F-Stop Collaborate and Listen - A Photography Podcast

Mixing family and photography isn't always easy.  Today's guest on the F-Stop Collaborate and Listen Podcast,  Dorin Bofan , recently became a new father and has been grappling with the realities of spending less time in the field as a landscape photographer. Dorin is based in Romania, deep in the heart of Transylvania, and makes personally-expressive images of his home country.  On episode 331, w...

Legacy. Meaning. Fulfillment. In the end, these are all things most artists seek. When I think about my own photography, I would happily trade all the likes and follows on social media to be known for something I'm proud of.  Today's guest on episode 330 of the F-Stop Collaborate and Listen Podcast, Bruce Barnbaum , has over fifty years of photography under his belt and has recently undertook the...

A trip to Antarctica is at the top of many of our bucket lists. For nature and landscape photographers, Antarctica is a dream destination. Images of blizzards, icebergs, penguins, whales, seals, and incredibly landscapes are conjured; however, planning a trip there can be quite challenging and daunting. This week on the F-Stop Collaborate and Listen Podcast, I sat down with two Muench Workshops Pr...

Photography has the ability to heal. It can help us process grief, learn to be better humans, and grow a wonderful relationship with nature. Mentorship with a caring mentor can help us to develop these benefits, and this one of the reasons this week's guest of the F-Stop Collaborate and Listen Podcast,  Xuan-Hui Ng , has been able to make such evocative and interesting work. On episode 328, we dis...

Chasing the Aurora Borealis is a dream for many photographers and a dream come true for those who can successfully do it. Of course, not all of us have the luxury of living in an area where it can be done with relative ease, so when we travel to locations where it is possible, we want to maximize our chances at seeing and photographing incredible solar storms. Today's guest on the F-Stop Collabora...

For most photographers, the thought of trying infrared photography fills us with a whole list of questions. How do we even start? What is the point? Why should I even try infrared photography? What will my photographs look like? How much will it cost? Fortunately, the guest of today's podcast has already gone down this rabbit hole and has the answers to your questions. This week on the F-Stop Coll...

Niche communities exist for the purpose of providing education, resources, and a sense of belonging. The need for these communities is greater than ever in our age of polarization on social media and the impersonal interactions often found there. In the nature photography space, no better community exists than on  Nature Photographer's Network  (NPN). On today's podcast episode, I sit down with th...

Creating personal work in our photography is harder than it sounds. One possible way to give us a path forward is to develop a set of guiding principles that help set the stage for our future work. On today's podcast episode, my guest,  Ricardo Da Cunha , explains how this has helped him improve as a photographer.  On episode 324, we discuss: How Ricardo got into landscape photography. The role ph...

Innovation and design thinking are at the forefront of tech start-ups and lots of corporations looking to maximize profits and meet the demands of their customers. Interestingly, there's lots of profound parallels where these concepts can improve our landscape photography when implemented. Today's guest on my podcast,  Jeff Zias , is a photographer who spends his time as an innovation coach. He's...

Including man-made objects in our landscape photographs is sometimes quite challenging! I personally find it to be one of the hardest things to do well in this genre of photography; however, today's guest on my podcast,  Michael Blanchette , has mastered it.  On episode 322, we discuss: How Michael transitioned from his career in software engineering to landscape photography. Michael's proclivity...

Immersing ourselves in other cultures can be a very rewarding experience and can dramatically improve our photography.  On today's episode, I had a blast speaking with  Kevin Pepper , a Canadian photographer and fellow Muench Workshops instructor. Kevin and I first met on my first trip with Muench last year to Antarctica and we really hit it off. I became deeply interested in his passion for Mongo...

Nature Photography can be a powerful tool for self-expression, self-discovery, and personal transformation. The keys to leveraging this visual communication medium for these purposes can be elusive, but once they are tapped into fully, the impacts can be quite fruitful! On today's episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with  Astrid Preisz , a phenomenal photographer from Austria. Astrid has some...

The journey of nature photography can be amazing. Through it, we can learn to be better humans. Such is the case for today's guest of my podcast,  Nic Stover . Nic has successfully managed to grow his online and physical photography business by aligning his core values and focusing on what really matters to him.  On episode 319, we discuss: How Nic has found a way to differentiate himself by align...

Development of a unique style in nature photography is something most of us strive for in our quests as photographers of the landscape. Sometimes it is hard to put into words what that even means or looks like, and there are a plethora of variables that impact one's unique style. On today's podcast episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with one of my favorite Canadian nature photographers,  Jaso...

Printing our landscape and nature photographs can bring a lot of joy and can provide tremendous opportunities for making money from your artwork. There's a lot to decipher before you start. What paper do you use? How do you calibrate your monitor? Why are my prints so dark? Fortunately, resources exist to make this process easier for you to figure out. As such, I was excited to record this week's...

Photography is one of the most accessible artforms that exists and acts as a creative outlet and tool for personal expression for so many of us. Unfortunately, tapping into that creativity and modes of personal expression in photography doesn't always come naturally for all of us. Fortunately, there are techniques and strategies that exist to help us get there. On episode 316, I finally was able t...

It happens to the best of us - we lose our mojo in photography and can't figure out how to find it again. Fortunately there is a simple cure for this... In episode 315, I had a fantastic time speaking with one of my favorite UK landscape photographers, Lizzie Shepherd . We eventually do discuss losing our mojo but we also talk about how this is actually not a bad thing. Our chat covers a lot of im...

Finding our people is something I think we all strive for. For some of us, this is easy and for others, it can be quite difficult. In the landscape and nature photography community, there are well-established cliques of people who photograph together frequently, often comprised of white men. Why this is the case has always been a mystery to me; however, I genuinely always want to put myself in the...

Using 2019 data, according to the  Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration  (SAMHSA), 14.2 million adults over the age of 18 had a severe depressive episode in the past year, and 14.4 million struggled with alcohol abuse disorder in the past year. Clearly, both alcoholism and depression are quite prevalent in our society and it is something a lot of people struggle with. Finding...

One of the best ways to differentiate ourselves as photographers is to fully engage in the creative process. As such, one sure-fire path to making more creative work is to experiment. Experimentation can help to unlock creativity and help us create more interesting work.  Since experimentation is something I think we can all learn more about, I was excited to record a podcast with one of my favori...

Living close to our favorite photography destinations is a luxury that not everyone can afford; however, it has become a big part of my success in my own photography and I know it contributes to the success of others' work as well. Our relationship to place and how that connection fuels us and energizes our creativity can have a huge impact on the quality of our work. This week on episode 311 I ha...

Moving to a new country can be an incredibly daunting proposition, especially in the current geo-political environment; however, it can also open up doors to new experiences, cultures, and landscapes.  This week I had the pleasure of speaking with  Julien Parrot  - a photographer from France now living in Australia. Julien and I talked about how moving to a new country has completely changed his o...

Most photographers are given the advice to specialize in something in order to make it as a photographer. On the surface, this seems to make sense as it allows one to become an expert and to become known for one thing; however, it might not be the best advice to follow, especially if you live in a smaller town. On episode 309, I had the pleasure of speaking with Viktoria Haack  - a photographer li...

It is no secret that spending time in nature is  good for your mental health . Time and time again, through conversations on my podcast, I learn about the role that nature photography has played in helping people battle depression, anxiety, and life's challenges.  This week I had an amazing time talking about photography with  Shane Turgeon , who credits his discovery of nature photography for sav...

One of the hottest topics to emerge as it relates to landscape photography is the advent of Artificial Intelligence or AI. AI has swept the world by storm and is changing so rapidly that the one-month gap between when I recorded this podcast and when it was released probably saw huge shifts in the capabilities of AI and the challenges that have emerged in the U.S. legal system. AI presents photogr...