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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 that if you have some process that works for you and how you create images, then you should work with that process. Too many times we try to fix things that might not be broken. I don’t think that it is uncommon for people to have a variety of ways that they create their work. Sometimes concepts are concrete and other times they are more exploratory. I also think that a lot of projects can start off out of a purpose based belief. Something that you have a passion for that you want to explore.

Once you have your concepts that you want to explore you should spend a lot of time talking about your work with anyone who will listen and write about it in a journal. This process of talking and writing will help you gain clarity in the work. Second, you should shoot and create a ton of work. I think a lot of photographers don’t shoot enough when they are working on a project. They see a few great images and think they are done. You need to work to make sure that have enough images created so that you can tell the story you want to tell.

Finally, you need to make sure that you look at where the story is missing elements and know that you might need to work the project over and over again. You need to figure out what aspects of your life matter and how you can relate those into the final series.

If you subscribe to the Perceptive Photographer up on in iTunes and have you take a few minutes to do a quick review, it can help others learn about the show.

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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 to the shows we watch to the books we read, there is nothing that doesn’t influence and shape our ideas. One of the common threads that I see in most creative people is that they seek out new experiences and combine those experiences into inspiration. I feel that most of us have a root source for our ideas.

For some, it might be the written word. For others, it might be conversations and for others, it might be visual. When you find yourself stuck, you can always return to those root sources and find ways to be inspired. Once you have an idea, it is important to capture those thoughts. It doesn’t matter how you capture them, as long as you write it down, record it, or put it on post-it notes. The key is not to forget those ideas.

Eventually, you can group those ideas into concepts. These concepts start to combine various aspect and ideas into a single element or series of items. I think this is the beginning of the storytelling process or the creation of rough drafts and outlines. The key here is not to get stuck in just ideation but to make sure that you move to the execution of a concept. We will talk more about that implementation process in the next podcast.

For me, I like to write things down in a journal and use Evernote to capture and group ideas, but like I said you have to find what works for you and stick with it. Getting those ideas and finding new combinations is an amazing way to spend your creative energy.

Once you have given your feedback, you need to continue to find ways to extend the empathy. How has the feedback landed? Have you given them a chance to respond? What does it look like when you let them have the time and space to listen, process and respond. Even more important, what does it look like when you offer yourself the same level of empathy when looking at your work?

If you subscribe to the Perceptive Photographer up on in iTunes and have you take a few minutes to do a quick review, it can help others learn about the show.

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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 of feedback they might need to be successful. Do they need feedback that is more inspirational or technical? Do they need something that is focused on the edges of insights or more about the accuracy of their vision? Depending on what type of information they need, you can tailor your feedback to make it more meaningful and stcky.

Once you have given your feedback, you need to continue to find ways to extend the empathy. How has the feedback landed? Have you given them a chance to respond? What does it look like when you let them have the time and space to listen, process and respond. Even more important, what does it look like when you offer yourself the same level of empathy when looking at your own work?

If you subscribe to the Perceptive Photographer up on in iTunes and have you take a few minutes to do a quick review, it can help others learn about the show.

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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 interesting things. The first is that we have two types of information. Things we don’t know and the things that we know, but just don’t do. The checklist is all about dealing with what we do know and just don’t do. He also found that people don’t want to do checklist because they think they are too smart for a checklist, what they do is too complex or that the checklist makes the work too ridged.

Over the years I got to making some checklist for my photography. They provide great structure to help me with everything from packing to printing. In this podcast, we take a look at how using checklist can help you not just stay organized but also how they might be able to help you have the freedom to unlock your creative energy.

If you subscribe to the Perceptive Photographer up on in iTunes and have you take a few minutes to do a quick review, it can help others learn about the show.

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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 2001, he released a book. The Inner Game of Outdoor Photography* which was an updated collection of his essays from Outdoor Photographer magainze.

The essays in the book, along with the images, showcase the best of Galen. Not only do we get practical insights into the skills, techniques, and experiences as an outdoor photographer but is also a wonderful insight into what it takes to create “visionary imagery.” Over the course of my journey as a photographer, I have returned again and again to Galen’s teachings. He had such a great way to articulate about the art and science of photography.

Galen, along with his wife and a few friends, died in a plane crash in 2002. I had always wanted to meet Galen and get a chance to talk about his work, life, and love of photography. When he passed, I created a bucket list of photographers I wanted to meet. While the list isn’t complete, I have had a chance to meet, share and learn from so many great photographers. In many ways, Galen’s death pushed me to never wait to reach out because as amazing as life is, it can also be so short.

If you haven’t checked out Galen’s book it is worth picking up. Even if you don’t do landscape and outdoor photography, you can learn a lot. You can get a copy of the book here on Amazon (*affiliate link).

If you subscribe to the Perceptive Photographer up on in iTunes and have you take a few minutes to do a quick review, it can help others learn about the show.

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“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 connect to my own simple, emotionally filled work.

Born in Hungary in 1894, his career spanned seven decades. From his earliest work as a kid in the streets of Budapest to Paris to New York, there was always something pulling at the experiences of life that could be seen in Andre’s images. As you spend time looking at his work, you can see not only his sense of design, form, and geometry, but you can also see how he overlayered his own emotion subtext to the work. Here are a couple of my favorite quotes from Andre that I feel summarize why his approach is worth studying.

“I do what I feel, that’s all, I am an ordinary photographer working for his own pleasure. That’s all I’ve ever done.”
“Seeing is not enough; you have to feel what you photograph.”
“I do not document anything, I give an interpretation.”
A photograph draws its beauty from the truth with which it is marked. For this very reason, I refuse all the tricks of the trade and professional virtuosity which could make me betray my canon. As soon as I find a subject which interests me, I leave it to the lens to record truthfully.”
“Technique isn’t important. Technique is in the blood. Events and mood are more important than good light and the happening is what is important.”

I encourage you to go out and spend time with your own influences and see how their lives, photographs,  and words have impacted you and your work. You might find even more inspiration when you get to know more about the person who created the photographs you admire the most. As you create more and more work, you might be surprised at how the technical influences fall to the side and the content and emtioanl influences creep into your images.

If you subscribe to the Perceptive Photographer up on in iTunes, I would love to hear some feedback or have you take a few minutes for you to do a quick review up on iTunes it can help others learn about the show.

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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. There is huge power in being able to tell someone in a few words or a few minutes what your work is about. Making your language around what you do as a photographer clear, simple and cohesive has the ability to not only help you communicate to others but can also help you gain some clarity in making more simple and effective images.

I also had to pack for the trip, and much like the 30-second pitch, I realized that simplifying the camera bag, camera options and lenses can be a great exercise. You have to think about how you are going to see the world and what you will need to achieve that vision. Keeping your vision simple, keeping your words simple will likely lead to more effective images.

If you subscribe to the Perceptive Photographer up on in iTunes, I would love to hear some feedback or have you take a few minutes for you to do a quick review up on iTunes it can help others learn about the show.

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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 the oppotunity to extend your vision?

The second quote is by Henry Thoreau

Many an object is not seen, though it falls within our range of visual ray, because it does not come within the range of our intellectual ray, i.e., we are not looking for it. So, in the largest sense, we find only the world we look for.

I think that is the challenge in photography is how do we expand our seeing and sense of seeing so that it is outside our intellectual ray. How does our time behind the camera, editing, and critiquing work build a bigger world to live in.

Photoshop World 2016

I an also so excited to be an instructor at Photoshop World 2016 this summer in Las Vegas. I am teaching four classes and I would love to see you down there this July. You can find more information over at www.photoshopworld.com.

If you subscribe to the Perceptive Photographer up on in iTunes, I would love to hear some feedback or have you take a few minutes for you to do a quick review up on iTunes it can help others learn about the show.

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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 edit to get down to the images that I think are worth editing. My process has a couple of key workflow concepts. The first is that you have to start off being soft in your editing process so that you don’t eliminate to many images to soon in the process. The second is that it is best to give yourself a little time between judging your final work. It doesn’t matter if you are looking at the screen or a print, give your self a little time to come back in and look at the work to see if the quality is what you truly want.

Photoshop World 2016

I an also so excited to be an instructor at Photoshop World 2016 this summer in Las Vegas. I am teaching four classes and I would love to see you down there this July. You can find more information over at www.photoshopworld.com.

If you subscribe to the Perceptive Photographer up on in iTunes, I would love to hear some feedback or have you take a few minutes for you to do a quick review up on iTunes it can help others learn about the show.

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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 creativity are in disarray that my work is also in disarray. After listening to the podcast, I encourage you to think about your own creativity and how the spaces and places you feel most creative are pull together. Do you need clear and clean environments or the hustle and flow of a busy city? Does your desk need to be clean or messy? If you find that your creativity is off, I encourage you to look at what is filing your spaces with junk, noise and pollution and to do what you can to remove it. Find your simple, clean creative space.

Photoshop World 2016

I an also so excited to be an instructor at Photoshop World 2016 this summer in Las Vegas. I am teaching four classes and I would love to see you down there this July. You can find more information over at www.photoshopworld.com.

If you subscribe to the Perceptive Photographer up on in iTunes, I would love to hear some feedback or have you take a few minutes for you to do a quick review up on iTunes it can help others learn about the show.

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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 the critique table.

Lessons from starting the critique

Here are the key concepts to keep in mind when working with critiques.

• Set goals for what you want and communicate those goals.
• Start from a position of abundance.
• Work from a place where you have done some basic editing without cropping.
• Remember that this is a discovery process where you need to ask questions and have them prepared ahead of time.
• What is the subject?
• What works in the image?
• What doesn’t work in the image?
• Watch how people visually respond to the work. You can learn a lot from non-verbals queues people might give about an image
• Be open to feedback, but remember that it is just an opinion and try to stay calm
• Be open to how others might see your work

Photoshop World 2016

I an also so excited to be an instructor at Photoshop World 2016 this summer in Las Vegas. I am teaching four classes and I would love to see you down there this July. You can find more information over at www.photoshopworld.com.

If you subscribe to the Perceptive Photographer up on in iTunes, I would love to hear some feedback or have you take a few minutes for you to do a quick review up on iTunes it can help others learn about the show.

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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 problem. And, if I think the problem is a single time problem I rent rather than buy. Yet, this Leica seemed to haunt me all week.

Lessons from the Leica

As I got to thinking about the Leica camera, I got to wonder what it was about the camera that had me so engaged. It wasn’t the technology of the camera as I think there are other cameras who have better sensors and focusing options for the type of work I do. I also think there is huge value in the digital view screen. However, as I spent the past several days thinking about this M-D Type 262, I realized that it represented a purity and freedom in photography. You would no longer be able to look at the photos as you took them. You couldn’t stop shooting to check your shots. You would have to be present all the time. It reminded me of a more simple time in my own photography. In many ways, it represented why I still shoot film. There is a mystery, anticipation and distance that comes from not have immediate feedback. In our photography, I often times feel that  little distance can provide a wealth of information. So as I wiped the drool from my chin, I realized it wasn’t the camera per say, but rather the love of photography that the camera created in me that mattered.

I hope that as you think about new gear you are adding in your bag that you take the time to really figure out what you love about the gear. Is it a problem being solved, just something you want or does it create a ground shift in your way of thinking.

Photoshop World 2016

I an also so excited to be an instructor at Photoshop World 2016 this summer in Las Vegas. I am teaching four classes and I would love to see you down there this July. You can find more information over at www.photoshopworld.com.

If you subscribe to the Perceptive Photographer up on in iTunes, I would love to hear some feedback or have you take a few minutes for you to do a quick review up on iTunes it can help others learn about the show.

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In this Episode

I have been updating the images in my digital collection. Going back in time and updating the file names, file organization and metadata. As I have been updating all the metadata fields it got me thinking about all that metadata and how we can use it to sort, search and learn about my work. As I was making the metadata consistent and clean, it occurred to me that it would nice to have some metadata fields that could be used for our visual literacy and language in our work, Sure, some of that data could be contained in keywords, collections or comments, but I think those fields already have a purpose and clouding them with a hack-a-round isn’t the best idea.

I also spent some time over the past few weeks rethinking about how to use some of the current metadata fields to create more data about how my photographs work and resonate with me from changing what 0-5 stars means or how to use the color fields, there seemed to be some interesting options for moving a step closer to having more meaningful metatdata.

Photoshop World 2016

I an also so excited to be an instructor at Photoshop World 2016 this summer in Las Vegas. I am teaching four classes and I would love to see you down there this July. You can find more information over at www.photoshopworld.com.

If you subscribe to the Perceptive Photographer up on in iTunes, I would love to hear some feedback or have you take a few minutes for you to do a quick review up on iTunes it can help others learn about the show.

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In part 2 of our podcast on Susan Sontag On Photography we take a look at some of the other key themes in the text. While each essay focuses on a central theme, many of her core concepts and principles are dominate across the entire text. In this podcast, I focus on a few of the key concepts that I think most photographers could pull out of the text and find useful in understanding their work. In particular we focus on the following concepts:

1. Everything in the world can be the subject of a photograph, but just because you point a camera at it doesn’t make it interesting.
2. Photographs are fragments at best. They represent framing fragments, time fragments and contextual fragments. In many ways they become like quotes in a book. In the context and understanding of the text, they make sense, but when remove from their context and source they can often times take on a new meaning.
3. Photography is based in surrealism and defends this position with three key tenants:
   1. Photographs are duplicates of the world.
   2. Although duplicates of the world, they are easily enhanced (manipulated) by the photographer to change meaning.
   3. Intention is not present in the work and that the relationship between the photographer and object is more co-operative in nature and mediated in dialog by a machine.
4. Photography is lacking in a cohesive structure and language to understand photographs. This, I believe, is because photography has so many sub-groups that it is difficult to use a single cohesive model to understand all photography. Rather, we should start to look at photography as defined and understood by it’s sub-groups.

Photoshop World 2016

I an also so excited to be an instructor at Photoshop World 2016 this summer in Las Vegas. I am teaching four classes and I would love to see you down there this July. You can find more information over at www.photoshopworld.com.

If you subscribe to the Perceptive Photographer up on in iTunes, I would love to hear some feedback or have you take a few minutes for you to do a quick review up on iTunes it can help others learn about the show.

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As March Madness takes hold, I got to thinking about our faction with David and Goliath. We seem to love when an underdog rises above expectations and can advance in the tourney. I think creativity in a lot of ways is sort of like David vs Goliath, but the Goliath is leading a life outside of creativity doing what is expected vs the life that “everyone” talks about living which would be the David.

As i made the transition to full-time photography, I kept hearing from my friends and colleagues that they wondered what it was like to give everything up to become an artist. In my world, I didn’t give anything up, but rather was able to find a balance of what really mattered and being present in the moment. As I got to relating the NCAA’s to those conversions, it occurred to me that we like to think about how great it would be to go be that “starving artist” who is leaving the dream, but how much we prefer to be that number 1 or 2 seed. It is nice to know that we have put in all the work and that we are likely to come out on top. However, as we learn every year at this time. Just because you play in a certain conference, have a certain record or show huge talent, at the end of the day the team that shows up and embraces the moment and believes in what they are doing can be that underdog that breaks everyone’s brackets.

I encourage you to find a way to be your own David in your creativity and break out of what you should do, how you should play and try to enjoy the creative energy you have today.

Photoshop World 2016

I an also so excited to be an instructor at Photoshop World 2016 this summer in Las Vegas. I am teaching four classes and I would love to see you down there this July. You can find more information over at www.photoshopworld.com.

If you subscribe to the Perceptive Photographer up on in iTunes, I would love to hear some feedback or have you take a few minutes for you to do a quick review up on iTunes it can help others learn about the show.

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In this Episode

As we come to an end of winter and start to move into spring, I have been thinking a lot about my creative process and what makes the creative process work. Having read dozens of books and watching countless hours of video, I have learned that your creative process can be informed by the process other people use, but in most cases our creative process is our own. It is something that you have to develop for yourself. It becomes as unique to our own world as a fingerprint.

Road to the creative process

For some of us the creative process is a destination and for others, it is a journey along the way to a destination. I don’t personally think one is better than the other, but they do impact how we get to our creative space. For some of us the destination is a powerful pull to the creative energy and for others the mere act of moving down the road is important. For some of you, it might be a little of both. I also think it is important to understand your process and what motivates you to be creative. As we develop our own creative path, it is important to recognize what works for one of us might not work for another so you need the flexibility to really do what works for. Do not get stuck in someone else’s suggested process when it doesn’t work for you.

For the next year, I am going to try to give my creative self some fun days. One day a week I am going to create some creative photos. Just images that seem funky, fun and a creative side I wouldn’t normally shoot. I am going to wait a month to review those images and then pick some to edit that are interesting. Not necessarily the best or greatest, but the ones that I just find interesting from a creative space. Then at the end of the year, I am going to pull in a little portfolio of my creative days. It is an exercise that I think will bear a lot of fruit, and I encourage you to give it a try.

If you subscribe to the Perceptive Photographer up on in iTunes, I would love to hear some feedback or have you take a few minutes for you to do a quick review up on iTunes it can help others learn about the show.

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One of the questions I get asked the most is about starting a photography business. Running your own business isn’t for everyone, but if you are wanting to have the freedom and responsibilities that come with being your own boss, there are some things to consider as you get started that can really help you get off on the right foot. In most cases, people who start their own business think that they are alone, but the key to being successful in business is having great partnerships and partners that can support you along the way. In my own experience, I wish I had lined up a few of these key partners as I was getting started. I know they would have made a huge difference in the beginning. As you get started, there are a lot of forms, pricing, taxes, and host of other concerns that you might have never seen or heard of when you were working for someone else. In this podcast, I share what I think are the 5 key business tips to focus on when starting your business.

5 key business tips

I don’t think the order matters when setting up and thinking about your business as long as you at some point touch on all of these issues.

1. Legal. There are a lot of little things that a lawyer can help you out with when you get started. From looking at contracts, estimates, copyright and invoice language to releases and even longer contracts. It is great to know that you have good and clear language in all your written agreements. In many states you can find legal organizations that offer courses, pro-bono or reduced cost services to artist. Such organization as Washington Lawyers for the Arts or California Lawyers for the Arts are in most states and are invaluable resouces as you get started. A quick search for your location, lawyer, and arts should turn up some good options.
2. Accounting: You need a good accountant to help you make sense of your business income, expenses and taxes. I recommend that you find one with a background in working with artist. Also you want to seperate your perosnal and business money and have some system to track your business. I personally use Wave Accounting or Quickbooks, but when I started out it was a simple spreadsheet.
3. You need to get basic business insurance and an inland marine policy on your equipment.
4. Be frugal. Not cheap or free, but smart. Being frugal and knowing what expenses matter and where you can save and cut cost, spend to grow and how to price your services are all critical to have considered when starting out.
5. Supportive partners. I have an amazing business and life partner, Lori, who I work with on creative and business projects. We also have a number of other people who we can talk to about the bsuiness and issues we are facing. Most of them are people who we trust and can offer experience, wisdom or a sounding board.

As you get your business up and running, I think you will be on the road to success if you get some of the basics of business handled by others. Let them focus on what they are good at so you can focus on what you are good at.

If you subscribe to the Perceptive Photographer up on in iTunes, I would love to hear some feedback or have you take a few minutes for you to do a quick review up on iTunes it can help others learn about the show.

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This week focuses on a couple of key questions to consider when deciding if your work is ready to be shown. With the constant pressure of social media and wanting to get our work seen as much as possible, we are often faced with some difficult decisions on when to show our photos and in what state to show our images. I break this issue down into three major areas. First is knowing when your work is done. Second is getting comfortable with only showing work that you have finished and are happy sharing. Finally, understanding that you are not in control of how the work is going to be seen from person to person and location to location.

Work is meant to be shared

One of the biggest challenges facing people in today’s easy to edit over and over again is the idea of when finishing an image. In the chrome days, an image was done straight out of the camera. With Photoshop and other editing tools, it seems like images can be edited forever. In the end, only you can decide when an image is finished. It is a decision that you have gotten the photo into a state where you can see in the print or on screen what you wanted from the image. At times, you might not have the skills to edit the way you want, but those can be learned. You have to make a conscious effort that based on what you know today that the image is done.

You also have to be able to make sure that you are putting your best foot forward. This means you need to edit your work until you are done. Showing your work early would be like a sculptor showing their work when it is still mostly a block of stone and being upset that others can’t see the final piece. Don’t be afraid to tell people that you need to finish the work. (PS This is also why I don’t think you should give away RAW files.)

Finally, you have to accept that you are never going to show your work in an environment where you are going to be in complete control. There will be things that make your images not necessarily look their best. That is ok. You do the work. You put your best work out there. It is more important that your best work is seen then worry about the color of the walls or the temperature of the light.

If you subscribe to the Perceptive Photographer up on in iTunes, I would love to hear some feedback or have you take a few minutes for you to do a quick review up on iTunes it can help others learn about the show.

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In going through some older negatives this week, I found several images that were rather abstract and it was hard for me to initially remember the subject matter. As I stood over the light table, I thought about Alfred Stieglitz’s Equivalence work.

Alfred Stieglitz

Influences by Wassily Kandinsky, Stieglitz was interested in understanding how to push photography into a new realm. At the time photography was not really considered an art, and while Stieglitz worked hard to get photography elevated to an art, it was still in many ways stuck in the science and chemistry of its creation. Most images were, in what today’s terms would be considered straight photography. The images were often of the real world and didn’t expand the medium. Between 1925 and 1934, Stieglitz photographed a number of images of just clouds. He was interested in the emotional, feeling and meaning of the images as abstracts rather than focused on the subject of the clouds. Most of the images were taken without key reference points to aid the viewer in understanding the context of the image. This lack of context forced the view to work with the abstract nature of the photograph to attempt to find meaning. He would eventually call this series of images Equivalence.

Minor White and the California School of Photography

Many photographers associated with the California School of Photography (Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind come to mind) were heavily influenced by this idea of using photography to create abstractions of the real world to convey meaning. Minor White wrote considerably on the topic and broke down much of the ideas and notions we have today of equivalence in photography into understandable chucks. Focusing in on the meaning that the viewer creates when looking at the photograph creates the equivalent moment, White was able to create a framework to understand how and why these images work.

Equivalence Exercises

A couple of exercises to help you create some of your own work that focuses on equivalents.

1. Create a series of 10 images where the subject is unknown. What emotion, feelings or metaphors do you want to use to create meaning in the work. Focus on the feelings first and how your framing can help or hinder your efforts.
2. Look back at your work work and see what images you consider equivalents. What makes them such? Is there a pattern to those images? What story does that work tell?
3. When looking at images (your own or others) that you consider to be equivalents, what shape, form, compositional elements are used to invoke a response. Do you respond more to abstraction, color, form, patterns, or lines? What elements could you add to your own work to make your work stronger.

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One of the classic books on critical theory in photography is Roland Barthes Camera Lucida. One of the last pieces written by Barthes, he writes as series of short essays and thoughts on photography. Specifically he tries to understand why some photographs resonate more with him than others. Why do some photographs, no matter their historical or artistic significance resonate and other do not? Why do some family photographs matter more than others? Is there is system or coding system that can allow him to understand why images work and don’t work. Camera Lucia is broken down into two parts. In the first part, he attempts to understand how to see and react to a photograph. The second part of the book is more of a look at specific images and reactions to parts of an image that can cause a photography to have significance. In part one of this podcast, we look at the first part of the book and focus on how studium and punctum can help us better understand photography.

From this work, he divides our understanding of photographs into two categories: stadium and punctum.

Studium

Means “to study.” From this analysis we can understand why photographs work. What was the intention of the operator (photographer). What understanding is applied by the spectator (viewer).  Photographs that sit in this realm can inform, represent, surprise, signify and awaken desire within the spectator. However, most all photographs live in this realm and as a result are forgotten as soon as they are out of sight. They lack the something that makes a photography stay with the viewer.

Punctum

This is the element of a photograph that has the viewer stay with the image. It makes the image have personal meaning to the spectator. Punctum is like being shot by an arrow. It is a pressure that is applied like a bruise. It leaves a mark. What Barthes realizes is that this is unique for everyone and that when this moment or pressure happens. The photograph become animated and alive. The characters and objects in the frame become real.

Affiliate link to Amazon.com to pick up Camera Lucida

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In episode 38 of the podcast, I talked about seeing in color verse black and white. Since then I have had a number of conversations about what makes a good color photograph. This is a very complex question as a lot of elements come into play when talking about what makes a good photograph. However, there are a number of key concepts about color and color theory that can help us to understand what the color and color structures are doing within an image to better help us understand the photograph.

In this, part 1 of 2, episode of the podcast, I give a basic introduction to the concepts of color, some basics of color theory and key areas to focus on to create good color images. Color can be broken down into key components. Hue (the actual color), brightness (degree of lightness and darkness), and saturation (purity of the color) all make up a given color. We can also introduce tints by adding white or tones by adding black. Even with this very specific way to describe color, we often times describe color with non-descriptive adjectives such as lemon, ruby, fire-engine. These adjectives help us understand colors, but they are not accurate nor consistent.

Key Color Concepts

Colors are only able to be understood in relationship to other colors. We need colors to exist side-by-side so that we can understand and relate to them. Some colors, based on their position on the color wheel, will create complementary colors other times they will lack a cohesive harmony. Our understanding of colors will also change the longer we look at the colors. Our own perceptions change and become more insightful as we look into the colors, which is why we often times will be more likely to linger at a more subtle but complex image verse a bright high contrast image.

Color Printing Concepts

Finally in the podcast, I talk about the importance of removing color cast, printing with the proper density to maximize color shifts and tones and working with colors that remain plausible to the image.  In part two of the podcast next week, we will explore more in-depth some color theories and how all this can be applied to critiquing your work and the work of others.

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I often times get asked about how to price a photograph for sale. When looking at basic models for pricing, you only need to know a few things. The cost of your expenses plus your required profit equals the price. If you want to break it down even further. You should look at the cost of your materials (paper, frames, ink, film,  matte board, et)+Labor (what you make an hour..which is not much if you are an artist)+Expenses (rent, electricity, cameras, printers, memory cards, etc)+profit is equal to you wholesale cost. Multiple that cost by 2 and you get the retail cost. Using this basic formula, you can figure out what the price of a photograph should be.

In this podcast, we talk about how in our society we tend to equate price and value. The more expensive the more valuable. However, I would like to challenge that notion. In the second half of the podcast, we talk about what makes something valuable. What is it in your own work that you find valuable? Is it the experience, the work, the craftsmanship. Is sharing the work on social media for free more valuable than the money. As an artist, you have to decide those answers for yourself. In the end, what we really want to create is work that we think is valuable. To do that we should figure out what value means to us. Particularly if it is something more than dollars and cents.

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In part 2 of this series on photographic books, I recommend a number of books that you should consider for the photography section of your bookshelf. With hundreds and thousands of books available, it is often time overwhelming knowing where to start. Even as I started pulling a list of books together, I was paralyzed by the number and direction to take the recommendations. I think it is easier when you are trying to recommend books for a specific genera of work. It is easy to recommend Winogrand, Frank, Cartier-Bresson, Davidson, Maisel and Erwitt for street and Avedon for fashion and so on, but what do you do for the general photography bookshelf.

In this podcast, I attempted to pull together a collection of class books, projects or photographers that I think should be on your bookshelf. In no way is this list comprehensive. My own list leaves out many of my own favorite books, but in the interest of time, I narrowed the list down. These books are a mix of amazing projects and collections. Some of the books are from early in an artist career while other come later. In each case, I tired to find a book that really stood out as an interesting body of work. I also attempted to select books that were not retrospectives of a photographer’s life. While those are amazing books, there is so much to learn from looking at how a single project or books is created verse a whole life or decades of work–of course there are a few exceptions.

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In this podcast, I mention work by

Nicolas Nixon
Diane Arbus
William Eggleston
André Kertész
Michael Kenna
Bruce Davidson
Syliva Plachy
Andreas Gursky
Gary Winogrand
Elliot Erwitt
Robert Adams
Stephen Shore
Cindy Sherman
Ansel Adams
John Szarkowski
Keith Carter
Man Ray
Richard Avedon

There are so many great books out about photography, and I love to read and collect books. If given the choice between new camera gear or new photography books, I always choose books. In this podcast, I have gone into the bookcase and pulled out some books that I think every photographer should own.

The books cover a wide range of styles, genera, and topics. Rather than focusing in on just one type of photography, I tried to pull from a variety of sources. Most of the books are a combination of text and photos with the writing being done by the photographer. There are also a few classic essays on photography that while more academic in their writing are worth reading if you are a student of photography.

With so many books to choose from, I broke this list into two shows. Part II of the work will be out next week.

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Here is a list of the books mentioned in the show this week, with links to purchase at Amazon (affiliate link). Of course, you can also get your local bookstore to order them for you as well.

 Inner Game of Outdoor Photography by Galen Rowell

 Magnum Contact Sheets

 The Americans by Robert Frank

 Road to Seeing by Dan Winters

 Gregory Heisler by 50 Portraits

 The Mind’s Eye by Henri Cartier-Bresson

The Decisive Moment by Henri Cartier-Bresson

Ping Pong Conversations: Alec Soth with Francesco Zanot

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by Walker Evans & James Agee

 On Photography by Susan Sontag

 Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography by Roland Barthes

Perception and Imaging: Photography–A Way of Seeing 3rd Edition by Richard D. Zakia

I had a career change that has resulted in me doing my photography full-time now. In talking about that process, I have always said that I am going to do full-time photography, but several of my friends have said something to the effective of “Oh, so you are about to become a professional photographer.” That notion struck as nerve. As if to say that what I was doing before wasn’t good enough, professional or valuable.

As I started to look at my own reaction to that word and what it means to me, I realized that a lot of the labels we put in front of our name, photographs, and projects can really have a huge impact on what we see as the value and meaning of the work. In this podcast, I explore what being professional means to me and how we might use this labels to create more significant meaning in our work, careers, and life as an artist.

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I was recently watching the Incredibles from Pixar again. In the movie Syndrome talk about how how when everyone is special no one is special. This reminded me of a quote by Robert Frank about how if every moment is captured then nothing special is captured and that there are to many cameras and to many images now.

Those two quotes got me thinking about how we look at and view photographs and photography as art. I love that we have put so many cameras and images out there. I don’t necessarily think that we have made better photographs that transcend time, but we have been able to capture more and more work. In this podcast, I spend some time thinking about what makes an image distinct from a photograph and what makes the photographer separate from everyone else with a camera.

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Quotes

“There are too many images, too many cameras now. We’re all being watched. It gets sillier and sillier. As if all action is meaningful. Nothing is really all that special. It’s just life. If all moments are recorded, then nothing is beautiful and maybe photography isn’t an art anymore. Maybe it never was” — Robert Frank

“Oh, I’m real. Real enough to defeat you! And I did it without your precious gifts, your oh-so-special powers. I’ll give them heroics. I’ll give them the most spectacular heroics the world has ever seen! And when I’m old and I’ve had my fun, I’ll sell my inventions so that everyone can have powers. Everyone can be super! And when everyone’s super…no one will be.” — Syndrome from the Incredibles

10 Keywords

In looking back at old emails I found one where I was asked to photograph a wedding. As I recalled explaining to the person that I don’t photograph weddings and not all photography is the same, I was reminded that while we as photographers do a good job of talking about what type of photography we do; we are horrible at talking about our own work.

One of the hardest parts of improving your photography is learning to talk about photography. In this podcast I talk about a method that I have used in the past to help be better understand what is it about my work that is consistent from image to image and from project to project. With a pencil and paper, I like to gather a collection of random images and see what comes to mind when I look at the images. No censorship. No intention. Just reaction. From that process, I find that I can often times gain insights into my work that will really make a difference both in the printing of a photograph and in what happens behind the camera.

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Perceptive Photographer Episode 5: Lessons in Acceptance

In this episode of the Perceptive Photographer I talk about how acceptance can have an impact on your work. From acceptance of your own work, feedback from others and the subjects we photograph, acceptance is a powerful tool that can help us overcome and develop into much stronger artist.

“Be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence.” – Minor White –

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Links mentioned in the podcast

www.williamalbertallard.com

Minor White Info

the Perceptive Photographer Episode 3

In this latest version of the Perceptive Photographer I talk about why liking a photograph is not necessarily the best way to judge an image. From the misguided feedback on social media with the Like button, +1s and tweets, it is easy to believe that an image quality is based on this quick snap judgment feedback. For images to really be understood and find their value, we need to look deeper into the photographs and move beyond a simple like and move towards understanding the photograph on a deeper level. In my own experience some of the best photographs I have seen are images that I don’t like, but those images have had lasting impact on me as a person and photographer.

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the Perceptive Photographer now on iTunes

I finally got all my ducks in a row and you can now subscribe to my new podcast the Perceptive Photographer on iTunes. You can find the podcast by searching for it in iTunes or clicking here.

If you aren’t a iTunes person, you can subscribe to the podcast feed here.

The podcast is focused on photography and the internal struggles to create work, understanding the meaning of your own work, the role of intention and analysis in creating meaningful work and interviews with some amazing but less well know photographers. As is life, I am sure at times topics will drift into the more technical, business or gear focus; but the goal is always to keep a focus on the passion and amazing gift that photograph is for all of us.