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).
HT2194 - When Losers Aren't Losers The other day I pulled out a box of prints that I last reviewed probably a dozen years ago. I was disappointed there were so many bad photographs that for some reason I had decided were worth printing and keeping. I then showed this collection to a friend who picked out three "losers" they wanted, thereby demonstrating that beauty really does reside in the eye of the beholder....
HT2193 - The Best Glass You Can Get Your Hands On The number of camera reviews to be found on YouTube and the internet is mind-boggling. The minute a new camera is announced, the usual suspects are in a panic race to post their observations of the new camera and it's capabilities and shortcomings. Comparatively speaking, lens reviews are almost non-existent. Curious, in that a bad lens ruins all photographs made with it where even the worst cameras can be used to make good photographs....
HT2192 - Monochrome Viewfinder As a lifetime black and white photographer, I have to admit that I do not see in black and white. Some photographers have that uncanny skill, but I simply don't. I need help to see in black and white. I used to use the Fred Picker monochrome viewing filter, but now I just set my cameras to monochrome in my viewfinder.
LW1444 - Books I Return to Time and Again Here is a short list of books I never seem to tire of and that I make time for re-viewing. Each viewing brings out more subtleties and things I missed in my earlier times with these books. 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 b...
HT2191 - No Visible Difference, or Megapixel Agnostic The other day I saw a YouTube reviewer make a comment that they can't see any difference between 44 megapixels and 60 megapixels .I'm working on a small project that will probably include 15 or so images. Curiously enough, about half of these images were shot with a 16 megapixel camera, the other half using a 20 megapixel camera. I'm making 13x19 in prints. That means the 30 megapixel camera is printing at 300ppi and the 16 megapixel camera i...
HT2190 - Sensor Noise in High Frequency Images No one likes noise. The techniques and tools for eliminating noise in a digital photograph abound. But no one ever seems to ask whether or not we really need to eliminate it. I recently discovered a situation in which the noise generated at ISO 12800 was invisible and I felt no need to go after it.
HT2189 - Black Point It is so easy in digital processing to set a black point. I've seen with regularity digital gurus set a black point for every image as one of their first steps in processing. Does every image need a black point?
HT2188 - Repeat the Theme, Not the Image Multi-image projects can be tricky to produce. How do we create a group that holds together as a group without becoming repetitious? Maybe we can see a clue to this conundrum by studying old Ludwig – Beethoven, that is.
HT2187 - Do We Need Self-destructing Artwork? I've often thought that the worst thing we can do to stifle our creativity is to amass a large collection of our own work. Once we have a closet full of prints, there arises a natural impulse to rest on our laurels. We think, we've already done it, or we've run out of room to store any more, or all the unsold prints dispirit our motivations, or enough is enough. If we could only make self-destructing work, there would always be a void for use to fill...
HT2186 - Refining the Project I've learned a valuable photographic lesson by watching people who draw, that is who start with a blank page and a pencil. Their process is always to roughly sketch the basic shapes first, then refine, refine, and refine. That same approach works for developing a photography project, too. Well over ¾ of my creative time is spent refining....
LW1443 - The Audience for Artifacts I love physical prints. I grew up in the age of physical prints. I'm enamored with handling the physical characteristics of prints. That said, the overwhelming evidence is that our audience for physical prints will be a tiny, minuscule fraction compared to the audience for our digital creations. It's inarguable, and this both delights and pains me. All previous episodes of our weekly podcast are available to members of LensWork Online . 30-day Trial Membership...
HT2185 - Teaching Styles There are, no doubt, hundreds, maybe thousands of photographers who teach photography. Workshops, institutions, mentors, they are everywhere. (Myself included, I suppose.) I have faith that all of them are valuable, but not all of them are the best way for you to learn. That is something you will need to figure out for yourself.
HT2184 - Angle to the Sun The age old wisdom from the yellow box photo gods (Kodak) was to always put the sun over your shoulder. As has been true so many times, I find more success when I do the opposite of what Kodak advised.
HT2176 - Take a Risk Subtitle: Why I won't be upgrading my equipment any time soon. And by "soon" I mean forever. Unless I win the lottery. The really big lottery.
HT2182 - The Next Great Challenge When I ask, I find that most photographers have a next great goal that challenges them. Often it's an upcoming trip to an exotic location. Or, perhaps buying and learning a new camera is often the next great goal. I would propose that for artists, the next great goal should be the completion of a large project, something sizeable with 40 to 60 wonderful images. A book or set of portfolios. In short, a major work....
HT2181 - Five Workarounds I Use All the Time Wouldn't it be great if cameras would do exactly whatever we wanted them to do, every time, always easily, and not require any hoop jumping on our part? But, there are no such cameras, so we are left with workarounds that will have to satisfy us. Hopefully, with a manageable amount of hoop jumping. Here are five workarounds that I use regularly....
HT2180 - Books on the Creative Life For decades now, I've recommended four "must read " books on creativity and being an artist. The first is Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland. The second is The Art Spirit by Robert Henri. The third is More Than a Rock by Guy Tal, The fourth (forgive me) is Letting Go of the Camera by yours truly. I'm now officially adding a fifth that all of you should read, The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin...
HT2179 - No Comments I'm baffled when I show work to someone and after looking at a collection of images they have no comments whatsoever. How should I interpret their silence? Is it that they don't they like the work, or that they don't know what to say about it?
HT2178 - Constantly Changing, Constantly the Same Equipment, technique, methods of distribution have been changing at breakneck speed during my entire photographic life. As photographers, we need to be incredibly flexible and adaptable to the changing times. But there is one thing that has never changed and that is the aesthetics of imagery.
LW1442 - The Turning Pointt It's common — perhaps universal — that artists who persevere long enough will eventually uncover some doubt about their work. Their heartstrings begin to tug them away from the work they feel is expected from them and instead start responding to the creative paths that are personally expressive. This often is accompanied by guilt, doubt, and even an existential crisis about who they are and why they are producing art. I've come to learn that most photographers experie...
HT2177 - The Hook Novelist often refer to an important aspect of their craft as the “hook.” By this they mean an element of the story that holds it all together and that particularly captures the reader. The same idea exists in project oriented photography.
HT2176 - Take a Risk Far too many photographers bury their creativity under a shroud of acceptance. Instead of making personal work that comes from their heart, they make images that they hope will earn applause and accolades. Artmaking can — perhaps even should — feel a little risky.
