So Lucky Photography Isn’t Only A Job

I always have a camera with me. So much so, people expect it. When people expect it, they don't worry about me making photographs, that's the norm. I'm always lifting up the camera--that's just what I do. That's a lucky position to be in. I get to create memories and document the lives of the...

Why Gear Does and Doesn’t Matter

What is the need for the biggest and best most expensive gear? I was out and about this weekend and saw protesters for the Black Lives Matter movement in my town and made photographs in both digital format with a Nikon D610 and 35mm and 120 film in a Leica M3 and a Rolleiflex 2.8C....

Editorial Truth and Public Trust

While digital photography and technology are here to stay, TRUST is the one thing of utmost importance for news/media companies to maintain as we enter a new world of Deepfakes. [Deepfakes (a portmanteau of "deep learning" and "fake") are synthetic media in which a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone...

The Hard Work of Publishing Four Photo Books: Follow-up

A short while ago, I published this post: Publishing Four Very Important Photo Books in 2019 Since then, I've completed three of the books (one person couldn't get it together) and they're on their way. In the process, here's what I learned. 1. People don't know where their photos are. 2. They don't know how to...

The Selfie Generation

I was looking at a young friend's Facebook page trying to find a photo I had made at  their party, and while I was scrolling through, not finding it, I found dozens of photos like these.  Posed and selfie group shots. I looked further and found more posed and selfie group shots.  Decently composed, but...

Camera Stores Used to be a Gathering Place for Photographers

I was talking with another photographer recently and he brought up that he misses hanging out at camera shops. I knew exactly what he meant. In the days of film, that was the place to meet, to see gear, talk and hang out with other photographers. There was still a little bit at risk when...

Photography is at a Low Point in its History

Photography is at a low point in its history. And it makes me sad. But first a little photography history lesson to see how we got here. (And hope for how we change it for the better.) We've been at this photography thing for just about 193 years--the first photograph was made in 1826.  And...

Out the Car Window Series – Shooting on the Go

I have this thing of shooting photographs out my car window.  Moments that unfold in front of me. I like the energy of these photos.  Some have people really engaging in their surroundings.  Like this guy in downtown Boulder. Others have a stillness.  Like these people waiting or standing--a woman in Denver, people on a...

Street Photography Awards Are Only For Weirdo Photographs

I've noticed what wins street photography contests: Weirdo photos. Oddball pictures. Have you seen this? The photos at the right are the 2018 winners in StreetFoto. To my eye, none of them look like the classics by Garry Winogrand or Henri Cartier-Bresson, who I'm betting are masters that these street photographers look up to. The...

Nikon vs. Leica

I am both a Nikon and Leica shooter.  I shoot film and digital with both brands and the other day I sat down at my Olivetti Lettera 22 typewriter--that's where I do my best thinking on paper--and I wrote out what each camera type is good for. For shooting street photography, Leica may be classic,...