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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

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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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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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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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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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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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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HT2746 - Right On, Write On, Right On

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/16

Here's a Thought… #2746 with Brooks Jensen Right On, Write On, Right On One of the great gifts we can receive from an artist is PERMISSION. We all owe a debt of gratitude to the late Duane Michals. By his example, he gave us all permission to write on our photographs. He understood — boy, did he understand!— that Art is about Ideas not just visuals. By marrying the photograph to the hand-written word he opened wide a door for all of us. The question remains, however, do we have the courage to

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HT2745 - Denied Access

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/15

Here's a Thought… #2745 with Brooks JensenDenied Access I'm convinced that the most valuable aspect in the creation of a good photograph is access. If we are denied access, we can't get to where we need to be to click the shutter. Since that's an undeniable reality, wouldn't it make sense that we need to develop the skill of securing permission? I learned this lesson in the 1980s when I was working on the Made of Steel project. I used one simple principle to gain access to the garages and machine

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HT2744 - Long-Forgotten Books

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/14

Here's a Thought… #2744 with Brooks Jensen Long-Forgotten Books Perhaps it's understandable that as a publisher I have a fond relationship with books. I weep over the fate of books (and the photographers who made them) when I see a great book subside into the obscurity of history. Newly minted books emerge from the bindery with such hopes and momentum. Then decades pass and that once-great book, like us I suppose, recedes into the dark corners of our book shelves or the dusty confines of the used

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LW1522 - Spray and Pray and AI

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/14

Episode #1522 from our long-running, weekly podcast On Photography and the Creative ProcessSpray and Pray and AI If you want to insult a photographer, accuse them of "spray and pray." It's a not so subtle way of saying they are relying on luck rather than talent. There are, however, two instances where I think spray and pray not only makes sense but is a pretty intelligent strategy: capturing a fleeting expression in a portrait, and using a long exposure time in a handheld composition. Besides,

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HT2743 - The Assumption of Effort

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/13

Here's a Thought… #2743 with Brooks JensenThe Assumption of Effort When we see any accomplished artistic expression — regardless of the medium — we naturally assume that such excellence is the result of substantial effort and talent. Just think of the effort required to compose a symphony, write a novel, or carve a statue. With photography however, we are advised "f/8 and be there." Press a button and make a masterpiece. Art is hard; photography is a snap. We photographers know this isn't true

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HT2742 - Dappled Light

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/12

Here's a Thought… #2742 with Brooks JensenDappled Light One of my favorite things to photograph is the dappled light that sneaks through the trees to create those soft shadows that dance so seductively. I've photographed those shadows my whole life. I've recently learned there is a Japanese aesthetic that celebrates that light and shadow. It's called Komorebi. Ko meaning tree or more specifically leaves of trees, more meaning leaking or leaking through, and bi meaning sun or light. More

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HT2741 - Looking for Photographs

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/11

Here's a Thought… #2741 with Brooks JensenLooking for Photographs One of the great mistakes of my youth was the assumption that going out with my camera was, at its essence, looking for photographs. That almost never works. Well, at least it almost never results in a photograph that's worth a damn. I can only speak for myself, but I've learned over the decades that the truly artistic life is the pursuit of experiences and responses that can then be interpreted through an art-making medium. Said

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ftp-361 Finding the Sensually Tactile

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/10

Here's a Thought… #2740 with Brooks JensenPhotographic Stupidity I suppose we've all made stupendously ridiculous mistakes in our creative lives. Please tell me I'm not the only one. Please. We are told that confession is good for the soul. In the hopes you can learn from my mistakes, here are a few of my greatest hits bonehead mistakes. Become a member of LensWork Online and have access to all 2700+ Here's a Thought… commentaries.

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HT2739 - Your Basic Lens

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/09

Here's a Thought… #2739 with Brooks JensenYour Basic Lens My first camera was a 35mm SLR. I was advised to use a 50mm lens because that would most closely match normal human vision. It took me 10 years to unlearn that bad advice. Or, maybe I should say that it took me 10 years to find my natural vision. Once we discover our natural vision, choosing our basic lens becomes so much easier. Become a member of LensWork Online and have access to all 2700+ Here's a Thought… commentaries.

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HT2738 - Your Minimal Kit

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/08

Here's a Thought… #2738 with Brooks JensenYour Minimal Kit What is the least amount of gear you can get by with? This is an important question if you are traveling, have limited space, are concerned about weight, or want to simplify your choices in the field. What can you get by with? Two cameras plus three lenses? One camera plus one lens? Your iPhone? How do you make such decisions? Affordability? Complexity? The subject and locations? Looking back at past successes? Become a member of LensWork

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HT2737 - The Crack of Dawn

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/07

Here's a Thought… #2737 with Brooks Jensen The Crack of Dawn All my photographic life I've heard landscape photographers preach the virtues of the early risers. Supposedly, the best photographs are made as the sun rises at the crack of dawn. Some even go so far as to insist that only bad photographs can be made in the noonday light. Hogwash! I'm of the school of thought that there is no such thing as "good light" or "bad light." Good or bad is not a characteristic of the light, but rather what you

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LW1521 - Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/07

LW1521 - Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained I'm proud of the fact that so many photographers tell me that appearing in LensWork is on their bucket list. I'm equally disheartened when so many photographers tell me they are intimidated to submit work because they are afraid of being rejected. I want to tell them quite frankly, "Toughen up, bucko. Nothing ventured, nothing gained." Here are eight reasonswhy you should submit work to us and

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HT2736 - Score and Performance, Again

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/06

Here's a Thought… #2736 with Brooks Jensen Score and Performance, Again Ansel Adams famously suggested that the negative was the score and the print the performance. Is this still true for the RAW file and the Instagram image? What is the relationship between the RAW capture and the print? And where does the finished digital file fit in this simile? I think this is all tied to the idea of an original print. Become a member of LensWork Online and have access to all 2700+ Here's a Thought…

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HT2735 - Losing Faith in Photographic Truth

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process ·

2026/09/05

Here's a Thought… #2735 with Brooks JensenLosing Faith in Photographic Truth With increasing frequency, I find myself looking at a photograph and immediately questioning its veracity. For example, every morning when I start up my computer I'm greeted with a lovely landscape thanks to the programmers at Microsoft. Almost without exception, they look fake, with punched up colors, unrealistic sky and water reflections, and a kind of computer generated pristineness that I find difficult to believe

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