Here's a thought…

HT2005 - A Frustration with PDFs

For us who care about layout and design, who value elegant typography, who want aesthetic control of our digital presentations and publications, PDFs are the answer. That does not mean, however, that they are frustration free

HT2006 - Fixed In Time

Because we live at specific times, we can't help but produce our artwork in time. Everything we do is a function of the times in which we live. That's worth remembering, that in the future our work will be seen in the context of the era in which we live.

HT2007 - What Great Paintings Say

Photography, more than any other of the visual arts, can easily become mere eye candy. Learning how to see beyond the "pretty" requires some training. There is a 2-volume set titled, What Great Paintings Say by Rose-Marie and Rainer Hagen (published by Taschen) that are a wonderful introduction to this way of thinking.

HT2008 - Just a Little Bit Tired

Here is an odd observation from years of photography that has been consistently true. I see more creatively when I am a little bit tired. Too tired makes me lazy. A bit tired slows my chattering mind enough to allow my intuition to surface.

HT2012 - People or Things

A great deal of photography is about one of two subjects: people or things. I've always thought that the best photographs are about a moment.

HT2013 - Lost Opportunities

Sometimes I don't have my camera with me. I always have my smartphone with me. So, I always have a camera with me, everywhere, right? Not really. Yesterday was a typical and frustrating example.

HT2014 - Simplicity and Clarity

It is not a guarantee that simplicity in a composition makes a better photograph, but for the kind of work I like to do, I find it is true more often than not. In fact, it is my strategy for almost every composition I make. The world is a chaotic and complicated thing. Making art is an interpretive activity whose goal is to express the complexity of life with clarity and understanding.

HT2015 - Mismatch

I've just finished reviewing a couple of hundred photography projects each of which included an artist statement by way of introduction to the photographs. I was absolutely flabbergasted how many times the text did not fit with the photographs or vice versa

HT2019 - Photography At 60 mph, Part 2

As I was discussing yesterday, I often pass by many photographic opportunities when driving down the road. The more important lesson is what happens when I do stop. I don't ever remember stopping and not finding a photograph. Is it possible that we could stop at random and find something interesting?

HT2020 - Not a Wildlife Photographer

I've made no secret that I am not a wildlife photographer. But there I was, in Custer State Park in South Dakota surrounded by buffalo. How do I not make a few pictures? Do we have to have a purpose? Does our photography have to be serious? Is fun a sufficient excuse for pulling out the camera?

HT2021 - Retracing the Circle

I spent the day yesterday photographing in Custer State Park here in South Dakota. A strategy I often use was my modus operandi yesterday: I retraced my morning route in the afternoon, but in the opposite direction. Different light, different clouds, different moods and moments.

HT2022 - Close Your Eyes

We photographers are such visual people that our sense of sight can overwhelm our experience. I often find it useful to close my eyes and let my other senses open to the experience. Strangely enough, when I reopen my eyes I see differently and more deeply.

HT2023 - Initial Disappointment

My first look at the images I captured that day are often a disappointment. Is that because the memory of them is too fresh? I've observed over the years that my initial disappointment often converts to excitement when I work on an image sometime later.

HT2026 - Base Camp

During this last couple of weeks of photography, I was reminded how much I prefer a base camp approach to travel. We've been doing the opposite. We stopped for a night, maybe two, then move on to the next location. That doesn't leave a lot of time for photography, but worse doesn't leave a lot of time to get to know a place well. I much prefer a base camp approach where I stay in one location for a week or a month or even longer.

HT2027 - Image Stabilization in the Wind

Here's an odd observation from last week's photography in South Dakota. It was windy all week. In reviewing my images, I noticed that the shots made with a longer focal length are sharper than those made with a shorter focal length. In the wind, I would have expected just the opposite.

HT2028 - The Running Narrative

So often when I have a chance to look at another photographer's work, there is a running narrative that accompanies my view of each image. When I move to the next image, the narrative repeats. That universal narrative is the location of where the image was captured. Divorced from the images, the spoken accompaniment is merely a travel list. Is this the best way to narrate our images?

HT2029 - Performing for the Camera

When my kids were young, the instant they saw me pull out the camera they began posing in a performance for the lens. Getting past that artificiality was a challenge. Strangely enough, the lesson how to do this came from a microphone.