HT2219 - Ego Pixels

Here is an interesting story about gear from a friend of mine who photographed portraits and weddings.

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HT2218 - A Convenience Camera

There was a time when I searched for the one camera that would meet all my needs. How innocent I was back then. That camera was likely to be large, full-featured far beyond my needs, render the highest quality images I could ever imagine, and cost and weigh a lot. But sometimes, that camera is just too much camera. I've recently added a new camera I think of as my "convenience camera" for time where portability and light weight take precedence over the ideal. Of course, excellent image quality counts, too, and after searching for a bit, I have found the porridge camera that is just right..

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HT2217 - Paper Has Personality

Photography is — still — a paper-based medium. Paper is a huge part of our lives. Different photographic papers might have different characteristics, sometimes dramatic difference. Other times, these differences are subtle. I learned the importance of this when I was working with Huntington Witherill on publishing his book Botanical Dances. It's crucial to explore a papers personality before committing to it for a big project.

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HT2216 - Amazing IBIS Results

Handheld photography is a new thing in my 50 years with a camera. The advent of image stabilization has entirely changed my approach to photography. In combination with burst mode, simply amazing results are possible. Here is my empirical rule of thumb. One over the focal length + 5.

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HT2215 - No One Cares About Our Plans

It's a fairly common thing in photography to hear a photographer talk about what they are going to do. They haven't done it yet, but they announce to the world they are about to do it — as though we are supposed to care about their plans. Don't tell people what you are planning to do; tell them what you've actually done, accomplished, finished. That's the only thing that counts in the art world.

HT2214 - Every Work of Art Has a Title

I mean that. Every sculpture, every painting, every poem, every novel, every song — they all have titles. So why do we photographers think "Untitled" is a reasonable title? Is our imagination that limited, or are we just lazy?

HT2213 - The Size of the Print, the Size of the Paper

In my first photography class we were taught to leave a quarter inch white space all the way around our images. If we printed on 8x10 paper, the actual area of the image would be seven and a half by nine and a half inches. As my thinking about this has evolved over the years, I now leave space around the image that creates a mat board-like margin on all sides. In practice, this means I print 8x10s on 11x14 paper, 11x14 images on 16x20 paper, etc.

LW1447 - Limited Editions

Years ago, after showing my work to a gallery owner, I was thrilled when she said she loved my work and would like to represent me. It was a lifelong dream come true. She then insisted, however, that I limit my editions as a prerequisite to her representation. I passed. Mechanically, there is no limit on how many "copies" you can make. This is especially true in the age of digital printing. No one knows how many you actually make unless you publicize that. A designation like 1/50 does not mean you have made 50 prints. Who benefits from limited editions?

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You might also be interested in. . .

Every Picture Is a Compromise, a series at www.brooksjensenarts.com.

and...

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