Composition & Questions
We often talk about composition as though its something that can be done right or done wrong. When you look at it in those terms photography is not about expression, but about following the rules. The best thing I ever learned on the photographic journey was this: there are no rules. None. Nope, not even the rule of thirds. No …
Study The Masters: Saul Leiter
I’m starting a new series called Study the Masters. Short and sweet, it’s my chance to put you on to photographers from the past that have made our art what it is. Hands down, the best photographic education, once you know how to use a camera, is to study the work of others. This is my way of suggesting who …
Impressions & Abstracts
Next week we’re releasing my next eBook – The Visual Imagination, a book about creative techniques and ideas that focuses mostly on impressionism and abstraction. Yesterday I was doing a pre-release podcast interviews, talking to Ibarionex Perello, the amazing voice and mind of The Candid Frame, and he asked me the one question I’m so fond of asking others. Why? …
Choose Your Risk: A RePost
I wrote this post three years ago this month (April 20). A couple days later I fell off the wall in Pisa that so changed my life. Don’t think I don’t appreciate the irony of the timing. Seemed a good candidate for a repost from the archives. Funny how it all plays out… Last year I decided to make a …
3 Versions: Discuss.
I recorded a new episode of About the Image this afternoon. Episode 14. It’ll be online in a couple weeks, I think. But I wanted to post the images here. 3 different versions. If you want to play, here are a couple questions to consider: How does the top image use shadows as a compositional tool? What does the choice …
Find an Itch
Since writing VisionMongers, I talk to a lot of photographers every year about business stuff. The frustrations, fears, and struggles are all similar. No one said this would be easy. As I recall, and it’s been a while since I wrote the book, I spent time trying to convince people not to go down this path, so when they inevitably …
Exploration & Expression
It’s been a while since I wrote about vision. Lately I’ve replaced the word with intent or intention. Almost every time I wrote about vision someone told me how frustrated they were about the whole vision thing. Inevitably it ended – or started – in tears. I can’t remember a workshop that didn’t include someone in tears over this. Sometimes …
Chains All The Same
I’m finally hitting Publish on this post. It’s long. It’s not about photography. And it’s none of my business. But it is yours and as I’ve been talking about freedom a lot, I feel strongly that there’s at least one person out there that will read this and avoid making the same mistakes I did, and find freedom from some …
About the Image, Episode 11.
The latest episode of About the Image just went live – this time it’s a 12-minute discussion about cropping and aspect ratios, among other things, using a seascape submitted by Josh Riggs. You can find the video podcast, free, here on the Craft & Vision website – or you can subscribe via the RSS feed from Vimeo – via this …
About The Image Podcast: New Episode
Episode 10 of my Craft & Vision podcast, About The Image, is now up. Thanks to Soren Neergard for this episode’s photograph. A free video podcast, About the Image is a chance for me to discuss the photographic language, and issues related to visual design and composition. They go from about 7 minutes to, well, longer, and there are now …