Tag: Creativity

Situational awareness is the key to better photography

I teach workshops overseas and domestically. I photograph overseas and domestically. In both cases there is one skill that I practice over and over that makes a huge difference when I photograph. It is the one thing that every photographer should master, whether or not they are attending one of my workshop (or anyone else’s.) Read More

Hanuman Jayanti (a video)

People in Bangalore, Karnataka, India seize the moment as they celebrate the birthday of Hanuman (the Hindu monkey god) by lighting 100,000 clay oil lamps in the heart of the city. Read More

Crowd-sourcing your editing

Every photographer knows how hard it can be to edit a large set of images down to a select few. Every photographer also knows how that process is key to strengthening any photo-project. The way that I handle this same challenge is that I now often crowd-sourcing my editing. Read More

Haridwar Time (a video)

Haridwar is an ancient city in India. The River Ganges, after flowing for 253 kilometers (157 miles) from its source, enters the Plains of North India for the first time at Haridwar, which gave the city its ancient name, Gangadwára. Haridwar is regarded as one of the seven holiest places to Hindus. Read More

Critiquing 101

The very best way to improve as a photographer does not involve any particular piece of gear or course of study, nor does it involve apprenticing yourself to a master photographer. Impoverishing yourself by working on nothing but photography as something of a photographic “monk” will not do it, either. While all of these things may improve your photography, the best way is much simpler, yet for many photographers it seems much harder. Read More

Waterfire Promotion Video

In a promotional video that I made for WaterFire Providence, you can hear from the volunteers what a powerful experience they have volunteering for Waterfire, a long running piece of performance art held on the river in Providence. Waterfire is a spectacle to be enjoyed through the eyes and ears (as well as the nose.) Read More

Carpe diem: Seize the moment

I have heard the expression “Carpe diem: Seize the moment,” bantered about for as long as I can remember. (I am 57 years old, so that is a long time.) I have always known what the words meant, but only recently have I come to appreciate what they mean to me. Read More

Melded Arts: The sculpture and photography of Abigail Gumbiner (a video)

Abigail Gumbiner is a photographer and sculptor living on the Central Coast of California. Combing her passion for the two media, she produced her Melded Arts work, which has been exhibited at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art and the Art of Photography Show in San Diego as well as being featured in “The Handmade Photograph” magazine. Read More

Travel Selfies

I was flattered to be interviewed recently by a writer for the Washington Post for an article on “Travel Selfies.” For those of us of a certain age, who need a translation, that mean self-portraits made while traveling. These photos. at their best, both the traveler and the destination they traveled to. The conversation I had with the writer was fascinating and I took it as an opportunity to turn some time well spent into a blog entry. Read More

Zen and the Art of Photography Maintenance

I started riding motorcycles before I even took up photography, way back in 1972. Both riding and photographing require a lot of practice to achieve mastery. Both pursuits can be rewarding (or frustrating) as that expertise develops (or fails to.) Both involve complex technology with numerous opportunities to spend more and more money. Both are frequently enjoyed outside. Both involve disciplined vision and constant awareness of your surrounding environment. Thankfully, in only one pursuit can a mistake result in injury or even worse—death. While I was riding recently, I was reminded of what is arguably the most important similarity between the two, at least in the eyes of a photographer. Read More