I sometimes hear from workshop students and others in the photographic community that they would never buy a used camera or lens because they think it must be defective due to wear and tear. The truth is that many reputable online and store dealers have excellent used camera and lens inventories with warranties and trial periods.
Thus creating an image that communicates with viewers beyond what is in front of the lens is more challenging and difficult workflow, one that requires visualization, composition, capture craft and patience. While all photographs arise from some level of reality our post production tools— Lightroom and Photoshop— allows us to alter that reality to invoke perceptions…
It’s the New Year, a new decade, and it is a common practice to make New Year’s Resolutions. But failure to keep our resolutions is not an uncommon outcome. For Photographers, some resolutions might be: “This year I’m really going to take my work to the next level;” “I’m going to get out there and shoot more;” …
During a post-production session at a recent Mojave First Horizon Workshop several photographers asked why I teach them to start with the black slider in Adobe Lightrooms’ development module first. Here is Why: When we adjust the black slider, we find the darkest area of the image that will still hold detail…
Sharp pain in my left hip, unable to move my left leg, unable to sit up, labored breathing were all indicators of something broken or severely bruised. Jonathan, who has many years of experience leading Outward-Bound Classes and Cross-Country Bike Tours took all the appropriate actions— back pack removal, position stabilization, situational awareness checks, and water, were all critical tasks as we were many miles from help.
The American Landscape is a vast array of interlinked details and immense wide-open spaces compressed into a web of real and imagined suggestions. Every location is its own special vision or nightmare, filled with all of those huge, clear and unique details that are exquisite and crystal clear while you are in it.
If you want to increase the creative and emotional range of your photography, then you need to keep a journal. Creative leaders in the photographic field such as Adams, White, Szarkowski, Stieglitz, as well as contemporary artists all keep or kept journals, many of them quite detailed. However, journaling is not limited to those pursuing…
It’s not the first time that the DSLR has been declared dead, but it may be the first time that a CEO of major camera manufacturer has made it clear that his company cannot compete against smartphone cameras. It was all over the press last week, Canon CEO Fujio Mitarai the leader of the Japanese…
Within the visual arts, we define Visualization as the practice of seeing in the mind’s eye a finished piece of artwork before it is created. It is a particularly important skill for Art Photographers to learn, and Ansel Adams described the process as follows:
“When I’m ready to make a photograph, I think I quite obviously see in my mind’s eye something that is not literally there in the true meaning of the word. I’m interested in something which is built up from within, rather than just extracted from without.” — Ansel Adams
Finding your next landscape location is a process, not a product, and a critical workflow element for landscape art photographers. After all, if you want to make a great landscape photograph, it is critical to be in front of a great scene at the right time of day and season. Location research can be a fun adventure, one that is full of exciting anticipation, as you imagine going to a new area.