Episodes

In this week’s podcast, we answer the top five questions I have been answering about printing or the past few months. If you listen to the podcast, you know I am a huge fan of printing, and so I am excited to be able to answer some of the common questions that I have been asked. What is the proper rendering intent to use to print my photograph? What is the best paper to use for my photograph? Should I let Photoshop/Lightroom manage my print or the printer? I have seen that Canon and Epson of...

In this week’s podcast, we take a look at the impacts of getting stuck in an easy rut. As we work on our photography, it is easy to find things that we are good at and stick with those techniques, subjects and concepts. However, it is important to continue to push our photography forward. One of the ways to do that is to find edges of our comfort zones and push outside of those areas. Trying new things can jumpstart new ideas, reenforce old habits and show us where we might be just a bit lazy in...

I am learning to play the guitar. It is a slow but fun process. I am still early enough in my practice that all I get to do is play some cords and learn muscle memory for the cords. I know that one day I will get to play a song. What I want to play is more blues and jazz guitar. That seems so technical, and far off, I wonder as I strum a G cord if I will get there. My own thought process reminded me of working with several people over the past few weeks with their photography. Over the course o...

I have been watching a few tv shows and movies recently where the breakup around Valentine’s Day was a central theme of the plot. As I sat there in front of the screen, I realized that there are also some things in the photographic practice that I needed to have a hard conversation with. In effect, I need to breakup with some bad habits. It is easy to develop bad habits. They can show up in our desires for equipment or software to make our “job easier.” They might show up in the way we approach...

In this week’s podcast, we talk about the importance of trusting your instincts. I was recently a conversation with Lori, and she was relaying how important it is to learn to listen to your internal voice to trust your instincts. We talked about how this is true for your health, mental well-being, and artistic life. As I got to thinking more about how that applies to our photography, it hit me about how many times and how easy it is to avoid trusting your instincts when it comes to making a pho...

I recently was watching TV at a friends house and during the news and then talking with Lori about what I heard. There were some people in our government and in interviews talking about returning to a simpler time. I am not one, for just returning to the way it was 20, 30, 50 years ago. I love the possibility the future holds. I have always thought the work we do as a community makes tomorrow better than today. That statement did give me pause as to what does someone who wants to return to a mor...

In this week’s podcast, we talk about the importance of figuring out what you really need to know to be a successful photographer. When we look at a photograph, we make a lot of decisions about what we like about the image and what we don’t like about the image. As we work on the edits, we need to figure out how to make the photograph better. Our goal in editing to elevate the photograph to be something that matches our vision. Unfortunately, it is very easy to get distracted from that main goal...

One of the most important task we have when working is to find a way to stay focused on what we want to accomplish. While some days, we need to have the freedom to just figure out what the day brings. The freedom to really wonder gives us our sense of energy a chance to find its passion. However, it is also important that we find a way to keep our eye on the larger prizes that we have for many of our goals. In order to do that we need to find a way to keep ourselves motivated. In this week’s po...

As 2017 moves into the rearview window, this week’s podcast is all about setting up some new goals and ideas for 2018. One of the first steps to having a great new year is to take the time to look back into the accomplishments of 2017. If you spend some time thinking about where you were at the beginning of the year and how much you accomplished over the course of 2017, you might be surprised at how much you achieved. Often, we find ourselves spending too much time thinking about how much is sti...

I have really taken noticed recently that a lot of our information is provided in quick, easy soundbites. And, it seems some people prefer to get their information that way. You can hear it in conversations and see it in how we relate online. So many small statements supported with very few facts we hold to be true. I started to wonder, if consuming information in small bites with something that could impact our relationship to photography. As I started looking at my own images and thinking abo...

I have really taken noticed recently that a lot of our information is provided in quick, easy soundbites. And, it seems some people prefer to get their information that way. You can hear it in conversations and see it in how we relate online. So many small statements supported with very few facts we hold to be true. I started to wonder, if consuming information in small bites with something that could impact our relationship to photography. As I started looking at my own images and thinking abo...

In the podcast this week we are taking a look at when you think you might need to get some new gear. One of the things that I have noticed in my practice is that I don’t ever, for the most part, think that need new equipment or skills when I am actually creating photographs our printing images. As I spent time thinking about how I work, I realize that much of my time wanting new equipment figure out new training happened while I was not engaged in my actual photography. Those times when I wante...

In the first part of this week’s podcast, we take a look at how working on a project is like running on a racetrack. Like lanes on a track, at any given time, you might be faster and ahead in one area of your project and behind in another. The key is to keep your eyes on the finish line and know that each step in each lane moved you closer to completing your project. It doesn’t matter which lane is ahead, but rather that you can keep focused on assign the feedback and language into the correct l...

As I was having a drink with a friend recently, our conversation turned to my photography. My friend asked me what would be the one skill that every photographer should have to be successful. As we talked about all the various skills that one may need, I remembered a conversation from years ago where another associate said that he succeeded because he always finished his work. As we talked more and more, I made finishing my answer. I think that too many times we give up our efforts without actu...

I was recently in line at a grocery store and overhead one of the people in line say something about doing your best. That got me thinking about all the times in my life where I was asked if I was doing my best. As if my best was something that mattered. As a child, I think I was told that so I could learn the lesson of trying hard no matter what the results. Sometimes even if you do your best, you might not get what you think you deserve, but knowing that you did your best is enough. As a crea...

In an episode a few weeks ago we talked about how the smaller stories of life are just as important as the bigger stories people think about telling. For many of us, there is a paralysis of the larger story whereas with the smaller stories we can more easily pick up the camera. In this week’s podcast, we talk about how to take some of those smaller stories and pull them together into larger thematic bodies of work. For my own work, I have created five simple buckets story of ideas (stories wit...

This past week my little brother, Jim, unexpectedly passed away. I have never felt the pain and sorrow that I have been living with for the past several days. My heart is truly broken. It has been a sucker punch to the gut and a 2×4 to the face times ten. My little brother was amazing. He had a huge heart filled with joy, compassion, and friendship. He spent the majority of his career in wetland conservation helping to protect wetland environments for future generations. His generous spirit was...

I was recently having a conversation with a friend when he said that he was worried about his art because he didn’t have anything to say or any big ideas. In my own work, I at times it had similar thoughts. The reality is, we all have something important to say. In photography, sometimes were just moved by the light. The subtle way that it touches and wraps around the subject is enough to invoke in us a feeling or emotion. In many cases, that can be as powerful, and moving is taking on some of ...

I have a lecture that I’m giving later this week at the Photographic Center Northwest on visual literacy. As I’ve been preparing for that lecture, I also noticed a number of different people asking me for critiques in interesting and unusual ways. So in this week’s podcast we’re going to talk a little bit about how people go about asking for reviews, the nature of intention, and critiques and finally have a think about classifying work for more valuable critique. One of the things that I’ve not...

At the risk of repeating myself more than once in this podcast, I raise a question about the value of repetition in the photographic process. When we are working creativity is there something in the process that repetition can help with and at the same time can it hinder? As we explore this topic, I think you will quickly discover that much of what can cause problems for us photographically is an over-reliance on repetition. Be it in how we frame and compose to setting up a new portfolio; there...

I am working on a new lecture on visual literacy for later in October. As I was reviewing a number of different aspects of language in photography, I occurred to me that we often phrase questions in our creative practice that can impact our approach to our photographs and photography. As I spent more time thinking about this, I came up with a few phrases that in my opinion could be shifted to cause a difference in your approach to your creative practice. What could I do to make this better? Th...

I am a huge science junkie, but I have never been able to handle the math necessary to make it something more than an interest. I love to read all the books that explain the science but remove the math. Books like Godel, Escher and Bach, The Elegant Universe and other have always fascinated and inspired me. One of my favorite stories is about Schrödinger’s cat. Erwin Schrödinger explains the nature of a quantum superposition with a cat. You place a cat, a vile of poison, and a radioactive eleme...

I was recently having a conversation with a good friend, who also listens to the podcast. He said that he has heard me say over and over again that printing makes a shift in your work as a photographer. But, he wanted to know what other things might I recommend to someone who is feeling a little stuck in their process. Are there other things that can make dramatic shifts in our photographic practice? So in honor of the David Letterman Top 10 list, here are my current five habits that I think ev...

In this week’s podcast, the changing of the seasons from summer to fall has me thinking about how the change of seasons causes a shift in my photographic practice. As I looked back at my photographic process, I have learned that the limited light and gray of the Pacific Northwest has me hole up in the darkroom in the winter more than I spend time out shooting. Recognizing this, I have shifted what I do in the summer and fall to be better prepared to take advantage of the darker days of winter. A...