This is an edited transcript of Episode 68 of my show, Vision Is Better, which you can find on YouTube here. If you’d rather listen to it as an mP3 file, you can get that here. For the next couple posts I want to look at one big question – a question that I’ve been asked many different times and …
Is Composition Over-rated?
Sometimes the strangest things show up like unexpected gifts on the doorstep – like the comment I got just yesterday that told me (I’m paraphrasing) that all my talk about composition and storytelling was nonsense. The less-paraphrased version was that scenes are what they are and they compose themselves. I’m not going to lie: I would have laughed if it …
Learning to See
Good morning. It’s Thursday, July 06, and how this week just crept by while I wasn’t looking, I have no idea. But I do have another episode of Vision is Better for you, and with it a chance to win a signed copy of The Soul of the Camera. I hope you’re having a great summer (for those of you …
Kick out the Crutches.
Good morning, friends. Here’s a Monday morning kick in the pants. I’m posting it here for a couple reasons. The first is that it’s Monday morning and we all need a kick in the pants. The second is that I’ve been working like a maniac on a project I’m releasing in September and it’s been 5am mornings for a while …
Stop Looking. Start Making.
I recorded an episode of Vision Is Better last week (Episode 61) and just posted it. I want you to watch it. Please. Some of you need to see this – to hear this – and since I’m not sure which of you that is I’m just going to go ahead and recommend you all take 7 minutes or so …
3 Shortcuts to Deeper, Stronger Images.
There’s not a day goes by that I don’t see photographers being offered some shortcut or another on a craft that ultimately frowns darkly on shortcuts. Since I started teaching photography I’ve had one unwavering desire for my students: that they learn to make photographs that they love, in a way that they love, of the things that they love …
The Photographer’s Role
It comforts me to know I’m not a lone nutter standing on the edge of sanity shouting into the wind. In fact it turns out there’s really nothing about what I teach that better voices before mine have not taught. My voice is just an echo, but it echoes something I think is important – that this craft is a …
A Little More Defiance, Please.
One of the most heartbreaking things I hear from photographers, when I ask why they do not share their work, is this: who am I to put my work out there? Who wants to hear what I have to say? It’s heartbreaking for so many reasons, not the least of which is how often I hear it. From photographers, from …
Vision Is Better, Episodes 46-49
Join me for Episode 49, wherein I discuss the Fuji Instax Printer and the value of giving prints back to subjects. It’s been a while since I’ve updated you on the episodes, so for those of you that never get around to watching the show on YouTube, here are some links: Episode 49, The One About the Pocket Printer Episode …
Try It In Black & White
Episode 45 of Vision Is Better encourages you to look at your work, even if you have no intention of printing it this way, in Black & White. We can learn a lot about the strengths, and the weaknesses, of our work when we look at it critically without the seductive pull of colour. (RSS and email viewers, I’m sorry …