Photography Today: Paint-By-Numbers Easy?

I was having a beer with a friend last night and he mentioned how easy it is nowadays to be a photographer, what with all the great gear and how everything looks good, even on a phone camera. Which of course got me thinking, "Is it that easy?" Has the tech made everyone great photographers?...

The Kind of Photographer, Artisan or Technician

Is there a difference between the photographer who uses film versus the one who uses digital cameras? And I always preface this question with the understanding that there is no right and wrong way with art--neither digital nor film is inherently better than the other, just different ways of working. I was thinking about the...

A New Photography Order – WAJDA’S MANIFESTO

We are at a unique time in the history of photography. The ability to capture an image, stop time and record it as it was has only been a part of human history since 1839, 181 years, which really isn't all that long of a time period considering the ages that humans have been on...

Four Photos, Just Four Photos

Four. (4). Just 1+1+1+1. I've been going out with the Graflex Speed Graphic and Ebony 4x5 with the purpose of making photographs. But not some unknown number of photographs, four photographs. Just four. Can you imagine going out and shooting only four photographs? Just four exposures? I only bring two film holders. Yesterday, (I'm only...

Legendary Photographer and Almost His Rolleiflex Portait

I saw an excellent documentary at the Boulder Int'l Film Festival Saturday afternoon on Life Magazine Photographer Henri Dauman, who photographed so many legends, celebrities and statesmen, including Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol, Dennis Hopper, JFK and Jackie Kennedy, Elvis, and countless others. It's titled "Henri Dauman: Looking Up", and if you can, see it, it's...

Some Things You Just Do

Some things you do for money To make a living, to eat, to keep the lights on. Some things you do for the art of it. Not everything has to be monetized. That’s why I make portraits of folks 70+ on Mondays In my Longmont photo studio at no cost. Because I can. Because it’s...

To the New Year, 2020!

And to all my photographer friends: Here's to Good Light!

What do you want for 2020?

Keith Richards wanted to be in the best blues band in London. He ended up being in the best band in the world! I want to be the best photographer in Denver with gallery and museum exhibitions of my work, to be an influential teacher and inspiring speaker on photography, and similarly known around the...

Why the Instant Reflex to Capture Everything?

Everywhere I go, no matter what the event, the scene, the purpose, as soon as anything happens, it can be a marching band or a person opening a gift, everyone pulls out a phone and starts recording. Everyone. Why the instant reflex, the need to capture everything? Everything. Is it a natural reflex to get...

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...