“The Print” by Time-Life When I was a young boy my window into the photographic world was books, and there was one book that I really loved: “The Print.“ It was one of several in the Time-Life photography series that introduced me to the great masters of photography. For 170 years, the print was
I began my photographic life, thinking of myself as a photographer who documented, and showed others what I saw with my eyes. Documenting came with a rigid set of rules and the biggest sin I could commit was the “M” word: manipulate. As a photographer I judged my work by how well others liked it.
I had created Harbinger No. 60 just before I published my last newsletter, and even though I knew better, I rushed the image so I could include it in the newsletter. Big mistake. My normal procedure is to process it, let it sit for a few days, then look at it again and make more
A friend recommended that I watch “At Eternity’s Gate” which is the story of Vincent van Gogh, which is magnificently played by Willem Dafoe. There is so much good to be said about this film, but I want to focus on just one particular aspect of the story, which relates to a thought
Vision Works at Both Ends of an Image
Auschwitz No. 4 I love to talk about how Vision helps me to create an image, not documenting what I see with my eyes, but following what I am seeing inside my head. And I’ve recently been thinking about how Vision is also used when we view an image. I first
What Would You Be Willing to Do to be More Popular?
Self-Shadow, Death Valley Dunes I suspect we would all like our work to be more popular, but what would you be willing to do to achieve that popularity? Would you be willing to find images that are popular on social media, and then imitate them? Would you be willing to create images
Five Steps to More Meaningful Photography
John and I recently posted a YouTube video in which we talked about the sales pitches we see in photography: “Follow this one rule for better photographs.” “The three key steps to becoming a better photographer.” “Ten things to improve your photography.” “Do this ONE thing!” Each hyperbolic statement is designed to get you
Learning to see for yourself? Who else would I see for? Well for many years I did not see for myself. I saw through the lens of Ansel Adams, through the lens of my mentors, through the lens of rules. I saw things how I was told that I should see them, by
Vision: How Badly Do You Want It?
I talk a great deal about Vision, because it changed my photography. It helped me make the transition from “taking pictures” to “creating images.” And the lessons I learned about following my Vision, helped me to change my life. You see, following your Vision is not really about photography, it is about life.
Is An AI Generated Photography…A Real Photograph?
Midjourney by Jason Allen (and AI) It was recently revealed that an award winning photograph was actually AI generated. I was discussing this with my son Caleb, who is majoring in Computer Science, and the question arose: is an AI generated photograph, a real photograph? A day later, Caleb emailed me and said
