Claim OwnershipLensWork - Photography and the Creative Process
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Random Observations on Art, Photography, and the Creative Process. These talks focus on the creative process in fine art photography. LensWork editor Brooks Jensen side-steps techno-talk and artspeak to offer a stimulating mix of ideas, experience, and observations from his 50 years as a fine art photographer, writer, and publisher. Topics include a wide range of subjects from finding subject matter to presenting your work, and building an audience.
Included in this RSS Feed are the LensWork Podcasts — posted weekly, typically 10-20 minutes exploring a topic a bit more deeply — and our almost daily Here's a thought… audios (extracted from the videos.) Here's a thought… are snippets, fragments, morsels, and tidbits from Brooks' fertile (and sometimes swiss-cheesy) brain. Usually just a minute or two. Always about photography and the art life.
Brooks Jensen is the publisher of LensWork, one of the world's most respected and award-winning photography publications, known for its museum-book quality printing and luxurious design. LensWork has subscribers in over 73 countries. He is the author of 13 books on photography and the creative life -- the latest books are The Best of the LensWork Interviews (2016), Photography, Art, and Media (2016), and the four annual volumes of Seeing in SIXES (2016-2019).
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HT2113 - Memorable
I think there's no doubt that one of the characteristics of the best photographs is that they are memorable. Do we remember them because of their exquisite tonalities? Do we remember them because of their spectacular color? Judicious depth of field? Tack sharp details? Or does a photograph become memorable for reasons that have nothing to do with technology, but everything to do with the heart?
HT2112 - ISO Fears No More
One of the driving factors in choosing a camera format was the fear of high ISO in small sensors. I debated a long time before I settled in on micro 4/3, primarily because of ISO fears. With today's noise reduction capabilities, those fears seem so cute and quaint. I cringe now thinking about all the images I lost because of my fear of high ISO.
HT2111 - Sometimes, I Miss My View Camera
I suspect a lot of you have never used a view camera, but there are certain aspects of the view camera that are just lovely. My pace was slower, which fostered a special moment with each exposure. The isolation generated by the dark cloth reduced the hubbub of the world to just me and the image. There are times when I miss that.
HT2110 - What Photography Is Like
Stieglitz told us that photography is like painting because it belongs in a frame, displayed on a wall. I would propose that the actual content of photography is more like poetry. It's highest use is when the photographer observes and then comments on Life.
HT2109 - Everyday Stories
So much fine art photography I see these days is about the extraordinary. Spectacular landscapes, exotic locations, beautiful models, extravagant events. Is this an attempt to offset Henry David Thoreau's idea that we live lives of quiet desperation? Perhaps there is some value and merit in everyday stories that don't require extensive travel or specialist gear.
LW1432 - Are We Quickly Becoming Anachronistic?
I'll be honest, I don't feel like I'm old. When I look at today's trends in photography, however, I can't help but worry about the future for kind of photography I love. And as long as I'm at it, you kids get off my lawn.
All previous episodes of our weekly podcast are available to members of LensWork Online. 30-day Trial Memberships are only $10. Instant access, terabytes of content, inspiration and ideas that expand daily with new content.
Sign up for instant access!
You might also be interested in. . .
Every Picture Is a Compromise, a series at www.brooksjensenarts.com.
and...
"How to" tutorials and camera reviews are everywhere on YouTube, but if you're interested in photography and the creative life, you need to know about the incredible resources you can access as a member of LensWork Online.
HT2108 - Silent Mode
In my youth, one of the primary reasons for using a rangefinder camera was that its leaf shutter was so much quieter than a reflex flopping mirror. I was recently photographing on several occasions using silent mode on my digital camera. It makes the quiet leaf shutters of a Leica sound like a thunderstorm.
HT2107 - The Second Reason to Use a Tripod
When asked, I bet most photographers would say they use a tripod to stabilize the camera for sharper pictures. That's true, but that's just the first reason to use a tripod. I find using a tripod helps with more precise framing which ultimately requires less fussing in processing. To help with precise framing, I use a geared head on my tripod.
HT2106 - My Slow Surrender to the Technology
In my youth, there was only one way to engage the camera, full manual mode. Manual focus, manual shutter, manual aperture. With digital cameras, I started using Aperture-priority and Shutter-priority more regularly. More recently I've found myself trusting Program mode. I feel I'm ever-so-slightly slipping to the Dark Side.
HT2105 - The Technical Plateau of 2016-2018
Like so many of you, I jumped on the technology bandwagon in the early 2000s with my first digital camera. Every year after that, I found important reasons to upgrade as the technology improved. Strangely enough, all of my current cameras — which do everything I could possibly imagine — all come from 2016 or 2018. It appears as though the technology has reached some sort of plateau, at least for my needs.
HT2104 - The Fleeting Wow Factor
Sometime in the last couple of years (I can't remember when) I saw that a photographer was doing a workshop on how to increase "the wow factor" of your images. I worry that wow factor has become an overriding concern for photographers, but I understand why it has done so. Relying on the wow factor to catch the attention of your audience can be like telling the same joke over and over and over again. Once the punchline is known, the joke loses its appeal.
HT2103 - A Spark of Imagination
When we look at one of our own photographs, there is always a spark that ignites in our thoughts. We remember the moment of the shutter release, or perhaps the moments we processed the image. That spark is a reaction to our artwork. Viewers, however, have a different spark — or none at all. That is our artmaking challenge.
HT2102 - The Multi-exposure Image
For some time now I've been an advocate of the multi-image presentation like Seeing in SIXES, or Trilogies. A variation on that idea has just as much potential and that is the multi-exposure image. Most digital cameras these days have the ability to do multiple exposure capture, but I hardly ever see anybody use this aesthetic. I wonder why?
LW1431 - Assume Everything Is Purposeful
When we view a photograph, do we assume that everything there is purposeful, or are there mistakes, accidents, uncorrected bits that make the photograph somehow wrong? But what if the photographer intended those things to be in the photograph? Can we not give the artist the benefit of the doubt? Can we remain open-minded? Or do our reactions promote conformity?
All previous episodes of our weekly podcast are available to members of LensWork Online. 30-day Trial Memberships are only $10. Instant access, terabytes of content, inspiration and ideas that expand daily with new content.
Sign up for instant access!
You might also be interested in. . .
Every Picture Is a Compromise, a series at www.brooksjensenarts.com.
and...
"How to" tutorials and camera reviews are everywhere on YouTube, but if you're interested in photography and the creative life, you need to know about the incredible resources you can access as a member of LensWork Online.
HT2101 - Image Stabilization Oddities
The implementation of image stabilization has been one of the greatest advances in the history of photography, at least in my humble opinion. There are a couple of things about image stabilization, however, that I find curious and useful to remember.
HT2100 - Photographing Snow
Here in upstate New York where I am this month, the snow has finally arrived and my camera has emerged from temporary hibernation for some snow photography. Interestingly enough, something as simple as snow can present us with some of the most complex challenges in determining exposure. Worse, your cameras automatic exposure settings and snow will vary likely be wrong
HT2099 - The Sharpest Aperture at Various Focal Lengths
Yesterday I proposed that every lens has a sharpest aperture and that we have to test for that rather than rely on assumptions. This gets more complicated with a zoom lens which may have different results when testing for the sharpest aperture depending on the focal length you are using.
HT2098 - The Sharpest Aperture
I wonder if any of you remember the Photo Lab Index and its wonderful PLI Lens Test Chart? I've been using the PLI lens test chart for decades now for a very simple bit of knowledge that is incredibly useful. That is, with each and every lens, which is the sharpest aperture? It's not always obvious, and it's not always found by simply stopping down a stop or two. If you don't test, you'll never know.
HT2097 - A Quantitative Audience, or a Qualitative One
This is a bit of a false question because it is possible to have both, as Ansel Adams has proved. But for most of us, and for most of our work, it seems that we can have a quantitative audience via digital means or a qualitative one in the gallery.
HT2096 - Lessons from Other Disciplines
Photographers need to acquire a set of technical and aesthetic skills to help them create interesting photographs. In my experience, the best photographers also cultivate some ideas from other disciplines, too.
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great podcasts by the way all your wanted camera updates I fully agree with, I did contact Panasonic a long time ago about implementing on screen picture review and determining focus. I suggest to them maybe they could highlight the in focus areas of the screen about like the manual focus highlighting. I thought this would save a lot of time zooming in and out.
So glad I happened across this podcast - two episodes in, I'm hooked! Thanks for the production.
I find this to be the most continually inspiring and insightful podcast on the creative process of photography and of creativity in general. Brooks has the perfect vocal style and pace for podcasting, which I think adds a good deal to it's overall success. I've heard all of them and have started over recently.
Lenswork Magazine is the finest photography magazine, bar none. It has superb photographs and thoughtful essays about photography. These podcasts are in the same tradition, thought provoking and inspiring short essays on why we photograph. I would not miss a single one. Start from the beginning if you can, they are worth it.
Brooks Jensen's random thoughts about photography are brilliant and thought provoking observations that every person with an intrest in photography should listen to. Brooks is truely a great word smith in addition to a very skilled photographer and one cannot help but be inspired by his words.