tPP69: Returning to meaningful work

Hosted by Daniel j Gregory

July 4, 2016

Episode Number:

What the heck is this week's podcast about?

In this Episode

In this podcast we return to one of the central themes of creating meaningful work. Since starting the podcast, one of the most common questions I get asked seems to revolve around what it takes to make a good photograph. While we have covered this topic in various forms before on the podcast, we return to this topic again to look at the importance of honesty in photography.

As you strive to create more significant work, you have to consider how you are relating to your subject and the subject matter. It is not just enough to take cool or interesting photographs, you need to find how you relate to those subject and reveal that feeling or concept in the work. If your work is a reflection of something that is not your own relationship to the work, then the work will not hold value over time. The most meaningful images are images that build on our connections to the world around. In this podcast, we take a little deeper dive into this idea and explore what it looks like to create this type of work and how you can extend your own process.

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.

Affiliate Links

This website may use affiliate links. This means when you purchase something through links marked as affiliate links (usually noted by a *), I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products and services that I personally use or have tested.

Gear used in the podcast

Rode Boom Arm
Rode PSM Shockmount
Rode Podcast Mic
Focusrite Scarlet 2i2
Adobe Audition (part of creative cloud subscription)
Macbook Pro
OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock
Headphones

Books for the giving season

n this episode of The Perceptive Photographer, I talk about book ideas for the holiday season, especially for photographers and creative folks. Thanks to a listener, David, I once again share some of my favorite reads or books for giving ranging from creative practice and photography theory to memoirs and photo books. The goal of this week’s episode (561) is to hopefully help you find meaningful books for yourself or the photographers in your life.

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Working With What the Photograph Wants

This episode explores the idea of working with what the photograph wants rather than forcing our intentions onto it. Once an image exists, it carries its own visual logic, weight, and rhythm. By slowing down, noticing what the photograph is already doing well, and letting accidents or imperfections remain, editing becomes a conversation instead of a correction. When we listen to the photograph’s internal voice, we discover a truer, more honest final image than the one we first imagined.

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Interpretation and translation

In this episode of the podcast I explore the idea of editing as translation. Rather than treating editing as technical cleanup, I look at how it becomes a way to interpret the lived moment of making a photograph. The camera captures facts but not the emotional truth, so editing bridges that gap. By shaping color, tone, and atmosphere, we translate experience into visual language and create images that feel honest, expressive, and connected to our intentions.

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