LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process Brooks Jensen

We all know the advantages of the golden hour and the blue morning hour. But has it occurred to you that the low angle of light that scrapes across the landscape during those hours is also experienced in the low angle of winter light. As I record this, we have a month to go before the winter solstice, which means, to me, that we are entering the two to three months that are the best months for photography.

For reasons I need not get into, I just finished reading all seven volumes of the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling. It occurred to me that part of the reason these novels are so successful is that they create an entire world that is fascinating. The novels are plot driven, but the world in which the plot unfolds is equally fascinating. Sometimes this same idea can apply to photography. Think of the worlds created by Duane Michals, Joel Peter Witkin, Keith Carter, and Sally Mann.

A critique that helps with technical issues and subtle processing improvements can be valuable and useful. But as useful as that can be, it's not the most important feedback you can offer to your workshop attendees, students, or peers.

Let me take just a moment here at "Here's a Thought" #1,000 to express my gratitude. I'm grateful for all of you who listen to these random thoughts, for all of you who are subscribers to LensWork or members of LensWork Online, but I'm even more grateful to all the photographers - present and past - who through their generosity have shared so much that has shaped my thinking and understanding of this wonderful medium. I hope I'm doing them justice by passing along what I've received from them.

Have been spending a lot of time thinking about where I want to travel next year as the weather improves and I get back to being mobile. I was discussing this with a friend when he suggested that I should spend less time thinking about where I want to go and more time thinking about what I want to photograph. Bingo!

I received an interesting email from a friend of mine who was describing a gathering of photographers that took place at his home. He mentioned that they shared a lot of photographs with one another. I had to ask him whether or not these photographers were sharing prints or digital images.