Category: Originals
-
Learning to See: Part 4
Alex fixed the thing that went wrong in the alley, off center placement, real negative space, a frame that finally had somewhere for the eye to breathe. It worked. Then Alex tried something the camera couldn’t help with at all, walking up to a stranger and asking for a portrait. That didn’t go nearly as…
-
The Label Isn’t the Cage. Forgetting You Can Leave Is.
Almost every photographer eventually picks up a label. Street photographer. Landscape photographer. Portrait photographer. There’s nothing wrong with that. The label isn’t the problem. What it quietly turns into, if you’re not paying attention, is.
-
The Worst Advice You Ever Got About Photography?
Every photographer has a piece of advice they were given once, believed completely, and eventually had to unlearn the hard way. We rounded up some of the classics. Now we want to hear one from you.
-
Is Golden Hour the Only Hour?
Avoid midday sun. Wait for golden hour. It’s one of the first rules every photographer learns, usually before they’ve even figured out what aperture does. The observation behind it is real. The rule it turned into might be costing you some of the strongest light you’ll ever get.
-
Substance Without Performance Is Just as Empty
There’s a idea floating around photography circles right now, substantive images good, performative images bad, as if the two are opposites and you have to pick a side. We don’t buy it. A photograph needs something true underneath it, and it needs the craft to actually deliver that truth to someone looking at it. One…
-
Everyone Thinks Pizza Is Easy. That’s The Problem.
There’s a new pizza place in Boston doing authentic Roman style pizza, the only one in the whole city. It’s delicious and it’s packed, and it got us thinking about why so few pizza places, or photographers, ever actually stand out from the crowd.
-
Learning to See: Part 3
Alex figured out exactly what caused the freeze at the bus stop, too many decisions happening at once, and found a way to remove most of them before the next outing. The fix worked. The moment arrived, the shutter fired instantly, and the exposure was perfect. So why did something still feel off?
-
What You’re Actually Supposed to Learn From the Masters
Every serious photographer is told to study the masters, Cartier-Bresson, Fan Ho, Weston, Moriyama. But there’s a right way to do that and a wrong way, and most people default to the wrong one without realizing it.
-
Does It Matter How You Carry Your Camera?
What’s actually attached to your camera right now? A neck strap, a wrist strap, a hand grip, or nothing at all? This is one of those topics where there’s no single right answer, just a lot of photographers who’ve landed somewhere specific through trial and error. We want to know where you landed.
-
What Graphic Designers Know About Your Photographs That You Don’t
A graphic designer decides exactly what you read first, second, and third. Nothing is left to chance. Most photographers never think this explicitly, they just feel whether a composition “works.” Borrowing the designer’s vocabulary directly gives you a sharper tool than instinct alone.