Creativity

Have you ever had an image that seemed to work equally well in color and in black and white? During our last Academy session on black and white photography, a member asked a question that stayed with me long after we ended: if an image looks strong both ways, does it really have to be…

There’s a spot on the Hudson River about two miles from my home that I’ve visited hundreds of times over the years. I’ve photographed it, painted it, canoed and kayaked past it with my kids, and walked my dog there more times than I can remember. If any landscape in my life qualifies as overly…

When students tell me they’re stuck, it usually comes out in one of two ways. The first sounds like an apology: I still don’t understand what the Blacks slider actually does, I can never remember which way the paper feeds, my Lightroom workflow is a mess. The second way is more implied than said: I…

There’s a simple creative practice I do every year that’s helped me understand my own work better than any amount of shooting new images. I review my portfolio and remove 10-15% of the images that no longer measure up to where I am today, then add new work that better represents my current vision. I…