I have a confession: I only know what 5% of the buttons, dials, and menu items on my camera do. I haven’t done the math; I’m guessing it could be even less than that. But I know that my first cameras only had the ability to focus, select the aperture, change the shutter speed, and specify the ISO. The menu options …
Blinded By What You Don’t See.
There’s a curse among photographers, if you believe in such things (curses, that is, not photographers), and it’s this: Sometimes what we do not see can blind us to what is in front of us. Go somewhere with a certain kind of photograph in mind and you might look so hard for that kind of image that you never see …
More Interested, More Interesting
A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting on a river, happily photographing grizzly bears. After a two-day drive and a quick turnaround at home, I was off to San Francisco to sign 1,000 copies of the hardcover special edition of my new book, Light, Space, & Time: Essays on Camera Craft and Creativity. I also spent time with my publisher and …
Light, Space & Time
My newest book is just about to be released, and there are a couple of ways to get it, including getting one of only 1,000 signed special editions and even picking it up in person if you’re near San Francisco. But give me a moment to talk about the book itself. Despite the wildlife photographs that illustrate the book, Light, …
Study The Work of Others
In my last article, I suggested studying the work of others as one path toward making your own work stronger. To shoot what things feel like requires that we first have feelings about things but also to understand what possibilities exist for translating feelings into photographs themselves. It’s a conversation that could get touchy-feely really quickly, but if it gets too far …
The Unexpected Path to Everyday Creativity
The Short Version: My two new books are out today and you can get more information and links to how to get your hands on paperback, PDF, or Kindle versions at StartUglyBook.com. The longer version below is more compelling, but it’s, well, longer. Keep reading. In bold, trendy font, the advert for some piece of computer equipment aimed at photographers …
I’ve Got Nothing.
My friend, I’ve got nothing this week. I’ve stared at this screen for what seems like hours, and my mind keeps getting distracted by the way my heart hurts. It’s been a tough year so far. The pandemic. So many lives and livelihoods lost. So much fear and anxiety. And now the murder of George Floyd, the subsequent protests in …
Getting to the Heart of the Photograph
Have you ever stood in front of something so beautiful it takes your breath away, or some moment so amazing that you think, “I couldn’t take a bad photograph of this if I tried!” only to, well, make a photograph that’s less than what you hoped for? I have hard drives full of images like these. And it’s not because …
My Favourite Photography Books
I’m often asked for recommendations about photography books. Not, mind you, books about photography, but books of photographs. Here are my current favourites. They of course represent my own tastes and lean heavily toward black and white documentary photographs, but you can learn from all photography, and I think black and white images are simpler, allowing us (often) to get …
The Soul of the Camera [Signature Edition]
**Update – As of May 25, the Signature Edition is now sold out. Thank you so much for the support.** On or around June 15, my next book, Soul of the Camera, The Photographer’s Place in Picture-Making, will be released. I have the first copy here beside me and I haven’t been this proud of something I’ve written in a …