Episodes

Episode 299 I have been asked a lot recently about what I think about some of the new tools digital photographers have at their disposal. Many programs now offer “AI or machine learning” to help edit photographs. Now with the click of a few buttons, you can replace skies, change expressions, or quickly composite images together. Now I have never been on enough drugs to think that photographs are without manipulation. They are manipulated by point of view, lens choice, depth of field, color vs....

Episode 298 In this week’s podcast, we start with a quote by Edward Weston about composition. “Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk.” Edward Weston I have often thought that this quote has been misunderstood by people who teach photography and composition in photography. When I hear this quote, most of the time, instructors are talking about breaking the composition rules to make more interesting photogra...

Episode 297 In this week’s podcast, we look at the impacts of muscle memory on our photography. Muscle memory, or the body’s ability to do something without thinking about it, is an important aspect of working as a photographer. This memory allows us to be able to quickly and efficiently do our jobs. From settings on the camera to keyboard shortcuts in a program, being efficient can really make a difference in how we can do our work. Yet, there is a downside. Anyone who has spent too much time h...

Episode 296 In this week’s podcast, we look at a possible photographic approach and discuss how you approach knowing when enough is enough when creating the image. For many of us, our approach to getting an image completed is incremental. We take small steps in our approach to framing, editing, shooting, and printing. While this method works, I propose that by making more grand shifts earlier in our process, we can get to a better result faster. We can get a better image, better concept, and bet...

Episode 294 Please make sure you vote this week if you are in the US. Election time is an important time. After reading a brief snippet about how Forbes creates its top 200 most brand valuable companies, I got to thinking about what formulas do we use in our photography when we assign a photograph a star value of 1-5. Is there a basic structure to our photographic approach that defines what we think is desirable in an image? If there is a unified approach, what elements would we consider in mak...

Episode 294 Please make sure you vote this week if you are in the US. Election time is an important time. Everything is connected. When you photograph a leaf, it is part of a tree. A leading line doesn’t just start and stop in your frame. It extends beyond the frame. In this week’s podcast, we look at how our approach to seeing the whole and its parts can impact how we view the world and the images we make. Small shifts in our awareness of how everything is related in an image and how those rel...

Episode 293 I had a conversation with a friend a while back about photography and at one point, relating to photo editing, I asked him, Why do you care what someone else does so much? There was a long, almost uncomfortably long pause. The answer that he gave didn’t really matter much to me, but that pause really got me thinking about the idea of why do we care about things the way we do. As we look at photography, I think we care about work because of its impact on us as we make it, and we hope...

Episode 292 When I was younger, I worked for a high-tech startup that had to lay most of the company off to survive. They didn’t do anything but prolonged their demise, but the language used during the layoffs stuck with me. I hadn’t thought about it in a long time but recently heard someone say it when talking about photographs. The phrase used when I was laid off and in the review was This isn’t personal. It’s just business. The thing that stuck with me all these years is that it is business t...

Episode 291 Sometimes when we look at a photograph, we just don’t get it. We move on and don’t give it another thought. However, assuming the photographer was attempting to make something meaningful with there work, the photograph does have something to say. I have grown to think that it is our job to try and understand our reactions to photographs so that we can better understand the photographer. While we may not fully appreciate the images, if we can walk a mile in their shoes we might gain s...

Episode 290 In a follow-up to last week’s podcast on the value of interviewing others and yourself about photography, this week we talk about some possible subjects or ideas to consider when planning your interview. I always recommend that you start with the work. Look closely at the images and projects someone has created to get focused. Think about what you want to know about how the work came about, what they learned from the work, and their approach. As long as your asking questions that foc...

Episode 289 One of my favorite exercises I use to teach photography and learn about my own work is called the interview project. This process involves you doing enough research about a photographer you are inspired by or want to learn from and then create a set of 10 to 20 interview questions that you would want to use to interview them. In some cases, you might be lucky and be able to use those questions to interview the photographer. Still, sometimes they might no longer be alive. Either way, ...

Episode 288 Sometimes it is the little things that can make all the difference. In a photograph, it might be a shift in POV or depth of frame. In our printing, it might be the right paper selection. No matter what you are working on a small change can be a big deal. However, as the days seemingly run together in this year of COVID, I got to thinking about how easy it is to miss the small changes since everything and every day seem to blend. For me, there have been five small changes that I have ...

Episode 287 I often think of photography as an active verb. It is something that we do, see, and respond. It involves action on both the creator of the image and the viewer. We create photographs to see better, learn about the world and our place in it, and share those insights with others. Hopefully, people look at our photographs to have the same experiences as we did when we created them. There is, however, a whole set of photography that is created without the photographer. Video and photos...

Episode 286 Sometimes I hear someone say something and it gets me thinking about my approach to my photography. I recently overheard someone say don’t shoot the messenger. This got me to thinking about how many times we blame the viewer for not getting our understanding of our photographs. This week’s podcast is all about how we can help to overcome our frustration with others when they just don’t get our work. It is easy to blame the viewer as just not getting it, but I believe there is an opp...

Episode 285 I was recently updating a lot of software on my computer. As some of the updates were installing, I took a look at the software release notes. If you have never looked at these notes, they tell you what is included in the update. Nearly all the release notes have the same basic information. They contain bug fixes, new features, and compatibility notes. As I looked at those, it got me thinking about how similar those notes are to editing and making photographs. This week’s podcast di...

Episode 284 This week’s podcast dives into how we define a photograph and photography. There is a lot of room to experiment and play with what defines photography, but I think knowing what is an isn’t photography and a photograph can help you be a better photographer and consumer of visual images. For me, there are three key aspects of a photograph. They are time-bound, indexical, and is represented by an object of some type (print, slide, etc). For you, I imagine you might have different ideas ...

Episode 283 This week’s podcast talks introduces two new long-format workshops I am offering in 2020-2021. Each workshop will run for 6-7 months and is limited to six particpants. There is a foundation workshop about editing and workflow and an advanced workshop about finding more meaning in your work. You can get more information from the Workshops/Teaching menu above or using one of the links below. https://www.danieljgregory.com/2020workshops/perceptive-photographer-foundation-workshop-the-d...

Episode 282 There are a number of aspects of photography that fall into two camps. There are artistic decisions and technical decisions. For some people, you might think of this as left-brain (technical) and right- brain (creative) decisions. However, to be successful, you need both sides of your brain to make a good photograph. Not only both sides but also some language around how both sides work together to make a successful photograph. When we can talk about how our camera decisions help or h...

Episode 281 One of our listeners sent in a great question about distractions. Her question was a two-part approach to dealing with distractions. The first was dealing with the distractions of editing the wrong images. Were there ideas or strategies for making sure what we can edit the best images and not waste time on the wrong images. Before you actually edit an image in Lightroom do the following, write down on a piece of paper the following: emotions you want or feel in the image the story ...

Episode 280 Make yourself the best photographer in the world. To do so, all you have to do is wear a mask. If you think it kills your freedom, put one and walk around and see if you can still do things. If you can, the mask hasn’t destroyed your freedom but has kept the rest of us safer. In this week’s podcast, I reflect on how our emotional state can drive how we approach our photographs when we are out in the field. The shifts in emotions, feelings, and experiences while out with a camera can...

Episode 279 I get asked a lot of questions about photography. Some are good, and some are not so good. When we look at our own work and spend time behind the camera it is all about asking and answering questions. Is this the right composition? Do I have the right settings? Is my narrative on point? In my experience, when we ask the right question we get what we want in our photography sooner than later. So, this week’s podcast is a look at the process of asking questions and how we answer those...

Episode 278 As COVID-19 continues to build in the USA, I thought I would use the podcast this week to share five things you can do with your stay at home time. These to-do items will work even if you aren’t stuck at home under quarantine. Still, these to-dos can help pass the time and improve your photography and photographic inspiration if you are at home. Read and do the work in one of your photography books you bought Inventory your camera gear for insurance and to do a keep, sell, donate, o...

Episode 277 I often get asked what the things you can do to be a better photographer are. The two that are always at the top of my list are printing and consuming other people’s work. I like to use the analogy of ice cream when discussing other people’s work. Our work is one flavor of ice cream. Different people all have their own flavor. When we look at others’ work, it is like getting to try a new flavor of ice cream. We might like it. We might not. Either way, it helps us broaden our palate a...

Episode 276 We used to be able to go to the movies, one of my favorite traditions was getting something from the concessions stands. Now I know they are a rip-off, but I just love having a treat during the movie. I am always somewhat annoyed; however, by the time it takes some people to pick a type of candy while in line. Now, I have read enough research to know that given too many choices, most of us can’t make a decision. Given too few choices and we rebel against our options. That leaves most...