Episodes

Episode 359 One of the biggest challenges many of us face in our photography is sorting out where and who to show our work. Finding our peeps or audience can be a challenge. That challenge can be clouded by ego, confusion, and misidentification. However, once we understand who our audience is, our shared photography can reach and be appreciated by our community. In the podcast this week, I talk about how some considerations for thinking about and identifying your target audience based on not on...

Episode 358 A friend of mine recently told me about how he approaches journaling each morning. He starts off by writing about where he is today. Doesn’t matter if good or bad. He just notes how he feels. He then writes down how he wants to be that day. Maybe he writes about being open and receptive, or creative or sad. Doesn’t really matter what he writes, he just notes how he wants to be that day. In the podcast this week, I talk about how approaching our photography by thinking about how I am...

Episode 357 In this episode of the Perceptive Photographer podcast, we dive into a new way of approaching the deletion of our images. I was asked by a friend how I approach deleting my images. We chatted about deleting the bad ones, duplicates, etc. In the course of that conversation, it occurred to me that these things that I was deleting or gear that I was selling all had value at one point. Maybe I learned something about technique from the bad photograph. Maybe I learned how to see better be...

Episode 356 With the turn of a day, it is now 2022. I hope you are having a good start to the new year. This week’s podcast is a quick chat about something that I hope we can all do in 2022 for our own work and the work of others. I don’t think it will always be easy, but I do think it can make us a better photographic community. One of the questions I get asked frequently is what sort of equipment do I use to record my podcast. I have used a variety of equipment in the years that I have been r...

Episode 355 As we close out 2021 and look forward to 2022, we close out the podcast talking about a few listener questions that have been sent in over the past few months. As you will hear, in many cases, I think oftentimes we are asking the wrong question to begin with. How to pick photographers to follow? How do I get in a gallery or what galleries should I focus on? What is the right way to setup a printer? What do you do when left uninspired? As always, I hope you and yours are safe, an...

Episode 354 In our adventure as photographers, there are so many little twists and turns. Some of them are good and some are nothing more than a distraction. In this week’s podcast, we talk about five little things to consider as we approach the end of the year that might make a difference in our photography in 2022. Pick your head up and see where you are going Celebrate something you did or didn’t do Pick something to give up in 2022 that takes away your energy Find your peeps Center your...

Episode 353 A poet is somebody who feels, and who expresses his feelings through words.A poet is somebody who feels, and who expresses his feelings through words. This may sound easy. It isn’t. A lot of people think or believe or know they feel — but that’s thinking or believing or knowing; not feeling. And poetry is feeling — not knowing or believing or thinking. Almost anybody can learn to think or believe or know, but not a single human being can be taught to feel. Why? Because whenever y...

Episode 352 Related connected by reason of established or discoverable relation Relation quality that connects two or more things as beloing or working together In this episode, I talk about how to approach your photographs as a group of interconnected elements focusing on not just what the object is or looks like but how it relates to everything else in the frame. Many times in photography, we can focus on one aspect of an image but as the saying goes, we are responsible for everything in the...

Episode 351 In this week’s episode, I dive into the importance of understanding your purpose when making a photograph. There are a host of reasons to take a photo, but understanding the reason you are making one will help you critique your images, organize your images and be successful behind the camera. Just like making sure you have the right lens on the camera for the images you want to make, having the understanding of your purpose can make sure the little details fall into place. Check out...

Episode 350 There are so many ways to think about grouping photographs and programs like Lightroom or Capture One can make it easier. Although those programs sort of force a method for looking at times, there are other options for grouping and associating our work. In this week’s podcast, I talk about some of the approaches to grouping your images that might open up some creative ideas or concepts that you hadn’t considered before in your work. Check out our sponsor Silly Dog Studios Herbal Stu...

Episode 349 I recently got emailed a question about finding and shooting unique things in photography and if that is important. I, of course, think that uniqueness in photography is essential, but not the subject matter or subject. At this point, most of what is photographed has been photographed as a subject, subject matter, or concept before. However, I believe that this sort of problem isn’t a problem at all. In many ways, the fact that it’s all been done before is worth celebrating. In this...

Episode 348 Sometimes you get a great image. You print it and hang it on the wall. Other times, you have a collection of images that you want to pull together for a collection, show, or book. Anyone who has tried to pull multiple images together knows that there is an art to that process. It seems easy but never is. In this week’s podcast, I talk a little be more about how to think about sequencing your images into an essay or story. What sort of considerations to make before, during, and after...

Episode 347 In photography, we often talk about the notion of the decisive moment. That idea that all the elements of form, frame, composition, and gesture all come together in a complete image. There is the flash of time where everything is in alignment. I believe there is also something else in photography that is equally if not more important. The idea of a defining moment. A moment in your photography or life that fundamentally alters your thinking and approach to photography. In this week’...

Episode 346 We all collect stuff. Some of us embrace our collections and proudly display them for others to see. Other collections are more personal and private. In the game of photography, there are lots of distractions we can collect that keep us from achieving our goals. I am sure if you look around your photography space, you will see too much of some things you have collected and not enough of others. This idea of collecting has got me thinking about how we approach not just our physical co...

Episode 345 One of the criteria we can use to judge our own photographs is does this image match my memory of the thing I photographed? A photograph is a record of something just like our memory. Many times, I think we use this criteria as a way to evaluate our images. Does is match? If yes the photograph is good, and if not, the photograph is lacking. In this week’s podcast, we jump into the notion of memory and how it can impact our understanding of how we view an image. I also talk about how...

Episode 344 If you haven’t taken the time to make a contact sheet, you should. They are worth their weight in gold. Many people think the contact sheet is used to select your best photograph to edit or enlarge, but I also think contacts teach you something about your approach to photographs and time behind the camera. The contact sheet lets you see how your vision unfolds and how the world you experience through the viewfinder says something about you. In this week’s podcast, we dive in to the v...

Episode 343 Have you ever had a good glass of wine where you could taste the subtle notes of flavor? Maybe it was in a cup of coffee or something you cooked. That little sensation of blueberries, mint, rosemary, or plum. It is out there waiting to be discovered and enhance our pleasure eating or drinking. Photography has that same experience. There are little notes of flavor in composition, framing, and editing. In this week’s podcast, we dive into the world of notes, spices and taste sensations...

Episode 342 This week’s podcast takes a look at how clarity can impact our photography from before the shutter clicks to after the print is made. As always, I hope you and yours are safe, and please remember to keep safe and wear your mask. Get your Photoshop Virtual Summit Pass Here! One of the questions I get asked frequently is what sort of equipment do I use to record my podcast. I have used a variety of equipment in the years that I have been recording, but here is the current list of equ...

Episode 341 Have you turned it off and on again? This was a common question when I was in IT for 20 years. Often times starting over again with a clean reboot fixed a lot of issues. In some cases, when the issues came back, it could tell us of a systemic issue verse a random out-of-the-air issue. In the case of our photography, sometimes when we have a problem with what we are doing, a reboot can make things better. In this week’s podcast, I talk about how rebooting parts of your photography can...

Episode 340 In this week’s podcast, we take a note from the quote by Twain and how we might apply the concepts behind that quote to make a better photograph. Much of photography is about telling a story in our images. If we start telling a story before we know what we want to say, we might make uninteresting work. However, by listening to others tell stories and the stories we tell, we might be able to better apply the storytelling skills to our work. The long and short of it is that we should t...

Episode 339 In this week’s podcast, we dive into some ideas around how to increase the success rate behind the camera so that you have more images to work with on your various projects. For many of us, coming home from a shoot with lots of photographs can be a challenge to sort and work with in a meaningful way. Having a plan and idea of what matters, awareness behind the camera, and organizing around multiple concepts can all lead to better success in our images. I hope that with some of the id...

Episode 338 I have heard, more times than I can count, that inspiration is a magic gift from the beyond that moves and shakes up to create amazing things. I am on the other end of the spectrum where I think inspiration comes from the work. What we might think of as a eureka idea actually has been there all along we just haven’t been listening closely enough. In that work of inspiration, I have realized how much the process that I am following will contribute to my sense of being inspired. Doesn...

Episode 337 I received an email asking me about the correct settings to use when photographing something. I quickly replied back with my opinion and some commonly used settings that we might do when approaching the type of work they mentioned. Afterwards, I got to really thinking about the idea and impact of the correct settings on creating interesting work. Does the notion of a single correct setting subtly or overtly make all other settings incorrect? In this week’s podcast, I take a leap off...

Episode 336 There was a game we used to play back in at a company I worked at. Several of us worked in a common open area. Work was slow at times, so we would have entire conversations that had to be movie quotes. The only rules were had to be a quote and someone had to guess the quote. Now, I didn’t say it was a good game, but it passed the time. I have wondered sometimes looking back at those more famous quotes from movies and thinking about how those little collections of words could stick i...