Lenswork - Photography And The Creative Process

HT1964 - Getting the Right Tones Pushing tones around might make an image have better light, but that doesn't guarantee it will be a better photograph. Images might be enhanced by tonal adjustments, but it's content, meaning, and metaphor that make a photograph better artwork.

HT1963 - I Didn't Know I Needed That We live in the age of software. Even if you are producing analog prints from the wet darkroom, you still use digital means to share your work on the Internet, produce you work as a book, or email your images to, say, LensWork. Learning software is a part of our creative life. Here's a thought about the two strategies for embracing software.

HT1962 - Mood, Feeling, Emotion In a generic sense, a piece of artwork has the purpose of shifting our emotional state of mind. In most cases, that means a shift from everyday awareness to an elevated sensitivity. How do we break through everyday awareness so people will experience a shift of mood, feeling, or emotion? Doesn't this seem like a question for either biologists or psychologists? Do those disciplines offer any clues?

HT1961 - The Poetry in Photography Of all the artistic and non-artistic media, photography is considered the most objective, factual, documentarian. I think this idea about photography is so widespread that it complicates things for those of us who see photography as visual poetry.

HT1960 - Being Open, Being Receptive Lao Tzu advices us to go with the flow. That doesn't mean give up free will, but it does mean that fighting nature can easily become a losing battle. In photography, that implies using the light as it is, using the subjects that fall in our laps, being receptive to the photographic opportunities before us rather than assume the dictatorial response of trying to bend nature to fit our aesthetic expectations.

HT1959 - The Sequence of Events I received a comment from a listener that illustrated a very important point for all of us who are art creators. Come to think of it, maybe this applies to almost all of our efforts. All 1900+ episodes of Here's a Thought . . . are available in their entirety to members of LensWork Online, our extensive resource library of our 30-year publishing history. Learn more about LensWork Online.

HT1958 - Working Time Per Print How much time do you spend working on a print? I've never timed myself but I wouldn't be surprised to find the average time I spend working on a print is probably less than a half an hour. Compare this to any other art medium. What if novelist spend only a half an hour to bang out their masterpiece? Or painters a half an hour to execute a portrait? All previous episodes of Here's a Thought . . . 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 that looks at failures as a way to learn. 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.

LW1410 - Artist As Visionary Have you ever looked at a piece of artwork and thought the artist had somehow been mistaken? For example, when you look at a photograph and think it's too dark or too much contrast, is your natural reaction to give it thumbs down? It seems like so much of the art world today has become pushing art makers toward the expected rather than looking at art makers as visionaries with lessons to teach us. 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.