The Perceptive Photographer

The wrong type of research can ruin a photograph

Episode 254 Ok, maybe there isn’t really wrong research. I do think there is the research we do before a trip that can have us create work that isn’t our best. In this week’s podcast, I talk about how your ...

Five listener questions to start 2020

Episode 252 As we kick off 2020, I thought I would make this week’s podcast all about the five most common questions I got asked in 2019 that weren’t related to camera gear or printing. I thought each question was ...

Is your approach to your photography too narrow?

Episode 250 I’m excited to be producing my 250th episode of the podcast for this week. It is a milestone that I never imagined when I started years ago, and it has been fun thinking about all the episodes I ...

Perspective is more than just about lenses

Episode 248 Most photographers, when they are learning about camera gear, learn that the lens controls the perspective. This isn’t exactly accurate; the subject to lens distance determines perspective along with the point of view. However, from a podcast a ...

Hardest thing to photograph

Episode 246 I have often wondered what people think is the hardest thing to photograph. When I have conversations about this, those conversations more often than not start with some technical aspects of photography. Learning how to use studio lighting, ...

Updated: The act of giving and working without failure

Episode 244 In this week’s podcast, we take a look at two important questions that can have a significant impact on your approach to your photography. The first question deals with our approach to failure. What would you do in ...

Your mental approach is everything

Episode 242 I am always bothered when I hear people say that you are too optimistic, or you’re wearing rose-colored glasses. My response to them is always the same. Your damn right, I am. The outlook you have on life, ...

Do all photographs have to tell a story?

Episode 240 I have a quote from Gary Winogrand that says all photographs make a new fact. As I looked back on that quote, it got me thinking about how much narratives and storytelling come into photography. Anyone who has ...

Ambiguity is a good thing

Episode 238 I find that it is sometimes difficult to work with a strong feeling of uncertainty. It doesn’t matter if it is technical, artistic, or just a feeling I have. I like to think that I have some clarity ...

Trapped and the value of help

Episode 236 I came into the studio early today and found a flying friend cruising around. I guess they came in the night before when I had the bigger door open. After some encouragement and strategic door opening, we were ...

Upside down and backwards

Episode 234 I was recently at an art opening that had several photographs of interesting abstractions. Images of plants, buildings, and objects all taken and presented as abstract objects. In listening to people talk about the work, I heard people ...

Religion, politics and photography

Episode 232 I think everyone has been to a party where politics and religious topics were not allowed, or you wish they were banned from the family holidays or summer parties. Both of these topics seem to bring out the ...

The sum of the parts or the parts of the sum?

Episode 230 When you look at an inkblot test, you might see something strange or unusual. You also are likely to see something that someone else might not see. Each of us sees something unique and different, which is why ...

How noise can diminish your photography

Episode 228 This week’s podcast focuses on noise reduction in photography. Now you might be thinking that we are going to be talking about how to use the software in Lightroom, Photoshop or other tools to reduce the noise caused ...

Games played and a lost and found

I recently watched a group of kids make up playing a game in the park and it sparked an idea for how to better approach my own photographic practice. This week’s podcast takes a look at that process and how ...

The challenge of should and would

In this week’s podcast, we take a look at the impacts of talking about the effects of the should and would in our creative photography. So much of what we do as photographers is damaged when we focus on what ...

Small Rituals Big Results

I was cleaning a bookshelf in the study and came back across Mason Currey’s Daily Rituals. In the book, Mason details the daily rituals that artist and creatives spend their day. As I flipped back thru the book, I got ...

Ever seen a movie that ran a little too long?

I recently watched a movie that felt a little too long. The overall concept was good. The action was good. The directing was good. The acting was good. The movie just felt like it was about 15 minutes too long. ...

Following breadcrumbs to your passions

Much like Hansel and Gretel, we often need to leave ourselves a way to get back home or to our creative place. If we use bread like Hansel and Gretel, we can easily get lost finding our way home. In ...

Routine is a winding road

Do you better your subjects?

As photographers, we are always trying to make our photos better. We might work with new camera gear, make editing enhancements in the darkroom or try out some technique in Photoshop. We are always trying to make the best photograph ...

That song is driving me crazy

Ever get a song stuck in your head? One that loops or part of it loops, over and over again. It just won’t seem to go away like a never-ending punishment for some karma thing you did. It turns out ...

Inspiration requires a little work

Watching the bees get to work in the garden reminded me of the importance of inspiration AND the work to get inspired. Inspiration is a topic that comes up a lot among my artist friends. We talk about how we ...

Are technically good photos well seen?

This week’s podcast is a free form rant of sorts about how we talk about seeing in photography. While there are skills necessary to understand how and why a photograph might be seen as a good photograph, that doesn’t mean ...

A big thanks to Opportunity

This week’s podcast is thanks and tribute to the Opportunity rover, JPL and NASA. Opportunity was designed to run for 90 days and cover 1000 meters on Mars. Rather than just meeting mission objectives, Opportunity ran for 15 years and ...