Episode 282

There are a number of aspects of photography that fall into two camps. There are artistic decisions and technical decisions. For some people, you might think of this as left-brain (technical) and right- brain (creative) decisions. However, to be successful, you need both sides of your brain to make a good photograph. Not only both sides but also some language around how both sides work together to make a successful photograph.

When we can talk about how our camera decisions help or hinder the experience of a photograph, we can make better photographs in the future. We can, with this enhanced language, also provide better feedback to other about there work. Rather than focusing on what f/stop, we could focus on the effects of sharpness in an image as it relates to how the image is seen. So much of photography is about learning to translate what we see in the world into the image even when what is in front of us is shifted by the camera options. When we lack the language to describe what we want, we can make decisions with the camera resulting in work that often feels empty. Learning to be able to have a language to describe what we want and how to get it with the camera makes the artistic side of our work easier. This week’s podcast is a deep dive into the important distinction of these two sides of our language and how to balance them for the greatest impact.