Episodes

Final things to consider when finishing a photograph for exhibition After you have spent all that time getting your photograph taken, edited and printed, there are still a few things to consider as you finalize your print for show or exhibition. If you are matting and framing you need to think about the matt and frame color and size. One of the key considerations should be the color of the frame and matt. You do not want a mat or frame color that creates a distraction to the image. If you use a...

Five good habits for photographers It is amazing how easy it is to develop some simple habits that make things easier and better in life. Some habits are engrained since childhood like brushing your teeth. Still, others are learned as we get older. I think there are a few simple habits that you could develop that would make a difference in your photography. Keeping organized–not just your digital assets but your gear, business files, and anything else released to your photography. It is amazin...

How sentimentality impacts our photography In the process of packing to move to the new studio, I realized how many things I have kept over the years for no real reason other than a sentimental attachment to the object. I have a whole boat load of gear that I no longer use and have not plans to use. Yet, when I look at it and think about giving it away or selling it, I convince myself that it is too important to let go. In the end, keeping all these sentimental objects, thoughts and feelings ar...

Thoughts on naming photos In the process of moving to a new studio, I have started to think about the name I want to give the studio. The name should reflect who I am as an artist, what the new space should feel like and what I hope to accomplish. As I have been painting and trying to come up with that name, I have gotten to think about how we create and name our photographs for a photo series. Naming photos is an important part of the creative process and can really make a difference in the cr...

In this Episode In part three of this three-part series about how to take an idea to concept to photo series to completion, we take a look at some of the key steps to think about once you have your photo series developed as you think about how to display and finalize your project. There are some key areas to consider when you are completing a project. First, it is important to realize that this process is an evolution. What might start as one thing can quickly change. You may think you are wor...

In this Episode In this second of a three-part series of podcasts about how to take an idea to concept to execution, we take a look at how to move from a concept and develop that into a photo series. We focus on ways that we can move from these more abstract ideas and notions to a solid and concrete set of images. In part three of the podcast, we’ll look at some of the considerations for a final production of a photo series. There are a number of ways to deal with developing concepts. I feel t...

In this Episode In this first of a three-part series of podcasts about how to take an idea to concept to execution, we take a look at where ideas originate, how to capture those ideas, and how they evolve into concepts. In Part two we will be looking at how to move from concept to photo series. Part three concludes with taking the series to completed execution. One of the greatest parts of living a creative life is how we are always being inspired by the world around us. From the food we eat t...

In this Episode We have often talked about the role for criticism in photography. In this podcast, we focus more on understanding the types of feedback that you might give when you look at your own work as well at the work of others. Feedback, which is distinct from criticism, is something that also requires some specific skills. I personally feel that the most important is empathy to the person whose work you are looking at. You need to understand where they are with their work and what type o...

In this Episode After last week’s topic, I got to thinking about a book from Atul Gawande called the Checklist Manifesto (affiliate link). If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, the book deals with how a checklist can be used to make sure that we are more successful in accomplishing our task. The checklist is more than a to-do list; it is really about making sure we can do all the thing necessary to mitigate risk and increase our effectiveness. In Atul’s research, he found a couple of inte...

In this Episode I was recently speaking with my brother, and we got to laughing about how if you look at all the options on the Taco Bell menu, they are basically created with seven ingredients. I got to thinking about how to apply food and photography together. At its most basic, there is not a lot to a photograph, the frame, composition, light, color, gesture, time, etc., but yet there is an infinite number of images that can be created. As I thought more and more about that notion, I realize...

In this Episode In this episode of the Perceptive Photographer we take a look at the influence of Galen Rowell. Galen was a gifted climber, mountaineer, and photographer. He spent a great deal of time in the Sierra Nevada range where he recorded over 100 first ascents. He also holds several other climbing records. He began working as a full-time photographer in his early 30s working for National Geographic. In addition to his amazing career as a photographer, he was also a very talented writer....

In this Episode “Each time Andre Kertész’s shutter clicks, I feel his heart beating.” Henri Cartier-Bresson In this week episode, we take a quick look at the influence of André Kertész and his work on my own. I was aware of André Kertész’s work early on in my photographic studies, but it was a trip to the LA MOMA that really introduced me to his amazing sense of seeing, composition and feeling. Over the years, I have returned to his work over and over again trying to find ways to better connec...

In this Episode Well I am in Las Vegas this week for Photoshop World so come find me if you are hanging around Mandalay Bay for PSW2016. As I was packing for the conference I came across a notebook from a prior life when I was dealing with marketing. In that notebook was some work that I had done with a firm on the 30-second pitch, 2 minute pitch and tagline/slogan work. As I looked over that work, grateful that I no longer do that full-time, I realized how important that work is to photography...

In this Episode Looking at my own work, I realize that often times I see the same thing and photograph the same thing over and over again. While the subject and subject matter might change, for all intensive purposes the images are the same. I don’t necessarily think this is bad or good, but in trying to understand why that might be happening I came across a couple of quotes. The first quote is by the wonderful photographer Edward Weston: Why limit yourself to what your eyes see when you have ...

In this Episode In this podcast we return to one of the central themes of creating meaningful work. Since starting the podcast, one of the most common questions I get asked seems to revolve around what it takes to make a good photograph. While we have covered this topic in various forms before on the podcast, we return to this topic again to look at the importance of honesty in photography. As you strive to create more significant work, you have to consider how you are relating to your subject...

In this Episode One of the questions I get asked a lot is about how I work with my images. Once I get the images taken in the field, what is my actual workflow to determine what prints to work on in an editing program. While I don’t think my workflow is any different than others, but since I get asked a lot I wanted to make sure that I answered the question. My workflow is basically like working with a funnel. I try to narrow out really bad images at the start and make a tighter and tighter ed...

In this Episode It is Sunday night and I find myself in front of the recorder again. While I normally try to have my podcast done well in advance, this weekend I was reading something on my phone that sort of got me amped up for the day. There is a lot of photographic teaching out there in the world and some of it is a amazing and some of it not so much. For the most part, I try to ignore things that bother me, but for some reason this weekend, I just couldn’t let it go. Over the past several ...

In this Episode I was out shooting with a friend on the island, I really should have had my tripod with me, but I did not pack it for this trip. My friend caught me contorted in a corner looking for a way to use the wall as a tripod. He jokingly mentioned that I should have brought the tripod and was just being a lazy photographer. Truth is, I was. That got me thinking about how we are lazy in our photography. At times in my own past, I haven’t been working on my photography and I thought of m...

In this Episode As I look at my own work and the work of others, I have been noticing that the better photographs have something in common. Each of the photographs has a good working background, midground and foreground. The photographer has taken the time to make sure that all the elements of the entire frame work together. When we first start photographing, I believe that we focus on the subject or the object that we want to photograph. After a while, we might start to think about subject ma...

In this Episode One of the questions I have been getting a lot lately is how you go about picking a paper to print your photographs on that will work best for the image. I think there are a few key elements to keep in mind as you think about paper and paper options for printing your images. First off, if you haven’t started printing your photographs you should. There are some things that can happen when you print your photos. First, you will see a commitment to your final image. You will have ...

In this Episode In this week’s podcast, I got to thinking about how creativity works in our lives. It is important to consider how creativity manifests itself in your everyday life. For myself, I find that when my creativity is low it is because I haven’t created the necessary space to allow the creativity to emerge. In my own work, I have found that simple is always more. Getting more and more complicated in my work often leads to less creativity. I have also found that when my places of creat...

In this Episode In this week’s podcast, we talk about what you are doing with your work. A lot of photographers seem to be capturing more and more images, and that has gotten me to wonder about what is happening with all of those images. I am not harkening back to a better time in photography, because I think this problem has always existed. Once you have created your images, what do you ultimately do with them? What is their ongoing purpose? There are so many ways to share and see photographs ...

In this Episode This week we return to a topic we have touched on in prior podcast, the critique. There is so much you gain from sharing your work with others and learning about your work, language about your work and how people see your work. You also gain a better understanding of working with photographs and photography when you learn to give a good critique of someone’s work. This week we take a look at some of the key ideas, questions and concepts you need to be able to work both sides of ...

In this Episode I found myself this week completely in love with a new Leica camera. The Leica M-D Type 262 body was announced. This camera is pretty much a standard Leica digital camera, but it lacks a digital view screen on the back of the camera. In place of the view screen is an ISO dial. So it pretty much looks like an old film Leica. Over the years, I have been been able to pretty much eliminate my GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) for camera gear. For me, gear now has to be able solving a ...