Lenswork - Photography And The Creative Process

HT2682 - No One Cares How Hard You Worked Of course you worked hard to make that wonderful photograph! It takes time, energy, money, effort, and even sacrifice to make a photograph. Unfortunately, none of our struggles are important to others as they look at the results of our blood, sweat, and tears. Whenever I hear a photographer drone on about how hard they had to work at it, the more it sounds like whining. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

HT2681 - Making Art Is Picking and Choosing Nothing damages a project so thoroughly as trying to say too much. It's far better to say a small thing well rather than a huge thing poorly. This is a good idea to keep in mind when defining your project boundaries. Here are two examples. This RSS feed includes only the most recent seven Here's a Thought episodes. All of them — over 2600 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!

LW1513 - Small Prints Making giant prints is expensive, complicated, and requires lots of room to produce and store. And then there is the cost of framing. Add to that the logistical challenges to pack and ship. It's no wonder so many photographers search for alternatives. Instagram appears to be the dominant alternative, but of course ignores the advantages of physical prints. Small prints and chapbooks are alternatives worth considering. 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 Len

HT2680 - The Rain on Our Parade I received an email from an important gallery that was offering a number of reasonably well-known Ansel Adams images for sale. Most of them were priced at $6,800. The most recognizable name in fine art photography, images that have been frequently published and collectible, and that is their fair market value? Am I wrong in stating that the market for fine art photography sucks? 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.

HT2679 - Treatment Based on the Project Not too long ago, if you'd asked me what kind of photographer I was, I'd have said black and white—that's literally all I did back then. But digital processing changed the game, and now I'm making color images too. So you'd think it's just a choice, right? Pick one or the other. But here's the thing—that mindset totally locks you in. You start thinking every image has to be either b/w or color, never both. Turns out that's a pretty limiting way to look at it. I've got tons of examples of shots that absolutely work in both b/w and color depending on what the project needs. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

HT2678 - Limiting Your Choices You are serious about your photography, so you probably have a pretty reasonable kit of gear that covers almost anything you might want to shoot. Great. But what if you only had one camera, one lens, and that's it? Would you not be able to do photography at all? Would your photographic career grind to a halt? How silly. Of course you would do photography, just with the limited gear that you have. In truth, you might be more creative and more productive within these limitations. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

HT2677 - Obviously, This Is Not Good Has this ever happened to you? I was watching a YouTube tutorial on a software feature when the speaker showed a "before" and "after" version of an image they were using for demonstration. They showed the before image and said, "Obviously, this is not good." To my eye, it was great! In fact, the before image was much better than the supposedly improved after image. This is a big problem with software tutorials — they always tell us how but almost never tell us why! Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

HT2676 - Within the First Half Dozen I watched a fascinating interview of Sting by Rick Beato on YouTube. Sting said that he loses interest in a song if there isn't a surprise in the first eight bars. I think I can say the same about photography. If I look at a photographic project and don't see something new, unexpected, a mystery or a question, something surprising, or that grabs me in the first half dozen images, my attention wanes. There is a lesson here about image selection and sequencing. Or perhaps an admission about my attention span. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!