On Taking Pictures 40: I’m Buying a Smoke Machine
The new Gregory Crewdson Documentary, the morality of Photoshop, and Q&A from a pile of listener emails. Master of masters Richard Avedon is Photographer of the Week.
View ArticleOn Taking Pictures 41: Our Microscopes Got More Powerful
Decaying Americana, taking being uncomfortable one small step at a time, and some talk about starting a flickr group on this week's show. Modernist Paul Strand is Photographer of the Week.
View ArticleOn Taking Pictures 42: That’s Just Going to the Driving Range
Style vs Fashion and How do you develop a style anyway? The influence of luck, snow angels, and listener Q&A. Michael Light is Photographer of the Week.Squarespace - Site Hosting Get 10% off your...
View ArticleOn Taking Pictures 43: Artistic Monkhood
Safe vs Experimental, to get good you need to stop trying to get good, and Jeffery's monologue at 42:20 which is among the best things ever spoken on our show. Iconic war photograph Robert Capa is...
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On Taking Pictures 44: Sensor Verite
How much change is too much change for the sake of commerce? Why portraits are different than other types of photography, and who is copyright really protecting? Classic sports magazine shooter Ozzie...
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On Taking Pictures 45: True North On Your Creative Compass
Light looking like lights, the long-term view of your portfolio, science vs alchemy of film, and more. Stéphane Lavoué is Photographer of the Week. Links for this episode:On Taking Pictures - Google+...
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On Taking Pictures 46: 151 Lights and a News Desk
Bill gets fancy at the news desk, the importance of backups and technique vs gear. Plus, influential documentary photographer, Robert Frank as Photographer of the Week. Links for this episode:The...
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On Taking Pictures 47: Inspiration Is Like Tinkerbell
Knowing when to stop, how sometimes quantity leads to quality, backup follow-up, and more. Photographer and Filmmaker Anton Corbijn is Photographer of the Week. Links for this episode:Welcome | Digital...
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On Taking Pictures 48: $500 and a Lollipop
Bill and Jeffery try to iron out the intricacies of copyright and usage, photography as part of a larger, happier life. Photographer and film director Gordon Parks as Photographer of the Week. Links...
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On Taking Pictures 49: Happiness is an Inside Job
Things get a little heavy as Bill and Jeffery discuss the importance of dreams and what often keeps us from chasing them. Plus, standing up for the value of your work, just how limited are limited...
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On Taking Pictures 50: Tortured Plateau
To tag or not to tag? Folder structure, naming conventions, file formats and overall workflow ideas in this week’s show. Why do filmmakers get all of the cool stuff lately? Plus, photographic icon...
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On Taking Pictures 51: No Secret Sauce
Does it really take village to succeed as a photographer today, and should technology dictate where your career-compass guides you? Despite the changes to photography as a business, clients and art...
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On Taking Pictures 52: Backfill Reasoning
Once you realize that everything you do leads to the next thing, and that the journey is the reward, you’ll be fine. Do clients want your work or your juice? Plus, controversial photographer and art...
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On Taking Pictures 53: Dig Down To Make More Room
Heroes aren’t just for children, especially when you meet them in person. Art for art’s sake, rather than investment. Plus, listener emails and Vancouver street shooter, Fred Herzog as Photographer of...
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On Taking Pictures 54: Where’s Joseph Campbell When You Need Him?
Bill and Jeffery discuss why content is no longer king and how you should focus on making (read: doing) something that’s important to you. Adobe kills individual licenses. Are they doing the right...
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On Taking Pictures 55: When Life Gives You Lemmings
Bill battles severe back pain to discuss whether or not people know good from bad and how Steven Soderbergh’s observations on the state of cinema may also reflect the state of art. We also wonder how...
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On Taking Pictures 56: Then It Becomes RoboCop
Big show this week as Bill and Jeffery question what happens when it’s the process used to create the art that’s interesting, not the result. Also, where do we draw the line between photo manipulation...
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On Taking Pictures 57: A Big Pool of Hustle
We discuss why it is that we bother to create anything. What are we looking for, praise or just a body of work? Bill takes the plunge into filmmaking (sort of) and we get some great questions from...
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On Taking Pictures 58: Art is Exposure
This week, we wrestle with whether or not you can be an artist, without locking your own self worth/self image to your art. What does it mean to live a creative life anyway? We weigh in on the firing...
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On Taking Pictures 59: Food Doesn’t Talk Back
This week we talk about getting through a shoot when you feel like a truck ran over you. Also, do retouchers deserve credit? If so, when and how much? Plus, abstract photographer and MacArthur "Genius"...
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On Taking Pictures 60: The Problem is Always Me
Big discussions this week as we talk about different facets of collaboration and look to dispel The Myth of the Lone Artist. A short film by Eric Becker prompts us to wonder whether or not the world is...
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On Taking Pictures 61: Happenstance Threw It Over The Line
This week, we wrestle with “good enough”; what does it really mean, and who gets to decide? Where do we draw the line between homage and just plain thievery? Plus, documentary photographer Martin Parr...
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On Taking Pictures 62: Artists Aren’t Plumbers
This week, we do a bit of follow up on last week’s episode, which really seems to have touched a nerve with listeners. At what point does worrying about putting a value on your work keep you from doing...
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On Taking Pictures 63: The Core of the Struggle
Last week, we talked about valuing your work. This week, we take on the idea of defining artistic goals and how a journey without a destination can have a dramatic impact on the work you create. Also,...
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On Taking Pictures 64: Goldilocks Camera Phenomenon
We lighten things up this week and talk about gear, specifically cameras and why what’s right for you may not be right for someone else...and that’s okay. Also, sometimes your photos really don’t...
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On Taking Pictures 65: Doing Nothing is the Enemy
This week, we talk reinvention. Sometimes you choose, while other times, the choice is made for you. Do you go willingly, or kicking and screaming? Also, how do you take your work (or yourself) to the...
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On Taking Pictures 66: You Don’t Want To See Me When I’m Bored
This week, we talk about image; both the images you take as photographers as well as the image you present of yourself as the photographer. Do better shoes make you a better photographer and, if so,...
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On Taking Pictures 67: Far Enough Along Your Curve
This week, how do you gauge whether or not the work you do is authentic? What do you do when good isn’t good enough or how much to you chalk up to timing? Also, should you be held accountable for the...
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On Taking Pictures 68: An Incorrect Perspective
This week, we celebrate looking at work through the eyes of an amateur. Also towards the end of the show, we hit upon a somewhat profound revelation about art and bicycling. Plus, Art Streiber is our...
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On Taking Pictures 69: Play With Your Deckled Edges
The week, who are you presenting to the world, you, or a manufactured version of you? Also, all roads lead to film when Bill borrows a Leica M7. Plus, what’s the difference between collecting and...
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On Taking Pictures 70: The Gaia Argument
This week, we’re talking film; both the technical side and the aesthetics. Is film as close as we’ll get to alchemy, or is it merely a placebo to look back on happier times? Also, cameras are better...
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On Taking Pictures 71: Disruption
Are you following a straight line or tacking an irregular course? Is one more effective than the other, providing you can see True North? What is the real value in a life spent making art? Plus,...
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On Taking Pictures 72: Get Behind the Train and Push
This week, we follow up on our previous discussion about location. We also look at making art (or content) as a lifestyle, rather than an end game. Plus, we tackle a great question for a listener: How...
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On Taking Pictures 73: It's Not All Warm and Fuzzy
This week, we wrestle with creativity; is making something “good” a struggle? If it’s not, are you doing something wrong? Plus a listener sends in a great list of things to help you find your purpose....
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On Taking Pictures 74: Self-Deluding Defense Mechanism
This week, we’re chewing on the the idea of you as your brand and we’re talking blogs, logos, portfolios and more. What do you expect from your online presence and how do you know when you’ve got it...
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On Taking Pictures 75: Film comes in a can. Like soup.
We’ve got a big show this week, beginning with a little follow up on last week’s discussion about branding and websites, specifically writing. We also talk about practice...does practice really make...
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On Taking Pictures 76: Slamming Up Against the Walls (Like in an A-Ha Video)
This week, we discuss mentors and community. Whatever happened to someone taking you under their wing? Is learning from one person different, or better, than learning from a collective? Also, we talk a...
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On Taking Pictures 77: Knowing Which Mistakes To Keep
This week, we talk about the creative work we do and why we do it. What draws you to the art you make: love or fear? Where does social media fit into the new “sharing” (read:free) economy? Plus, iconic...
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On Taking Pictures 78: Shutter Priority on Glass Plate
This week, we tackle some great questions from you, the listeners, about topics ranging from personal and professional goals to social media and where we find inspiration outside of photography. We...
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On Taking Pictures 79: Photography Without A Net
This week, the importance of heroes and how being inspired by one can make you feel like a kid again. Also, are you shooting for the present or for posterity? Plus, we talk about an interesting...
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On Taking Pictures 80: It’s Something To Take Seriously
This week, synchronicity and the beauty of moments. Bill recaps his whirlwind trip to Italy and we discuss why seeing art in person is better than seeing it through a viewfinder. Model turned...
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On Taking Pictures 81: An Artistic Vacation
This week, thank yous and follow up to last week’s episode. How do we decide what we do and don’t want creatively? Is a hard-coded trajectory helpful, or merely another distraction you need to adhere...
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On Taking Pictures 82: Going ‘All In’ On Yourself
This week, should exceptional talent be a gift or a chore? Does what you do have to feed your soul to be important, or is just doing the work enough? Also, when are too many options not a good thing?...
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On Taking Pictures 83: It’s Not A Pendulum, It’s A Kaleidoscope
This week, we gear out a little (just a little) and talk about light, specifically the subtleties and how much they may or may not affect your end product. Also, we talk about funding projects. Should...
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On Taking Pictures 84: Your Definition of Yourself
This week, we remember icon Saul Leiter and discuss not only legacy but intent and what it means to live and create with purpose. Who gets to decide what work (if any) is important? Plus, we talk a...
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On Taking Pictures 85: Good Art Doesn’t Have a Shelf Life
This week, we talk about projects, specifically long-term projects and how the full value of them (on both sides) often isn’t fully realized until you’re well down the timeline. Also, who decides what...
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On Taking Pictures 86: Sing Me What You’re Going To Play
This week, Bill’s recent musical interlude inspires a discussion around how embarrassment and fear can paralyze us, more than just creatively. Also, the practice of practice and who owns your likeness...
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On Taking Pictures 87: I’m Wearing Tap Shoes?
This week is all about you, the listeners, as we try to answer some of the questions you’ve asked via email, twitter and the Google+ group. We also talk through some camera and photo related news....
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On Taking Pictures 88: Didn’t You Hear My Inner Monologue?
For the last episode of OTP in 2013, we discuss looking back to look forward. We look not at creating resolutions as much as mantras, concepts to drive us ahead and allow some wiggle room for the...
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On Taking Pictures 89: 42 Puppies and a Snow Cone Machine
For the first episode of 2014, we discuss how the tools that we use shape the way we use them. We also talk about the photographer/subject relationship and discuss how to better connect with the people...
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