As a general rule of thumb, I avoid blown highlights at all cost. But like any general rule of thumb, there are exceptions. A recent project photographing indoors using table lamps as the only source of illumination created images  that always had blown highlights which I was perfectly happy to accept. I tried to think of another example where I'm comfortable with blown highlights and could only think of one - - reflections of the sun on chrome automobile trim.

HT1804 - Blown Highlights

Random Observations on Art, Photography, and the Creative Process. These talks focus on the creative process in fine art photography. LensWork editor Brooks Jensen side-steps techno-talk and artspeak to offer a stimulating mix of ideas, experience, and observations from his 50 years as a fine art photographer, writer, and publisher. Topics include a wide range of subjects from finding subject matter to presenting your work, and building an audience. 
Included in this RSS Feed are the LensWork Podcasts — posted weekly, typically 10-20 minutes exploring a topic a bit more deeply — and our almost daily Here's a thought… audios (extracted from the videos.) Here's a thought… are snippets, fragments, morsels, and tidbits from Brooks' fertile (and sometimes swiss-cheesy) brain. Usually just a minute or two. Always about photography and the art life.
Brooks Jensen is the publisher of LensWork, one of the world's most respected and award-winning photography publications, known for its museum-book quality printing and luxurious design. LensWork has subscribers in over 73 countries. He is the author of 13 books on photography and the creative life -- the latest books are The Best of the LensWork Interviews (2016), Photography, Art, and Media (2016), and the four annual volumes of Seeing in SIXES (2016-2019).

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I know we can make a picture in 1/60th of a second, but should we? We've recently seen cameras introduced to the market that allow you to upload an image to your social media account instantaneously after clicking the shutter. Doesn't this completely miss one of the most important aspects of fine art photography?

HT1913 - Why Think Deeply When You Can Think Instantly

I've been doing and thinking about project-oriented photography for so long that it's become a reflex for me to search the interstices between pictures for threads that connect them together. Looking through some photography books recently, I realized I was doing that reflexively when in fact there was no thread between the pictures, at least not one intended by the photographer.

HT1912 - Searching the Interstices

This week Panasonic introduced a new camera that incorporates wide variety of picture styles that can be instantly applied in camera. These styles go by the technical name of LUT, an acronym for lookup table. Supposedly this will make your photographs more artistic. I'm not so sure.

HT1911 - Style Is Not Content

Ours is the first generation in the history of the planet to have at our disposal such readily available means to record our memories. When our family members die, all their memories, stories, and history go with them.

HT1910 - My Grandfather's Voice

What would you do if you were to wake up to find yourself in a world with no cameras? Would you still be an art creator with a different medium? Or, is your relationship with photography so photographic that without photography you would not create artwork?

HT1804 - Blown Highlights

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