Some of my most frequent advice is to shoot through a scene. As a younger photographer, I would give up too easily and put the camera down too quickly when my efforts weren’t met with immediate success. “It’s not working,” I would say, when the truth was closer to “I’m not working.” I wasn’t giving the scene the time and effort …
Adventures & Appendectomies?
I should have been on a flight to the Yukon on Wednesday. I was meant, by now, to be sitting on a river with bears. I was, instead, lying on an operating table getting an emergency appendectomy. Don’t let anyone tell you the life of a photographer isn’t full of adventure. Oh, the romance of it all! Timing couldn’t have …
All (High) Keyed Up?
I’ve always loved high-key images for their simplicity, elegance, and power. There’s a directness to them and no confusion at all about your intended subject. The technique is relatively simple, and yet for all its advantages, it’s been a while since I’ve thought to embrace it. Going into my recent trip to Kenya, I decided to remedy that by looking for …
Mwangaza: Light!
Lying in a mud hole, looking up at a white rhino snuffling just inches from my camera, I was having a tough time not giggling or wetting my pants. I might have been a little nervous, but mostly, it was the thrill and the absurdity of it. To be this close to a massive rhinoceros with no remote gear—just me and …
Grizzlies of the Khutzeymateen
Ten years ago, I got off a de Havilland Beaver, the quintessential bush plane of the Canadian north, and stepped into the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary for the first time—and it was love at first sight. The long inlet not far from the border with Alaska is flanked by mountains and cliffs, all covered in evergreens draped with flowing moss, and …
Whisky Shots
A personal project. A glass of whisky. With ice. Natural light. Minimal post-processing. Shoot what you love. Be willing to play and see things anew. There are constellations and worlds in the tiniest places if we’re willing to see them. Also helps if you don’t drink too much of the subject.
Study the Masters: Irving Penn
The last two in the Study the Masters series were Yousuf Karsh and Arnold Newman, both of whom I consider sublime portraitists who set a high bar for those of us to follow and learn from. The third logical Master for me is Irving Penn (1917-2009) whose career spanned, but out-lived, the careers of both Karsh and Newman. Like Avedon …
Studying Masters
In my Created Image video, one of the things I strongly advocate is studying the masters. I think finding those masters, the ones with whom you truly resonate, and finding them yourself, is part of the fun. I’m always hesitant to tell people to study this person or this person, because the list of photographers I myself don’t know, photographers …
Yukon Ablaze
Here is a small body of work that I brought home from the Yukon, before cutting my trip short with an axe to the leg*, which has proved not to be one of my better ideas. When I headed north last year I was blown away by the colour, even though we’d missed its peak by a good week. This …
More from Gwaii Haanas
I’m heading to Bali tomorrow but I’ll do my best to drop a line. In the meantime, here’s a few more postcards (didn’t see the first ones? You can find them here), and some shop talk about packing logistics, from last week’s trip to Gwaii Haanas. Like the Ocean Light II trip to the Khutzeymateen, I was limited in what …