I’ve just posted the latest episode of Vision Is Better (email subscribers can watch that episode on YouTube here). I write a lot of books and do a lot of teaching, and there is no end of the books and tutorials and tips and tricks out there. And NONE of them will teach you to take this next step. Want …
Vision Is Better, Episodes 39 & 40
I’m just back from an intense weekend in the Toronto area, giving two days of lectures (man, can this guy talk if you let him!) at the Art Gallery of Burlington. Met some wonderful people and had a blast. This week I’m studying for courses – Emergency First Response, Emergency Oxygen Provider, and PADI Rescue Diver – it’s going to …
Vision Is Better, Ep. 38
This week I indulge in a passionate rant about what it takes to be a so-called Professional Photographer. Join me as I discuss value and the need to serve an audience. Is it realistic to expect to make a living as a professional photographer? It is. But you better enjoy the struggle and you better be willing to become an …
Vision Is Better, Episode 36
Good morning, all. I’ve been working for months, on and off, on this YouTube show, Vision Is Better. I’ve linked to it before but I want to embed it here on the blog to give more people a chance to watch it. The hardest part of this thing, technical learning curve aside, is coming up with ideas to discuss on …
The Thing About Rainbows
I made the mistake recently of saying, out loud, that I hated rainbows. I could have said, “I like to eat kittens and gravy” and the reaction would have been no less appalled. You HATE rainbows? It wasn’t exactly what I meant. I had been called to the deck of the sailboat with “Get your camera!” I came on deck …
Your Next Step: Unified Work
If you’ve read my latest eBook, Making The Image, you know I’m a big fan of questions. Always have been. Questions open us to possibilities, especially when they lead to more questions, experimentation, increased curiosity, and play. This is the last in a series of articles about the power of four particular questions to drive our work forward. The first …
Your Next Step: Narrative Work
The third in a series of questions I encourage students to ask themselves, and frankly, they’re questions I still ask myself – is this one: does my work tell a story? Of course there’s a question that needs to be asked before any other: is story the best tool for the job? Not every photograph has to tell a story. …
Your Next Step: Vital Work
Nothing, but nothing, makes a stronger photograph than it being alive. Not perfect focus, not a great exposure. Life. Spark. Energy or emotion that gives you goosebumps and doesn’t let you go all day. Earlier this week I encouraged you to consider the question: is my work authentic? as one way to take a next step in your photographic work. …
Your Next Step: Authentic Work.
If you’re at the place where you no longer wrestle as much with the basics of exposure and focus, it could be time to work on the photographs themselves: on content and composition, on vision and the deeper aspects of your craft and art. There are 4 questions I keep encouraging my students to ask themselves as they consider their …
Approval & Art
It is a short step from learning to use a camera to hoping others like what we create. It’s a natural step. But when the next step is allowing the tastes of others to change what we create, it’s a step in a direction that leads away from art. We are responsible for our art, and to be honest with …