Exactly 50 years ago today I learned a valuable lesson in photography. I was photographing on the Oregon coast when I decided I needed to use a different lens for this one particular shot. I miss that lens.

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How large does a print need to be in order to be considered artwork? Snapshots are usually pretty small, 4x6" or so. If we make a 5x7" is that big enough to be considered artwork? 8x10"? Why do photographers so readily consider size of function of the seriousness of artwork?

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We are told that hawks have keener eyesight than we humans, so maybe they could see the ink dots in our digital prints. We can't because the technology has exceeded human visual sensitivity. Perception boundaries, once crossed shift advancement to other concerns. In the future, we can expect more intuitive and ergonomically advanced equipment.

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There's no doubt there's quite a thrill in having a book of your work published. There are, however, some realities of book publishing that are less comfortable than we'd like them to be. For example, it's a common fate for a book to be eagerly consumed by its new owner and then be relegated to obscurity on a bookshelf, often forgotten.

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LW1450 - Ten Myths That Need Busting

In a technical and artistic pursuit like photography, it's not surprising that certain myths have developed over time. One of my favorite quotes is from G. K. Chesterton who said, "It's amazing how many things there are that aren't so."

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Every Picture Is a Compromise, a series at www.brooksjensenarts.com.

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"How to" tutorials and camera reviews are everywhere on YouTube, but if you're interested in photography and the creative life, you need to know about the incredible resources you can access as a member of LensWork Online.

When I first started playing with the idea of Seeing in SIXES (six image projects), I spent time scouring my Lightroom catalog for candidates and cousins. As my experience has evolved with this idea, I've found that thinking in terms of six image projects in the field has given me an entirely new approach when I'm out with my camera.

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A common experience when reading a novel is to find one particular chapter or scene that is the heart of the book. That chapter presents the denouement or the action that has been building during all the previous chapters. Do we then remember that chapter and refer to it in conversation? Or does that chapter elevate the entire book? We recommend the book, not the chapter. The same thing happens with a photography project.

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In my first photographic trip to Japan, rather than take suitcases, I packed everything I needed into my backpack for maximum mobility and foot travel. In those days my comfort limit for my backpack weight was about 70 pounds. With this in mind I packed a maximum of 20-pounds of clothing plus the pack itself, leaving me 50-pounds for gear and film. In my upcoming trip to the West Coast, I'll have a much more capable gear kit that weigh less than three pounds.

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I've often found it useful to divide photography into a set of competing challenges. How do you want to play with photography? Do you want to challenge yourself with the technical complications of making giant prints? That's valid. Or do you want to challenge yourself with the expressive complications of making more meaningful artwork? That's valid, too. And then of course, there are all the variations that combine both of these challenges.

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How many pixels per inch are required for printing? Be careful; this is a trick question. In fact, as I've asked the question it is unanswerable without additional information or blind assumptions. What's the missing/assumed data? What is the viewing distance likely to be?

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