LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process Brooks Jensen

Why do so many photographers automatically think that the idea landscape lens is a wide angle or even ultra-wide lens? Isn't the idea landscape lens the one that allows you to compose whatever image you are trying to make at the time? For me, three quarters of the time that's going to be a telephoto lens.

In the long learning curve that is required in the beginning phases of photography, we tend to concentrate our effort on all the technical and procedural aspects of the craft. That leaves precious little time for issues that are ultimately much more important. Here are a few of them that I wish had not been so neglected in my artistic infancy.

I know I've mentioned this before, but it's been a while and a reminder might be useful. It is far too tempting for us to pay attention to the central areas of a photograph and forget about the problems the creep in around the edges

With every image, one of the fundamental and first decisions that needs to be made is about its rendition in color. Is this image better in natural color, pastel color, hypercolor, psychedelic color, neutral black and white, toned black and white, or as a hybrid rendition.

In general, most of us want more sharpness, more color, more clarity, more vibrance, in our pictures. Curiously enough, there can be benefits in the exact opposite direction by making images that are blurry, desaturated, less clear, and have dull colors. Creativity, like human emotions, points in every direction imaginable.

Each of us have a type of photography that is our favorite. Instead of constricting ourselves to just that one type of work, what can we learn from other types of photography and adapt to our work?