"And what, sir, is the subject matter of that painting?" (Critic) "The subject matter, my dear good fellow, is the light." (Claude Monet) I often talk about light as being a subject, not because it’s my orignal idea, but because once I began to look at light in that way, it changed my photography. Many others have influenced me in…
I’ve been talking a lot about creative workflow recently—in my workshops and talks, and at my recent presentation at B&H Photo. While the word “workflow” is used quite often these days, I think it’s most useful when there’s a specific context and purpose that drives that workflow. In other words, following steps with a specific creative vision instead of the…
Shooting waterfalls is always a challenge for me simply because I wonder how I can possibly do something different than what's been done before. Take shutter speeds for example. The classic effect of using a slow shutter to blur the water and create a sense of movement and action is nothing new. But the reality is that it works. I…
Proper exposure for any photographic situation is a balancing act between light, depth of field, movement, and camera noise. Determining why you choose one exposure setting over another depends on what you need in order to capture the image in your mind, OR make the best possible photograph given actual circumstances. So lets explore these ideas using a real world example of…
Last week I got an email from a major magazine editor looking for a very specific image of a Hudson Valley location. They needed it that same day since it was their deadline for publication. I knew I had several images they could use, but had no idea when I had shot them, nor did I have much time to…