No Control Over What Comes So Come What May

I was thinking about doing the work, what that means and looking back at the photographs I've done in the past and it's clear that I don't have any control over what I create. I work with creating photographs based on who I encounter and the situations that present themselves. I don't have the ability...

The Evolution of a National Photography Show Exhibition Print

Click it to see it large on a desktop monitor. This photograph (Title: Surfside Motel Pool, Seaside Heights NJ) was selected for exhibition in the Louisville Art Association 28th National Photography Show. The show opens Memorial Day weekend and runs May 27-June 5, 2022. What a photograph. I love it. I am considering it as...

You Gotta Show Up and Do The Work (And Run to the Car for a Jacket When the Sun Goes Down)

Where you end up is anyone's guess, but if you don't go, you won't get anything for sure. Here's the story. I was getting happy hour drinks with friends on an outdoor patio in Boulder when the sun went down. Glad it did, as the temperature dropped, which made me run to my car for...

What Makes a Street Photo?

There are many street photographers nowadays. But what makes a street photo? It can't just be anyone walking along the street--I can see that out the window. To me, there has to be a story (or it gets the viewer to create one). If there's a story, it's a street photograph. If it has no...

The New Canvas, The Empty Frame, The Blank Page: GO!

Every time I sit down to write these photography essays I start with no idea what to write about. I have nothing but a blank page. (It's actually a blinking cursor at the top of this WordPress page, but you get the idea.) What to do? I don't know. If you don't know either, welcome...

Seeking a Publisher for my 1st Monograph–a Book of American Street Photographs

Every aspect of life is a journey. Growing up, surviving long hot summer vacations as a kid, getting to graduate from school, moving out, starting in the workforce. We all are a work in progress making progress. For me, I've worked as a photojournalist and commercial photographer my whole life. I have quite a body...

Saturday Photography & Street Portrait Workshops in Colorado in 2022

From time to time, I have photographers asking about scheduling street photography workshops, to make both candid street photographs as well as street portraits. I enjoy making both, and often shoot on both digital mediums as well as 35mm, medium format and large format film. 35mm film street portrait in Boulder. I also am one...

Show Me What You Like, But Also What You Don’t Like

At many restaurants, after asking about how some menu item is and the waiter or waitress replied, "Really good," and then when I asked about a different dish and again they repeated the same answer--in fact multiple times for every item I asked about--I've said, "Tell me what's not good or that you don't recommend."...

Faces: Making the Street Portrait

You really do have to be a little bit of an actor to be a good street portraitist. I was walking through the Mile High Flea Market in Denver this week and I brought a simple Nikon N80 with a 50mm f1.4. I set it for ISO 200 which is a stop overexposed for Ilford...

The Different Types of Photography (and Their Difficulty) And Why Street Photography Needs Serious Curation

STUDIO PORTRAITUREMaking portraits in the studio is difficult. You need a studio. Some lights. Knowledge on how to use them. And a subject sitting for you. A bit of human psychology to draw out the expression you want from them. All those things take experience and skill. Plus access to a studio and subject. NEWS...