A sacred place or thing historically as been often associated with the worship of a deity or god. However, something can be sacred, even outside the context of religion. There could be places, people, ideas, or things that inspire, stimulate, are worthy of honor, or hold meaning in our lives. These sacred things could be very personal or allow us to connect with something bigger than just ourselves.
In this week’s podcast, we talk about how our approach to sacred can impact our photography. In some cases, it can shine a light on what matters to us when we photograph. Other times, it might help us understand why we gravitate towards one photograph over another. Other times, it might help us not pick up a camera out of respect for someone else’s sacred place. As we discuss this notion of sacred in photography, I hope that it gives you a chance to reflect on what is important to you in your work and how your work might be able to provide you with an opportunity to honor what really matters to you.

A friend recently recanted a story to me about how, when he was in school, they were only allowed to shoot one roll (36 frames) a week for homework. No more than that one roll for any week. He talked about how each frame became more critical because of the discipline and experience you had to have to get the best of the week in those 36 frames.
As he was talking, he mentioned that each frame was more precious than he imagined when he started. That got me thinking about the notion of precious in photography. This week’s podcast takes a look at how we approach the things we photograph, places we photograph, and ideas we photography as a container for what is precious to us. Rather than focusing on what is sharable, likable or not, this week I talk about how we can shift our approach to thinking about work and creating work so that each of however many frames we take are precious little gems.

A recent trip to the store had me overhear a couple talking about how opposites attract. I couldn’t get that idea out of my head and how it might apply to photography. I eventually made a list of opposites that I could think of related to photography. As I completed the list, I realized that many of these are no opposites that attract or repel but rather work together.

This week’s podcast takes a look at how to develop a list of opposites and how diving deeper into the word pairs can lead to a shift in your approach to seeing behind the camera and appreciating your photography. It doesn’t matter what you photograph or how far along you are in your process, getting a better understanding of your mental framing and approach to your work with this exercise might lead you to some interesting insights.