The Perceptive Photographer

Episode 322 This week’s podcast looks at how we learn things and the language we use to describe ourselves when we don’t know something and the impact of making more positive statements. There are numerous times in my conversations with myself throughout the day that aren’t always positive. I have found that being critical of myself for things that I shouldn’t impact my cre...

Episode 321 One thing you will hear a lot when you get into making good photographs is storytelling. Images should tell stories. Collections of images tell stories. What story are you trying to tell in your work? For the most part, I agree that good images tell a story, but other times great images are just pretty but that’s for a different day. In this week’s podcast, we talk about th...

Episode 320 There are many ways to learn things—some things in life we pick up pretty quickly, others not so much. As we learn our craft and art in photography, we can take all sorts of shortcuts. In some cases, we should stand on the shoulders of the photographers that came before us to learn, extend, and develop our understanding of our work. And in today’s world, we can also find a two-mi...

Episode 319 I got to thinking these past few weeks about what would happen if I lost my eyesight. What would that mean for my photography? What would it mean to make photographs and appreciating photographs? In this week’s podcast, I talk a little bit about not being able to see could impact our photography and also how in some cases, it might make us better photographers because of how we w...

Episode 318 I have heard from several friends how every day in the pandemic seems to run together. Sort of a Groundhog Day effect. In this week’s podcast, I dive into that notion of everything and every day being the same and how that can impact our approach to talking about our photography in a meaningful way. I also talk about the challenges of shifting our focus on what we talk about to c...

Episode 317 This week’s podcast takes a look at the impacts of how we react to events and information. When you hear someone talk about your photography, do you focus on the negative, which in turn makes everything negative, or do you focus on the positive? In the podcast, I talk about how your approach to that feedback can make all the difference in improving your work. I also talk about so...

Episode 316 If you ever take one of my classes or workshops, you will listen to me talk about reading the photograph. The idea of reading a photograph is just like reading a book. You have to slow down, take it in, process the work, and think about it. I first came across the idea of reading the photograph from a Minor White article in the Aperature archives. Reading is an active state of being ra...

Episode 315 This week’s podcast breaks out the dustpan and broom. It is spring cleaning week. It is important to keep yourself organized and with sufficient space to be creative. With that in mind, this week we take a look at three easy places to do some spring cleaning in your photography practice to make some room for both the new and old ideas you might have around your photographic work....

Episode 314 This week’s podcast is all about answering questions from podcast listeners. We tackle five questions that really got me thinking or were asked more than once. I hope you get something out of the answers and if you have any questions feel free to reach out and let me hear them. This week I chime in on: What do I think of new technology and software like Adobe’s Enhance and...

Episode 313 Sometimes when we are working, it is easy to stick with what we are good at. We tend to think that we are meant to be doing it if we are good at something. However, being good at something doesn’t mean that we enjoy something or should keep doing something. In this week’s podcast, we talk about how sometimes we need to give up what we are good at in favor of doing what we&#...

Episode 312 This week’s podcast takes a look at why we create. I believe that art, and by proxy photography, is best when it is personal. It is born out of our curiosity and desire to discover, learn, grown, process, and sort out how we fit in the world. When we make work from a place of self–understanding, it taps into a common thread across lots of people who have similar feelings an...

Episode 31 1 Each one of us has a different level of patience when it comes to time. I think each of us has to answer how long I am willing to wait to get a great photograph? Often, I find that I might give up a little early or stay way too late in my work. The balance of time always seems a little off. In this week’s podcast, we jump into the question about how long you are willing to wait...

Episode 310 For many photographers I work with, one of the consistent pieces of feedback I hear is that there is never enough of something to do the work they want. There might not be time or money or gear. A lot of effort and energy goes into thinking about what is needed to achieve our goals and what is missing. I like to imagine and brainstorm as much as the next person and have often suffered...

Episode 309 When we think about approaching our photography, we often put things in buckets or bins. These classifications can help us identify areas of the images to work with and projects to pursue or find meaning in our work. Over time, I have grown to think about these ideas as more of a continuum or spectrum of ideas where they overlap and push into each other. Rather than creating edges, the...

Episode 308 I work with a lot of different people on different aspects of photography. One of the big areas that I help people with is developing a deeper connection to their work and others’ work. In that process, one of the issues that comes up repeatedly is the idea of what makes a good photograph. On more than one occasion, I have found myself in the conversation about something being a...

Episode 307 Throughout our lifetime, we have a lot of friends and acquaintances. Some people are around for a short time, and others might last that lifetime. I have been thinking a lot lately about friendships and how they shape and shift us. They provide support, honesty, humor, companionship, and so much more. As I started to think about photography, I wondered about friendships in photography...

Episode 306 I have been working on some images in the studio recently and some start of the new year cleanup work. As I bounced back and forth between those two projects, it occurred to me that I was missing one thing oftentimes. That thing could be a screw for a tripod leg or a lens cap or an emotional feeling in a print. But as I worked on the projects, I started to wonder how many things in my...

Episode 305 This week’s podcast is a chat about how we feel about photography and photographs. In my teaching experience, I have found that many people think a lot about their photographs, but in some ways how we feel about our photographs can matter more. As always, I hope you and yours are safe, and please remember to keep safe and wear your mask.

Episode 304 This week’s podcast is a quick chat about setting goals for the new year and the importance of looking back at the past year and celebrating what was good. In a year harder than most for people, 2020 gives us a chance to celebrate the flexibility and durability we all have to continue adapting and creating. As always, I hope you and yours are safe, and please remember to keep saf...

Episode 30 3 This week’s podcast topic came about because of some maintenance on the car. It came time for new brakes, and the tire light kept coming on even though the tires were fine. As I dug into the manual about causes for the tire light, I came across the scheduled maintenance list. As I got to thinking about how that works with the car, it occurred to me that something similar might b...

Episode 302 This week’s podcast is about the importance of having traditions in your photography. No matter how big or small traditions are something we can look forward to each year and reflect back on the past. As always, I hope you and yours are safe, and please remember to keep safe and wear your mask.

Episode 30 1 This week’s podcast is all about homework. One of the areas that I think all photographers could improve is understanding what makes a good photograph or a good photograph to them. We dive deep into that topic this week with an exercise to help you better understand how and why you react to photographs the way you do and apply that knowledge to future images or discussions. As a...

Episode 300 This week marks the 300th episode of the podcast. So first off, thank you to everyone who tunes in and listens to the podcast. It really means the world to me that you all tune in and check out what is going on with the podcast. As I mention about a third of the way into this week’s show, this podcast is about all the experiences that I have about how photography impacts my life...

Episode 29 9 I have been asked a lot recently about what I think about some of the new tools digital photographers have at their disposal. Many programs now offer “AI or machine learning” to help edit photographs. Now with the click of a few buttons, you can replace skies, change expressions, or quickly composite images together. Now I have never been on enough drugs to think that phot...

Episode 298 In this week’s podcast, we start with a quote by Edward Weston about composition.  “Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk.” Edward Weston I have often thought that this quote has been misunderstood by people who teach photography and composition in photography. When I hear this quote, mos...