You Might Be Surprised

We just finished our 4 glorious days on the North Shore of Lake Superior.  Great participants, great weather, great accommodations, great photography from all.   Wow.  What a treat to be able to do this.  THANK YOU to George, Chris, Marek, Chet, Gary and Sam!
I don’t formally shoot during workshops, but I’ll carry around my 5D [...]

I bet my HDR can beat up your HDR

I’m writing this post just a few days before I start teaching a landscape workshop to remind myself that HDR for HDR’s sake does not equal good photography.   Like two litttle kids comparing who’s dad is tougher, some photographers compete with each other to produce more graphic, more over the top HDR images with a [...]

You’re So Limited!

The following quote came up in a conversation with a friend, John Benzik, yesterday;  “In an almost classical sense, U2’s guitarist has turned limitations to his advantage, using simple techniques and abundant imagination to produce one of the freshest styles in years.”  This is an excerpt from Guitar Player Magazine, 1985 interview with [...]

Get Divorced!

WARNING!  THIS IS A LONG POST ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF PHOTOGRAPHY.  TO JUST SEE GREAT IMAGES GO TO BOTTOM OF PAGE.
I was on a commercial architecture shoot in Emmetsburg, Iowa last weekend.  Much to my surprise and pleasure two divorced women I met at lunch tried desperately to get me out to the local casino [...]

Preparation H

Consistent, quality photography is generally not an accident or product of happenstance.  Its a product of management and preparation.  I now spend less than 1% of my time on any shoot actually pushing that silly little shutter button.
I recently had a teaching client in my studio working on a shoot.  I had worked with [...]

Did Your Photo Workshop Suck?

Hi Gang,
I’m sure a number of you reading this have a few stories you can tell about photography workshops.  Some good, some not so good, some maybe a little embarrassing (Matt Gibson and Bryan Allen, if you’re reading this don’t say a word).  A few months back a friend and former workshop participant called me [...]

Rush City Grain Elevator

Yep, another grain elevator shot.  Whew, how many of these can any of you take?  Well, we’ll find out.  I’m going to start including a short video on my thoughts regarding the WHY of the image post as well as the HOW of it.  Today is the first of these.  Please feel free to post [...]

Space Series #3, Painting with Light and Exhibition

Hi Gang,
Today’s series of images was with my client, Mary Jane.  She is my favorite type of client because her only objective was to have fun and document this moment in her life.  One of her defining characteristics is a love of flowers.  She has her own side business designing floral arrangements and her favorite [...]

Evolution and Voice: Space Series #2

Hi Gang,
What does it mean to find your voice in an endeavor, be it artistic, business, personal? I’d like to hear your thoughts on this.
Today’s images are of Christian and Diesel  shot in the studio and I want to use them as a setting for some photography issues that have emerged lately.  In a recent [...]

Is Photography Over?

“Is Photography Over?” is the title of an upcoming symposium at the San Fransisco Museum of Art.  Since many of you reading this probably can’t be there, I thought I’d post the symposium description here and see what you think.
“Photography has almost always been in crisis. In the beginning, the terms of this crisis [...]

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