogs and chose the one here for Facebook. The bear and ferry were my pick because it was so Madeline Island and Bayfield – locals looking at the bear, the bear looking at them and the Madeline Island ferry in full view.
In 2009, Facebook had not reached its pinnacle as social media, so I was surprised when the St. Paul Pioneer Press picked up the image. I was also surprised by some reactions – anger that we residents of Bayfield did not go out to help that bear. Really, though, as much sympathy as I had for it, I would not paddle into an ice breakup and try to get an angry bear into my canoe to rescue it. Happily, others thought the photo was awesome, and got thousands of hits on my blog from all over the world. I sometimes wonder how far that one would have gone if Facebook were as popular back then as it is now.
I do know how far the next photographic lightning strike would take me – into a new career path.
This adventure started July 31 when my friend John Unger asked me to take a photo of him and his elderly dog, Schoep, in what had become a goodnight ritual in Lake Superior. John thought it might be the last time they could make the trip to the waters of the Big Lake. He wanted a keepsake. We didn’t orchestrate anything; I had about 3 minutes, tops, before Schoep settled into sleep and John brought him out of the water. I was using my Canon 5D MK2 and the same zoom lens. The settings were f/3.2 at 1/600 second, ISO 250.
The first posting of that image showed it in the back of my camera in a shot taken with my cellphone. People went crazy over it, and started sharing it on Facebook immediately. That’s when I realized I should probably edit the real photo and post it online.
Once I did that, the photo went nuts in the Midwest, and as people started sharing it more and more, it went all over the world with hundreds of thousands of “likes.”
Over the next month I received thousands of emails from people thanking me for posting such a positive story online. An entire session that lasted maybe 5 minutes and was simply a favor to a good friend who loved his dog changed all of our lives.
John and Schoep received not just positive comments, but monetary and other aid for Schoep, who John estimates is 19 years old. A new bed and special treatments have helped Schoep, who is still alive and well.
I immediately began to get requests for press interviews and for prints of the image. The volume became overwhelming. My voice mail filled up two or three times a day. John’s sister-in-law, Julie McGarvie Unger first helped to coordinate inquiries to John and me and helped to create Schoep’s Legacy Foundation (www.johnandschoep.com) to direct donations toward causes that help the well-being of animals and humans.
Julie keeps the positive message going forward.
The original post on my Facebook page has gotten 4.7 million hits and that count doesn’t include the new foundation page, nor any Internet or print usage. I think its been published in a few hundred news outlets and in almost every country on the planet. It was chosen No. 1 of 12 top animal photos of 2012 by the TODAY Show. That's crazy!
There was one negative note – a company took this image for its advertising. Always – ALWAYS – watermark anything you put online. Unfortunately, a watermark can still be removed or a photo scanned from a newspaper, but don’t waste your time getting upset. If I’ve learned anything, it’s to not be distracted by people who have ill will, but to get a lawyer who will take care of it for you. Your time is better spent creating images. (The company stopped using that image.)
In my business, StonehousePhoto, I was already easing out of doing weddings and portraits and had been hoping to do more work with dogs and shelters. This one image gave me fantastic opportunities. I’ve gotten jobs in different parts of the country doing dog portraits (“furkids” as I call them). While I visit these areas, I contact local shelters and take professional shots of their most difficult to place dogs to help find good homes. I’m also doing a series of images documenting American industry and factories. I love celebrating the people and the history of these companies.
I do not believe there is a formula for “going viral.” I do know that you have to be open to what’s going on around you and not have a pre-determined idea of what’s a “good” photo.
I do have a few ideas of what made the “John & Schoep” photo go completely berserk online. It could be that people make their own story from this image or because the world loves its dogs, but I believe the biggest reason is that we are all desperate for positive things.
Our world is chaotic and negative. These two photos and the good stories connected to them – a hardy bear that made it over the ice and the close tenderness of a man and dog – give us a moment of pleasant escape from the other realities of the world.
Hannah Stonehouse Hudson lives in Bayfield, Wisconsin, but these days she’s often flying off somewhere to do furkid portraits or to document manufacturing workers and operations all around the United States. At home, she admits to being obsessed with her own furkids, Scout (seated) and Stewie (Hannah’s lap dog).