LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process

HT2621 - Photographers and Their Chosen Weather Isn't it interesting how certain photographers are associated with certain kinds of weather? Michael Kenna is associated with fog. Ansel Adams is often associated with snow. Josef Sudek is a photographer of rain. Mitch Dobrowner and tornados, Alfred Stieglitz and clouds. What is your favorite kind of weather to photograph? Note how that is a different question than what is your favorite kind of weather to photograph in! Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

HT2620 - The Problem with Handheld Photography After using a view camera for decades, my later conversion to handheld photography has been quite liberating. I enjoy being free from the tripod. That said, I have discovered that my compositions have gotten sloppy over the last decade and I do occasionally miss the exactitude that comes with more precise composition and care before clicking the shutter. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

LW1505 - From One to Many I'm often asked how I develop a multiple-image project. There are probably dozens of ways this could be done, but the most common way a project is born in my creative process is from a single image that spawns the rest. It starts by wandering through my Lightroom catalog in a receptive state of mind not dissimilar from the way I wander through the world looking for subjects that peak my curiosity. In the field I'll find a scene; in Lightroom I'll find an image that talks my imagination. All previous episodes of our weekly podcast are available to members of LensWork Online. 30-day Trial Memberships are only $10. Instant access, terabytes of content, inspiration and ideas that expand daily with new content. Sign up for instant access! You might also be interested in. . . Every Picture Is a Compromise, a series at www.brooksjensenarts.com. and... "How to" tutorials and camera reviews are everywhere on YouTube, but if you're interested in photography and the creative life, you need to know about the incredible resources you can access as a member of LensWork Online.

HT2619 - A Recitation of Locations Last fall I attended a lecture where a photographer, by projecting on a screen, shared a parade of hundred images or so with the audience. It was so curious to listen to their verbal accompaniment. The first few images had context, story, even plot line as they described what they had photographed and how. But that only lasted a few minutes. Less than a dozen images into their presentation and their verbal accompaniment deteriorated to a recitation of locations. I wonder why it is that photographers so often think that where they photographed is more important than what or why? Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

HT2618 - Print as Affirmation As we wander through life, we see something that prompts us to make a photograph. Why? That mystery requires confirmation. Did we see what we thought we saw? Did we understand what we thought became clear? Do we make a print in order to confirm our experience? Do we share that print with others so that they can confirm our experience? Photography fundamentally is the process of saying, "Look at this." We do so because we think it's important. How necessary is it that others affirm our observation, even if that affirmation comes from ourselves? This RSS feed includes only the most recent seven Here's a Thought episodes. All of them — over 2500 and counting! — are available to members of LensWork Online. Try a 30-day membership for only $10 and discover the literally terabytes of content about photography and the creative process. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

HT2617 - Battling with the Real World The problem with photography from a creative medium point of view is that it too successfully allows us to make pictures that show what the world looks like. I'm not sure this is helpful for those of us who want to use photography as a personally expressive medium. The more our photographs are truthful to an objective point of view, the less they reflect our own interpretive response to the world. Do we create photographs that copy the world or do we push further toward a more personal expression? This RSS feed includes only the most recent seven Here's a Thought episodes. All of them — over 2500 and counting! — are available to members of LensWork Online. Try a 30-day membership for only $10 and discover the literally terabytes of content about photography and the creative process.

HT2616 - My Serious Camera A troubling mindset that I have difficulty discarding is that I think of my gear as either serious or, well, not. With my serious camera, I work more intensely, with a deeper concentration. I also have a more portable, but fully capable camera that goes with me everywhere. For some reason, I can't seem to use that camera with the same intensity as my serious gear. I must let go of this prejudice. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

HT2615 - Beyond Place or Moment You may recall my Editor's Comments in LensWork #173, Projects as Wall Art. I have another observation about this that I missed until recently. An image on the wall says something about a place or a moment. A project of a dozen images or so says something That is neither about a place nor a moment. My current project on the wall consists of 13 images of snow scenes that says something about snow and winter that I'm not sure I could accomplish with just one image all by itself. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

HT2614 - What You Should Do Perhaps there is no deadlier advice from a workshop instructor, mentor, or master photographer, than their statement about what you should do with your photography. I've learned countless things from photographers who have told me what they do and leave it for me to pick and choose what parts of their creativity might be applicable to mine. On the other hand, I've learned essentially nothing from instructors who tell me how I ought to make my pictures. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

HT2613 - My Favorite Lightroom Tool Is... I haven't counted, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn there's about a gazillion tools in Lightroom that can help us refine and finesse our images. Some of them I never use, and some of them I'm sure I don't know about. There is, however, one tool, that I use on almost every image. No, it's not Exposure, not Clarity, not Texture, not Crop and Rotate. It is (drum roll, please) ... Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

LW1504 - Photo Groups I miss the dialogue of a group. An incredibly important part of my personal growth as a photographer came as the result of my participation in a group in Portland, Oregon known as the Portland Photographer's Forum. (The last I heard this group was still going strong after 40 years.) We had monthly meetings. We looked at photographs and talked about them. That's about it. There were no contests, no awards, no sniping anonymous critique bombs. It was just a group of people who cared about ph All previous episodes of our weekly podcast are available to members of LensWork Online. 30-day Trial Memberships are only $10. Instant access, terabytes of content, inspiration and ideas that expand daily with new content. Sign up for instant access! You might also be interested in. . . Every Picture Is a Compromise, a series at www.brooksjensenarts.com. and... "How to" tutorials and camera reviews are everywhere on YouTube, but if you're interested in photography and the creative life, you need to know about the incredible resources you can access as a member of LensWork Online.

HT2612 - Photography and the Visual Arts One of the biggest mistakes of my youth was focusing my efforts exclusively on photography and ignoring the other visual arts. By defining myself so narrowly as "a photographer," I have missed so many opportunities to see and study other visual media. How can we be photographers and not be interested in etchings, pen and ink drawings, wood block prints, linoleum cuts, and of course painting? Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

HT2611 - My Medium Is Better Than Yours The word "photography" is an umbrella term that includes dozens of different means of manifestation and distribution of an image. From daguerreotypes to digital prints, from lantern slides to web galleries, technology has provided us with dozens of ways to create a "photograph." Which of these are the most admired, most collectible, most respected of the various imaging technologies? Silver gelatin or platinum/palladium? Analog or digital? Or is this an incredibly silly question? This RSS feed includes only the most recent seven Here's a Thought episodes. All of them — over 2500 and counting! — are available to members of LensWork Online. Try a 30-day membership for only $10 and discover the literally terabytes of content about photography and the creative process. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

HT2610 - There Will Always Be One More Tweak Pablo Picasso famously said that the trick in painting is knowing when to stop. I think this is true in photography as well. There will always be one more tweak we can make to an image to improve it. And when we think we have it perfect, with the passage of time, we'll realize there is one more thing we could do. Ad infinitum. Perfection will always elude us because it's a constantly moving target. At some point, we must be willing to accept "good enough" and let go of the pursuit of perfection. This RSS feed includes only the most recent seven Here's a Thought episodes. All of them — over 2500 and counting! — are available to members of LensWork Online. Try a 30-day membership for only $10 and discover the literally terabytes of content about photography and the creative process.

HT2609 - Creativity Is a Private, Personal Thing Maybe I'm just stubbornly resistant, but I find I simply cannot get excited about suggestions from other people about what I should photograph or how I should put together a project. I think of creativity as a very private and personal activity that is carried out in a space that is strictly my own. Maybe I'm missing something here, but I found this to be true my entire creative life. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

HT2608 - Embracing the Pause I've learned over the years that I can't be creative all the time. I used to feel guilty about the pause between creative outbursts. I eventually came to realize that it's actually useful to be creatively on fire followed by a cooler period. The trick is to keep this momentum swinging back and forth and not let either state dominate for too long. Too much creativity and we burn out; too much pause and we end up procrastinating. A steady but swinging rhythm seems to be the sweet spot for me. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

HT2607 - Better by What Standards With today's powerful digital processing, we can easily remove any element of a captured image. Doing so will make our artwork better, right? Doesn't this depend on the criteria we assign as better? Removing an object makes the image less truthful. Moving an object makes the image less geometrically or optically accurate. Changing the contrast or the tonal relationships makes the image less like human vision. Altering the natural colors makes the image artificially intense. How do you define "better" in your work? Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

HT2606 - The Trendline of Photography In the early years of the 20th century, photography struggled to establish its reputation as a medium for artistic expression. As a medium, it gained widespread popularity and acceptance as the 20th century progressed. What about now, a quarter of the way through the 21st century? Is photography more respected as a result of the changes in the last 25 years, or has its reputation diminished? Has digital processing, the iPhone, and Instagram made photography more revered as an art medium? Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

LW1503 - Nurturing Your Creative Impulse I would bet that a significant number of photographers would claim their most valuable tool is their camera. I would propose your most valuable tool is your creative impulse. If anything you do or have needs tender loving care or special attention, it is those creative impulses. All previous episodes of our weekly podcast are available to members of LensWork Online. 30-day Trial Memberships are only $10. Instant access, terabytes of content, inspiration and ideas that expand daily with new content. Sign up for instant access! You might also be interested in. . . Every Picture Is a Compromise, a series at www.brooksjensenarts.com. and... "How to" tutorials and camera reviews are everywhere on YouTube, but if you're interested in photography and the creative life, you need to know about the incredible resources you can access as a member of LensWork Online.

HT2605 - What Is vs What Becomes The fundamental characteristic of photography is that it shows us what is, the instant that is. This differs so dramatically from performance arts where the basis of the medium is observing what unfolds over time. For example, movie plots are about what might happen to the characters over the next hours, days, or years. Does it make any sense for us to challenge ourselves to introduce some of that into our photography? Isn't this one of the advantages of the multi-image project? Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

HT2604 - Bigger Than Real Life The very first print I ever sold as a young photographer was an image of a 1-in mushroom cap that I printed to 16x20". I didn't realize at the time what a rarity that is, but looking back on 50 years of photography that may be the only image I've ever made were the artwork was bigger than the object photographed. Almost without exception, we photographers squeeze reality to fit within the confines of our comparatively diminutive prints. Rather than outsize the world via our product, we try to outsize our emotional response. This RSS feed includes only the most recent seven Here's a Thought episodes. All of them — over 2500 and counting! — are available to members of LensWork Online. Try a 30-day membership for only $10 and discover the literally terabytes of content about photography and the creative process. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

HT2603 - Our Digital Files and Our Mortality Our generation is facing a very strange conundrum, at least strange compared to previous generations of photographers. They may have left their negatives behind, which likely does not leave behind a possibility of posthumous prints. Our legacy involves the eternal possibility of Ctrl-P. This RSS feed includes only the most recent seven Here's a Thought episodes. All of them — over 2500 and counting! — are available to members of LensWork Online. Try a 30-day membership for only $10 and discover the literally terabytes of content about photography and the creative process.