The practice of photography shapes the way we view the world. No matter what level of involvement you have with the medium, seeing the world as a photographer enhances your vision, your life and your sense of self. Celebrate that! Play Podcast
The book The Shape of Content, by Ben Shahn, is a collection of essays based on a series of six lectures given by Shahn, an important 20th century painter, at Harvard University in the 1950s. Through the book, we get a great sense of Shahn’s notions about how art can and should be learned and, … Continue reading Camera Position 152 : The Shape of Content →
In his book The Way of Zen, Alan Watts explains two different, mutually important, ways of using our minds and therefore our creativity, which helps to explain the potential of perception in photography: “For we have two types of vision—central and peripheral, not unlike the spotlight and the floodlight.” In this episode, I look at … Continue reading Camera Position 151 : The Way of Zen →
You’re the photographer, not the viewer of the photographs you make. Between the making of the image and the time that the image is put out into the world for viewing, that distinction is often lost, though it’s an important one to consider for both photographers and viewers alike. Play The Podcast:
Every new idea is just a restatement of old ideas, or sometimes it’s several old ideas combined into a new one. Collecting ideas as you go along is a great way of mining new ways of thinking of things. I use an Idea Bank to hold my ideas so I can use them at a … Continue reading Camera Position 149 : The Roots of Ideas →
My first experience using snowshoes to explore the winter landscape gave me some insight into the process of learning new things and slowing down the process of looking and photographing. Check out my free e-book The Lakeshore in Winter – Filled with images and video of Lake Superior in winter or see the video Fire … Continue reading Camera Position 148 : Snowshoes and Photography →
Each year, I take small groups of students to Italy for an intense week of photography and learning. Some destinations vary, but a constant is the workshop In Search of the Personal: Photographing Southern Tuscany, where my goal is to help my students tap into their personal way of seeing the world. This past summer, … Continue reading Camera Position 147 : A Personal Style →
Watching a group of students just getting started in photography reminded me about how we reach “escape velocity” in photography. Their positive experience was based on time, concentration, idea and craft. Student Images: Links for this Episode: University of Georgia’s Cortona Studies Abroad Program UGA Cortona Student Flickr Pages. Anna Caitlin Coral Iris Jenna Joanne … Continue reading Camera Position 146 : Escape Velocity →
Leaving home can not only allow you to view your personal environment with new eyes, but the new experiences you find when you’re away can also help you see the world in a different way. Here I use some examples of how something that was not inherently about being “away” prompted me to experiment with … Continue reading Camera Position 145 : Leave Home, Part 2 →
As a kid, returning from my summer vacation showed me my home in a different way. Trees were bigger and the house smelled both familiar and new. Leaving home and coming back again can be a great way to invigorate the way you see. When we return home after being away, home is still the … Continue reading Camera Position 144 : Leave Home →
Years ago, I had a friend who was a professional chef. Sometimes, on his days off, he would come to my house and practice what he called “sport cooking” and I ended up applying the concept to my photography. Play Podcast
Be in the moment. In this episode, I encourage you to put your camera down, disconnect yourself from your devices and other distractions and embrace the Italian concept Dolce Far Niente; the sweetness of doing nothing. Play Podcast
“The medium is the message” is a phrase coined by Marshall McLuhan meaning that the form of a medium embeds itself in the message, creating a symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message is perceived. Content is king. Emphasizing content over visual flash encourages the viewer to respond intellectually and the idea … Continue reading Camera Position 141 : The Medium Is Not The Message →
Content, sequence and structure matter. This episode looks at editing down your photographs to a cogent and clear set that tells your story most effectively and strengthen the work. We also look at the element of sequencing your images as an important element of helping you to create structure in your work. Whether you are … Continue reading Camera Position 140 : Editing & Sequencing →
The Story Spine is a wonderful method of conceptualizing a story. Initially conceived by playwright Kenn Adams, it’s a great tool for anyone who wants to tell a story effectively. The Story Spine is a template, but a loose one, with some open-ended statements that you can fill in to help you start to conceptualize … Continue reading Camera Position 139 : The Story Spine →
Photography excels at storytelling. While a single image can tell a story, we can tell much more complex stories with sets or series of images. If we set out to create those images with a story idea in mind, it’s much easier to have our stories make sense. This episode presents the essential elements of … Continue reading Camera Position 138 : Telling a Story with Pictures →
While Camera Position has been quiet for a while, a whole lot has been going on in my life as a photographer, a teacher and a traveler. This episode is an update on the past, the present and the future for Camera Position and for me. Play Podcast: Interactive iBooks by Jeff: Basic Photography – … Continue reading Camera Position 137 : An Update →
Photographer Olivia Parker has been an influential and prolific photographer for more than 40 years. We look at Parker’s work, her background, her persistence and the way our networks can help inspire us and help us move us forward in our work. Play Podcast: Olivia Parker’s website: www.oliviaparker.com Olivia Parker Books: Weighing the Planets Under … Continue reading Camera Position 136 : Persistence of Vision – Olivia Parker and 40 Years of Moving Forward →...
In this episode, we take a third look at how we can get our work “off the wall” by creating digital stories. Using iMovie, Final Cut Pro, ProShow Gold or similar software to combine image, motion and audio, we can get our photographs in front of viewer’s eyes. I discuss content, tools and process with … Continue reading Camera Position 135 : Off The Wall #3 – The Digital Story →
This episode offers a second look at how we can get our work “off the wall” by creating ebooks using iBooks Author to get our photographs under viewer’s eyes. You can download the free book The Lakeshore in Winter from the iBookstore using the link below. The Lakeshore in Winter – my free iBook on … Continue reading Camera Position 134 : Off The Wall #2 – iBooks →
As photographers, we translate our ideas into objects. In this episode, we look at how we can get our work “off the wall” by using the print on demand service MagCloud to get our photographs under viewer’s eyes. MagCloud – I’ve linked to the “Create” section here where you can find out how to make … Continue reading Camera Position 133 : Off The Wall #1 – MagCloud →
Learning photography is like learning a language. As we assimilate photographic vocabulary, nuance and the like, we wind up being interpreters or translators of our ideas, interpreting those ideas into objects. I’ve realized that as I progress, my interest in photography as an artistic practice is in the learning of more visual languages and in … Continue reading Camera Position 132 : I am a Translator →
“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail” is a phrase attributed to psychologist Abraham Maslow, but I’ve always thought it had application to photography and its practice, too. In this episode, I discuss how the small Panasonic GX-1 has energized my photography and brought me to new ways of seeing.
Not long ago, I saw an article by Nicholas Day on Slate.com about babies and pointing. The article discussed how babies point at things to help them create meaning in their world and to share their experiences with someone else. It immediately made me think of what photographers do. We use our cameras to point; … Continue reading Camera Position 130 : Babies, Pointing and Photography →
I’ve long loved the detail image; the photograph that shows just a snippet of the larger world. In this episode, I look at an image of mine that has that sense of detail and also look at the historical referent of images by Ansel Adams that brought me to that place. Think about the way … Continue reading Camera Position 129 : Finding Meaning in Details →
Photographer Carol Golemboski has taken the idea of an electronic book – or any sort of electronic presentation of photography, farther than any I’ve yet seen. Her iPad app Psychometry combines images, text, video, interactive panoramas, extensive background on how the images were produced, a virtual darkroom experience and myriad other amazing details. It is … Continue reading Camera Position 128 : Carol Golemboski’s Psychometry App →
I had lots and lots of great ideas from podcast listeners about Camera Position 125, “Thinking in Monochrome.” Several listeners suggested a digital tool that I’d not thought of before and that was to set the camera for B&W, but to also set “Raw + JPEG” as the file format. Other listeners talked about the … Continue reading Camera Position 127 : Monochrome Followup →
We all try to spend time with photographs by photographers whose work we admire. We spend time trying to figure out how to emulate their work, then produce work that is similar in style to what they do. But here is the rub; our problem is that once we get to a point where those … Continue reading Camera Position 126 : Arno Says “Stay On The Bus” →
I grew up making black and white photographs. It’s what I love the most about photography and the way I have long thought about the photographic image. But the digital revolution has spawned a dilemma; the digital camera sees in color, and I have to shift my mind to think in black and white. I’m … Continue reading Camera Position 125 : Thinking in Monochrome →
The word “photography” comes from a combination of two Greek words; “photos” (light) and “graphos” (writing or marking). So, “photography” means to “write with light” and light has a counterpart, shadow, something for light to play off of. I’m giving Camera Position listeners an “assignment” to work with these two fundamental building blocks of photography. … Continue reading Camera Position 124 : Light and Shadow →
