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...

Christmas Morning Photographs (Tuesday Morning, Too!)

I saw someone published a photograph of Christmas morning by Diane Arbus and another one by Elliott Erwitt on Christmas Day. Both were from the 1950s and they were significant because they were...old. They showed us how we used to be. You've heard me say if you read my essays regularly, that photographs only get...

For Good Photography: Access > Gear

It's a simple equation, but good access beats top camera equipment every time. Because we need to be somewhere to make the photo, and where that is matters first, much more so than what camera and lens is in our hands. An example will make this clearer. I was at a friends' house on Christmas...

My Favorite Photograph to Make…

There's an old line in photography that, "My favorite photograph to make is the next one." But it's so true. I sometimes think life would be easier if I were into watching TV and sports, but I'm not. I have an insatiable need to create. I do that with photographs and writing. I also write...

Gauche in the Living Room? No Way! (Changing The World, One Photograph at a Time)

It's a quite different world nowadays the way we use photography from when I was growing up. When I was a kid, there were regular visits to the portrait studio or a school photographer would setup in our auditorium to make our class photos. There was something to it--the lights, the camera, the tripod, the...

“How Much Do I Get?”

I was handing out Halloween candy and had the usual polite kids with their parents taking candy with the traditional line, "Trick or treat." One adult came up asking for a Tootsie Roll, and we were in business--we had them! But the one visitor that surprised me was a young girl, about 15, who came...

The Photo Game Commences Saturday November 13 @ 8:00 a.m. MST (UTC-7)

A few days ago I wrote a post about the launch of The Photo Game. Since then, I've had some good interest from photographers around the world who’ve contacted me, wishing to participate, and I've added them to the master email list. The biggest challenge as I see it is it being a weekly deadline,...

Polaroid Goodness & The Joy of Meeting “Unknowners” with a Camera

This is Bill and Bob. They're a couple of fishermen I saw yesterday walking down a path to the pond at Rogers Grove in my town, one carrying a small green net. I told them that once I saw that net, I knew I had to photograph them. "That net says 'hope'," I joked with...

Collecting Family, Friends & People I Meet

Sometimes people see me carrying a film camera wherever I go, sometimes a Leica or Nikon rangefinder, sometimes a Rolleiflex twin lens reflex, and ask me what do I photograph. I explain it's not what, it's who. Who do I photograph? Well, the answer to their question is everyone. My family, sure. Friends, yep. People...

The Best Compliment To a Photographer

A friend texted me the following comment after I sent her a gallery of photographs of her and her husband: These are all wonderful! We're so lucky that you are so talented and can create these amazing photos of us. Thank you. ♥ I texted back saying that I'm the lucky one--since she's also a...