Here's a thought…

HT1641 - Surrounded by Art

I recently visited a friend who loves art. She gave me a tour of her house and I counted 139 framed pieces of art on the walls of her home. I found it interesting that what connected her collection was not media, but content.

HT1642 - Art Stories

Yesterday, I was talking about my friend and her extensive collection of framed art on the walls of her home. As we toured her collection, she told stories about the artists she had known, many of whom were friends. I couldn't help but contrast with the visit I'd had a few years ago visiting an important photography collector whose stories were all about the acquisition and the monetary value of his collection.

HT1646 - Paper Properties

The most common physical medium for photographs is paper. I wonder why it is that the fundamental properties of paper are never used by photographers? Paper is a pliable material that might offer some interesting properties we could use creatively. For example, paper can be folded, crumpled, sewn, dyed, twisted, and torn.

HT1647 - Brown, A Love-Hate Relationship

Brown is such a lovely tone in a monochrome image, but it's also a bear to get right. I think it's because brown is made up of all colors mixed in exacting proportions. And this is where it becomes a challenge. Too much red in the brown can result in pink skies. Too much yellow in the brown and images can look muddy.

HT1648 - Twenty Bucks Burning a Hole in Your Pocket

In Portland, Oregon there is a weekly event known as Saturday Market. It's mostly craft booths or street food and it's an awful lot of fun. Everyone goes there intending to spend a little money just because it's cheap entertainment. I learned a valuable lesson about this from my Chinese calligraphy teacher who, for years, had a booth at Saturday market.

HT1649 - The Unsold Ones

It's always great to be asked to exhibit your work. Nothing is quite so motivating for productivity than a deadline. And if you're lucky, you might sell a print or two. But what will you do with the other 26 prints that don't sell? Where will you store them? Can you afford the expense of the unsold, framed inventory?

HT1653 - Display Copies, Another Thought

From time to time, we all have an opportunity to show our work to friends or family, people who stop by the house, maybe it'll workshop. But the process of showing our work puts it at risk for damage or normal wear and tear. That's why a display copy is a good idea. I talked about this in Here's a Thought #002 in March 2019. But here's another use for display copies.

HT1654 - Outdoor Photographer, RIP

I was shocked the other day to learn that the magazine Outdoor Photographer has ceased publication and their website has been taken down. I never subscribed to that magazine, but I respected their contribution to the field of photography publishing. They had an impressive subscriber base of over 100,000 people, and you think that would be enough to keep them vital. Guess not.

HT1655 - The Photography Section in the Bookstore

With very few exceptions, I find the photography section in bookstores is overwhelmingly populated by "how to" books. How come the Literature section in bookstores is not overrun with manuals on how to operate a typewriter or a word processor?

HT1656 - Print Quality vs Content Quality

As a publisher, perhaps I'm particularly aware of the incredible improvements in the quality of book printing in these last 50 years. That said, when I find an older book that really impresses me, I know it's image content is strong and overcomes whatever primitive printing was used. Content is, and always has been, king in spite of the emphasis by so many of today's manufacturers and photographers who place so much emphasis on print quality.

HT1660 - Money As the Deciding Factor

I'm naturally resistant to the idea that excellence is a function of budget. When manufacture's marketing tells me I can improve my bird pictures by buying a $20,000 lens; when my landscape photography will be improved if I spend $30,000 on a medium format ultra-megapixel digital system; when workshop programs tell me I need to spend $15,000 for them to take me to an exotic photographable location, I just cringe — and rebel.

HT1661 - Signal to Noise Ratio

The concept of signal to noise ratio is something we photographers are familiar with, particularly when it comes to our cameras and digital noise. This same concept can be applied to the content of our photographs (signal) compared to the craft of photography (noise).

HT1662 - Some Days Are Diamonds, Some Days Are Excrement

Earlier this year I had back-to-back days of photography and I finally had a chance to review those images. How could it possibly be that the first day was so terrific and rewarding and the second day, photographing in the same area, produced absolutely nothing of interest or value whatsoever?

HT1663 - Been There, Done That

Assuming the place won't change is not only a denial of reality, but leaves out half of the equation. Even though you've been there and done that, the you that you were back then is no longer the "you" you are now. The current you may have something new to see, feel, and photograph.

HT1667 - Camera Operators

The other day I received an email in which the writer took me to task for conflating the words photographer and artist. Therein lies an incredibly deep philosophical discussion about whether or not we are primarily camera operators or image makers. We are obviously both, but image making is the goal and camera operation is only the means.

HT1668 - Learning from the Best

I don't know a landscape photographer who isn't a fan of other landscape photographers. But if we consider ourselves image makers rather than exclusively photograph makers, why wouldn't we also study the landscape painters? Who is your favorite landscape painter? And if you don't have one, is that because you haven't taken the time to study the landscape painters and learn what you can from them?

HT1669 - Where, Oh Where

As I get older and look back on my photographic choices, I realize that it's far less important where I photograph than I've thought. Most of my best photographs and projects come from random locations rather than from careful planning.

HT1670 - Title Cards

Is the title part of the artwork or is it separate from the artwork? The way most photographs are displayed in galleries, the title is on a card off to the side. It functions more like a part. My suspicion is that most photographers title their work because it's part of how they want their photograph to be seen and interpreted. Then why put the title on a card off to the side?