LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process

HT2486 - Creativity on Demand Here we are in that week between the Christmas and New Year holidays when a lot of people take time off from work for a few personal days. For years, I thought of this week as a time I could concentrate on some darkroom work. I'd leap into the week full of enthusiasm in anticipation of a shower of creative ideas and inspiration. That's when I learned that relying on creativity on demand is a strategy that rarely works. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

LW1486 - Alternative Aesthetics Photography has a natural aesthetic we might call photographic realism. The typical photograph is intended to mimic human vision and that aesthetic is the default for most photographs. There does exist the possibility, however, to borrow aesthetics from other media and forms of artistic expression. Recently I've been playing with a dark and moody aesthetic inspired by the look of film noir. 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.

HT2485 - One Lens to Rule Them All Clearly I'm not the only photographer who has dreamed of a single lens that would do everything I need. The popularity of so-called "superzoom" lenses would demonstrate that. I've tried several superzoom alternatives and all of them have left me unimpressed for one reason or another. Even with today's ultra-advanced lens designs and manufacturing tolerances, it seems there is always a compromise that leaves me unsatisfied. Statistically, however, in the last 8 years I've made 92% of my captures with just two lenses that cover the "superzoom" range of focal lengths. This RSS feed includes only the most recent seven Here's a Thought episodes. All of them — over 2400 and counting! — are available to members of LensWork Online. Try a 30-day membership for only $10 and discover the literally terabytes of content about photography and the creative process. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!

HT2484 - Sometimes the Meaning Requires Time During one of the first Christmas holidays after my divorce in the late 1980s, I drove over to Eastern Oregon on Christmas Day for a little photography. I made one image that day. It took years for me to understand what that image was, but in many ways it changed my relationship with photography profoundly. Among other things, that image taught me that sometimes a photograph can be personally valuable yet have no impact beyond that. That doesn't diminish its importance to us. This RSS feed includes only the most recent seven Here's a Thought episodes. All of them — over 2400 and counting! — are available to members of LensWork Online. Try a 30-day membership for only $10 and discover the literally terabytes of content about photography and the creative process.

HT2483 - Pixels Per Meter I was looking at an astronomy website when it introduced me to a term and concept I'd never heard before. Describing the resolution of an image based on how close the spaceship had come to one of Saturn's orbiting moons, it said that each pixel in the photograph represented five meters worth of subject matter. I've never thought about "pixels per meter" before. I think there is some value in this idea for us terrestrial landscape photographers. Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!