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PODCAST

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process

Random Observations on Art, Photography, and the Creative Process. These talks focus on the creative process in fine art photography. LensWork editor Brooks Jensen side-steps techno-talk and artspeak to offer a stimulating mix of ideas, experience, and observations from his 50 years as a fine art photographer, writer, and publisher. Topics include a wide range of subjects from finding subject matter to presenting your work, and building an audience. Included in this RSS Feed are the LensWork

arts visual arts

All Episodes

2:43

HT2765 - Way to Go, God

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/10/05

Here's a Thought… #2765 with Brooks JensenWay to Go, God When does a scene/subject become worthy of making a photograph? After all, we don't just point our cameras at anything, but we pick and choose those scenes or subjects that we think are worthy of capture and processing. Why are those captures worthy? I've asked this question for years in workshops and conversations. The most common reason photographers give for making a photograph boils down to a variation of "Way to go, God!" I love a

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2:43

HT2764 - Archive or Burden

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/10/04

Here's a Thought… #2764 with Brooks JensenArchive or Burden We spend our life amassing a pile of prints that form our archive. It can also be said that our archive is a burden that our heirs will be responsible for whether or not they want it. We can't take it with us, unless the software engineers figure out a solution to this pesky problem of mortality. Maybe we should be buried with all our art like ancient Egyptian kings, taking all our important possessions with us to the next world. Become a

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2:43

HT2763 - Visual Syncopation

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/10/03

Here's a Thought… #2763 with Brooks JensenVisual Syncopation Structure in a presentation of images can be both good and bad. Structure can provide form and consistency to a presentation. It can also become predictable, repetitious, and boring. This where visual syncopation can come to the rescue. Become a member of LensWork Online and have access to all 2700+ Here's a Thought… commentaries.

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2:43

HT2762 - Understanding Fatigue and Exhaustion

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/10/02

Here's a Thought… #2762 with Brooks JensenUnderstanding Fatigue and Exhaustion There are times when I try to go photographing in spite of feeling exhausted. It never works. This week is one of those times. I just can't bring myself to get excited about grabbing my camera and getting out there. Worse, I feel guilty about it. As I've thought about this in the torpor of my fatigue, I think I've had a flash of insight about this. Become a member of LensWork Online and have access to all 2700+ Here's a

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2:43

HT2761 - The Immersive Challenge

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/10/01

Here's a Thought… #2761 with Brooks JensenThe Immersive Challenge We all have art we love and art that leaves us cold. In thinking about my own responses to artwork, I've come to the conclusion that the artwork I like the most are those pieces that create in me the largest immersive response by pulling me into the world that the artwork makes for us. This is, for example, where the novelist has so much to teach us visual artists. What if I were to propose that Tolkien and Ansel Adams are

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2:43

HT2760 - The Cynic in Me

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/30

Here's a Thought… #2760 with Brooks JensenThe Cynic in Me This is the best time in the history of photography to be a photographer. That said, the cynic in me can't help but worry about the future of photography as an art medium. Because it has become so easy to make a technical stunning photograph, I wonder if the mystery in the craft has disappeared? If it's easy and everyone can do it well, is it still an admirable medium for making art? Become a member of LensWork Online and have access to all

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2:43

HT2759 - Not ETTR, but ZJSOTR

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/29

Here's a Thought… #2759 with Brooks JensenNot ETTR, but ZJSOTR I'm sure you have all heard the advice, "Expose to the Right." In theory, that's well-founded reasoning and advice. In practice, I've found ETTR a bit impractical and prefer a more pragmatic strategy ZJSOTR — Zebras Just Short of the Right. This is even more true here in the age of AI Noise Reduction of our RAW files. Become a member of LensWork Online and have access to all 2700+ Here's a Thought… commentaries.

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2:43

HT2758 - Forgotten Masters

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/28

Here's a Thought… #2758 with Brooks Jensen Forgotten Masters With the passage of time, it's natural that some artists become more valued and others fade from popularity. If this happened to Bach, why would it not also occur in photography? These days, I almost never hear anyone mention Diane Arbus, Aaron Siskind, Barbara Crane, William Garnett, Linda Connor, August Sander, Art Sinsabaugh, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Laura Gilpin, Elliott Porter, Ruth Bernhardt, Clarence John Laughlin, Don Worth, or Fay

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2:43

HT2757 - Entering the Creative Bubble

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/27

Here's a Thought… #2757 with Brooks Jensen Entering the Creative Bubble The world of athletics can be divided into two different sets of action. There is the preliminary part of preparation. Then there is the performative part of the competition. I think this provides a useful metaphor for photography and points out an interesting idea about preparation. When I'm out with my camera, my goal is to enter the creative bubble and starting the work of being a photographer. Like the athlete that

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2:43

HT2756 - Too Much Salt Spoils the Food

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/26

Here's a Thought… #2756 with Brooks Jensen Too Much Salt Spoils the Food Not long ago we tried a new Italian restaurant, just for fun. I ordered eggplant parmesan. Is there anything worse than bland, tasteless Italian food? Of course, I couldn't help but compare this to photography. What do we want in food — or a photograph? Intensity, a sensual thrill, a memorable experience, a good time, a sense of lingering satisfaction. We don't want bland, yet too much salt spoils the food. Similarly, too much

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2:43

HT2755 - The Subjectivity Scale

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/25

Here's a Thought… #2755 with Brooks Jensen The Subjectivity Scale Imagine, if you will, a linear scale with Objectivity on the far left point and Subjectivity on the far right point. Every photograph you produce (or have ever produced) can be located on this scale. Is the image factual and optically faithful to normal human vision, or is it imaginative and a personally expressive, fanciful, or an emotional interpretation by its creator? Is it documentary, or an expressive fiction? Become a member

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2:43

HT2754 - The Exposure Triangle Reconsidered

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/24

Here's a Thought… #2754 with Brooks JensenThe Exposure Triangle Reconsidered There are certain unavoidable truths in photography that are based on the laws of physics. At least, that's the way I think about it. The Exposure Triangle is one of these. The ISO is fixed, the shutter speed selected for sharpness, and that leaves the aperture as our primary tool for controlling exposure. This was a foundational truth for the first 35 years of my photographic life. And then it all changed. Become a

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2:43

HT2753 - Blue Light Blues

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/23

Here's a Thought… #2753 with Brooks JensenBlue Light Blues We spend hours and hours, sweat numberless bullets, and endure creative torture so that our precious and precisely crafted art preserves our creative intent. After all that, it can be altered beyond our control by the Blue Light Filter of our viewers' phones or tablets. And then there's the problem of uncalibrated computer monitors. Should we abandon the archaic concept of photographic excellence in the hands of the master artist? Should

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2:43

HT2752 - We Are Media Producers

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/22

Here's a Thought… #2752 with Brooks JensenWe Are Media Producers Media, plural. In my youth, I produced one thing — black and white prints matted and occasionally framed. How quaint. How anachronistic. How 20th century. More recently, I count a dozen media I regularly use to produce my artwork. What makes this a particularly important aspect of photography today is that each of the various media all have their dedicated audience, many of whom are exclusive in their consumption of artwork. If we

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2:43

HT2751 - Chasing Dollars

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/21

Here's a Thought… #2751 with Brooks Jensen Chasing Dollars I prefer not to think too much about the amount of money I've spent in my life to support my photography. Whenever I do, I find I can't help but sympathize with those who pursue print sales and publishing contracts. As a hobby, photography is almost as expensive as boating or golf. I can't recall, however, knowing anyone who thought their hobby of boating or golf might produce an income that would cover their expenses. I believe it was

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LW1523 - The Next Big Adventure

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/21

LW1523 - The Next Big AdventureWe're off in the RV travel trailer for another extended trip! Our route will take us across the southern US during 8 to 10 months, photographing along the way, and, hopefully, without skipping a beat in these podcasts nor the Here's a Thought commentaries. We're starting this week in Nantucket. I've never been here. I don't know what I'll find. How does one photograph a new location? Here's four key ideas that illustrate my approach. All previous episodes of our

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2:43

HT2750 - The Toys with the Least Interference

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/20

Here's a Thought… #2750 with Brooks JensenThe Toys with the Least Interference Yesterday, I suggested that any camera could be used to create art. If that's true, then how do we select which gear to buy or use? My answer to this thorny question is based on ergonomics and our state of mind. The ideal gear is that which is most comfortable and most invisible as we handle it. Reserve our limited brain power for content, not knob control. Become a member of LensWork Online and have access to all 2700+

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2:43

HT2749 - With What You Already Own

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/19

Here's a Thought… #2749 with Brooks Jensen With What You Already Own None of us own the ideal equipment for our artmaking desires. The trick is not letting that suspend our pursuits. The first time I ever clicked a shutter was when I was 10 years old on vacation to visit my grandmother. I used my parents' Kodak Brownie Hawkeye. If that was still the camera I was using today, I'll bet I could still make art. My art would be different, but I'd adapt to what I could do rather than give up because of

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2:43

HT2748 - Photography and Beauty

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/18

Here's a Thought… #2748 with Brooks Jensen Photography and Beauty Writing itself is not a visually aesthetic activity until we decide to make the letters beautiful with calligraphy. Can we say that photography is not an aesthetic activity until we make the image beautiful with — with what? Composition? Tones and colors? Beautiful subjects? What is it that turns a replicative medium like photography into an artistic and aesthetic pursuit? Do we create beauty or merely capture it? Do we recognize

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2:43

HT2747 - The Complexity of the Medium

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/17

Here's a Thought… #2747 with Brooks JensenThe Complexity of the Medium Photography is a technology that includes many media. I grew up in the age of gelatin silver. Today I use inkjet printers. Is my earlier work "better" or more valuable because the medium was so much more demanding and recalcitrant? I've known photographers who engaged "alternative processes" because they thought it would make their work special, more valuable, more collectible. Yet another example of equating difficulty and

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