Watch the short video above, or keep reading if you prefer the written word. Too many photographers look to the work they do with the camera as job one, which it is. But it’s not the only job. Your ability to edit down to your keepers, to process them in ways that are consistent with your voice, and to do …
3 Ways To Give Your Images Their Best Chance
Watch the 7-minute video above, or keep reading if you prefer the written word. Here’s a question that keeps me up at night: Why do photographers get so intimidated by editing down to their best images and the “now what?” that comes once we put the camera down? And are we missing really important creative opportunities because of this? For …
A Better Edit Makes Better Photographs
Take a few minutes to watch the video above or, if you’re more of a written word person, keep reading. It’s not uncommon for me to come home from a trip with thousands of photographs. On a wildlife trip I can average 1,000 photographs a day, which is really easy to do when you’re in a moving boat, excited about …
The Golden Merganser: About the Image
My best photographs are usually a surprise to me. Long after I’ve made them, they feel familiar and almost inevitable as I look back on them, but not one of them could I have really ever anticipated at the time. The light, the composition, even the subject—I often never see them coming. Sometimes, the surprise is that the image even …
Part 2: What Makes The Image Work?
On Sunday, I showed you one of my photographs and sent you to my blog to discuss it, asking questions about the decisions I made and the effect of those decisions. Thanks to everyone who chimed in! The point was to get you thinking about the all the many choices we make in order to create one photograph. I promised …
What Makes the Image Work?
My cousin James had a reputation as a kid for taking things apart. One Christmas he dismantled down to the wiring every gift he was given. Remote-control cars? Give him 20 minutes, and there would be nothing left but a pile of tiny screws, little motors, and the tears of his mother who probably should have known better than to give him …
Compensating for Something?
This is another long one, but if you’ve ever struggled to understand Exposure Value Compensation (or never used it), this might help. Put the coffee on and settle in for a bit. Skipping past the inevitable moment when I’m walking around with my 600mm lens and someone asks if I’m compensating for something, the answer is generally yes. I am. But it’s …
Refine Your Mood in the Darkroom
In my last post (August 06), I discussed a few ways to improve the mood in our photographs, namely by finding stronger mood in the first place, usually by looking for more interesting light or more interesting weather. Just getting out there earlier and staying later helps. Some weatherproof gear and a willingness not to baby the camera so much …
Find the Light, Find the Mood.
“How do you photograph that great light?” is one of the top three questions I’m asked about how I make my photographs. It’s a good question because the camera sees light differently than we do, and unless you know what’s possible, you’ll struggle with retaining the mood of beautiful light. That struggle is more difficult for photographers who are still chained to …
What Makes An Image Work (Part 2)
Last Sunday I posted a photograph on the blog, and in The Contact Sheet email, inviting you to consider how I made one of my photographs. The exercise was a simple one, and I know some of you have seen it before but you can still learn from it. Look at the image and ask yourself what decisions I made …