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I’m A Skipper
May 03, 2023 - I am a “Skipper”. No, not the boat kind, I skip software versions, and hardware upgrades on a regular basis (but not eve...
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How I Did It :: Used Film Post 1
November 06, 2022 - This is the first in a series of 11 blogposts in the “Used Film” series describing the thought processes, creative decis...
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How I Did It :: Used Film Post 2
November 06, 2022 - This image of a ram’s skull was fairly simple to photograph, it was in the “processing” that the qualities really brough...
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How I Did It :: Used Film Post 3
November 06, 2022 - If you are following this Used Film series in order, you’ll recognize the technique I used to get this second ram’s skul...
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How I Did It :: Used Film Part 4
November 06, 2022 - This image titled, “Feather, Stone, and Light” was inspired by the title track from the collaborative album of the same...
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How I Did It :: Used Film Part 5
November 06, 2022 - Ah, now this image I feel was truly inspired! What is it? Technically it was created as a background only for a watch ad...
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How I Did It :: Used Film Part 6
November 06, 2022 - This image was originally created for an editorial cover illustrating the human senses. This one turns up the notch on c...
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How I Did It :: Used Film Part 7
November 06, 2022 - Orchids are beautiful subjects to photograph whether in color or Black & White. For this one I chose to photograph it us...
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How I Did It :: Used Film Part 8
November 06, 2022 - This image, unique from the others in this series, comes from a 35mm Black & White infrared film negative re-photographe...
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How I did It :: Used Film Part 9
November 06, 2022 - So, you have to make a course to teach students about all the creative fine art possibilities of various Polaroid films.
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How I Did It :: Used Film Part 10
November 06, 2022 - So now we get to the place with Polaroid film where I spent the most time to master, the famous Polaroid Transfer techni...
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How I Did It :: Used Film Part 11
November 06, 2022 - This image I’ve titled “When Picasso Met Josephine” is the last in the Used Film series, and another example of using th...
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Zen and the Art of Aperture
October 16, 2022 - I love beauty and beautifully designed things. The adage that “form follows function” is true, and when both are in perf...
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I’ve Never Been Married… To The DSLR/SLR Camera Format
September 11, 2022 - I’ll be honest, I’ve never been married to the traditional 35mm film camera format, the SLR (Single Lens Reflex) and now...
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Aperture :: Iterations and Variations
May 16, 2021 - Picasso was asked, "When do you know a painting is 'finished'?," to which he is reported to have replied, "When it is si...
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The Perfect Pairing :: Aperture and Exposure X5
May 05, 2021 - Sometimes, once in a great while perhaps, you come across a pair of image editing softwares that play so well together y...
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Aperture :: And The Unsupported Image Format
April 05, 2021 - If you are an Aperture user (I know, we are a very small but dedicated and scrappy bunch), this is the one thing you hop...
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The Continued Case Against Software Subscriptions
April 03, 2021 - Grabbing a warm, steamy cup of Joe, I thought I would settle in and wax on with a few more thoughtful insights against s...
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Tools Too :: Photography Gear Matters ~ Or Does It?
January 31, 2021 - A few years ago I wrote a post called "Tools:: On Why Gear Really Does Matter" and I have wanted to do an update, or at...
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What I Want ~ Aperture '21
January 12, 2021 - This post is part fantasy, but more importantly a really close look at a beautifully designed program for RAW image, and...
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Photo Editing ~ The State of the Art
January 09, 2021 - As we stroll into 2021 I want to take a peek into the current state-of-the-art of photo editing software. What I won't b...
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Aperture, Noise and Film Grain:The Quest for a Filmic Portrait
December 20, 2020 - This final portrait edit was created entirely in Apple's Aperture software here at the end of 2020. Yes, I'm still runni...
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Black & White Done Right!
October 22, 2020 - Exposure X5 (NIK Silver Efex Pro 2 vs.True B+W Conversion LUT)
As an artist and photographer I'm not one to go by numbe...
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It's 2020 and Adobe Is Finally Catching Up with Color Grading
October 08, 2020 - So, it's 2020 and Adobe has finally started catching up with the color grading world of still photography. Catch this re...
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Creating & Using Custom LUTs in Affinity Photo and Exposure X5
September 06, 2020 - Creating and using custom LUTS for still photography is easy and fun using Affinity Photo and Exposure X5. (the above vi...
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The Case Against Subscription Software
April 24, 2020 - This is the third and final post in a series on photo software. A lot has been said and written about the whole Adobe mo...
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Back To The Future ~ Taking The Zen Path
January 12, 2020 - A funny thing happened on the way to the future... I decided to go back. No, not back to 1985 but more like 2014. Since...
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"He Of The Darkroom Eyes" ~ On Mentors, Teachers, and Senseis
December 13, 2019 - "Sensei: Portrait of Jerry Uelsmann"
"You can do that?!" That was a revelatory question a young photography student nam...
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Got Film? ~ A Part Two Update
August 08, 2019 - Almost five years back I wrote a blog post called "Got Film? Digital Photographers Now Have Choices" on the state of the...
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I Was Dark Mode Before Dark Mode Was Cool... Or A Thing
July 24, 2019 - Way back in November 2007 I started this site to showcase my work, and eventually find a home for my blog. My goal then...
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"Are You A Right-Eye Or A Left-Eye Photographer?"
February 07, 2017 - Some time ago I posed that very question to about twenty of my students. Do you shoot with the camera to your left or ri...
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Going Forward After Aperture :: The Future Looks Bright
July 07, 2014 - Some time ago, I wrote a post about the demise of Aperture being premature when the interwebs responded to the Aperture...
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Aperture Closing :: Apple Stops Development On Aperture Photo Software
June 30, 2014 - It's official: On Friday, June 27th 2014, Apple announced it would cease any further development on its professional pho...
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Learning To Love Layers
April 30, 2014 - Ok, I love layers! I'm not talking about the Photoshop Layers feature, although that is great and how most of us think o...
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On The Streets :: Notes From The Unknown Lens
April 27, 2014 - You could blame it on Vivian Maier, or Jay Maisel, or Cartier-Bresson. French photographer Robert Doisneau would be anot...
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Tools :: On Why Gear Really Does Matter
April 25, 2014 - So you think gear doesn't matter? Or maybe you are on the side of those who are all about the supremacy of gear at the e...
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Paint The Fence :: Lessons I've Learned From Mr. Miyagi
April 18, 2014 - Mr. Miyagi was a great teacher, albeit a fictitious one. If you are not familiar with this inspiring teacher of karate,...
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On Perfectionism And Craft
March 30, 2014 - "Do a good job, Trace, but not too good of a job." I was told that once, from a photographer I had worked with many year...
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Creative Healing :: Of Horses, Memories And First Loves
March 24, 2014 - I remember the first time I saw her. I remember the first time we spoke. It's said we never forget our first love, the o...
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On Teaching Photography, Teaching Life
March 14, 2014 - “We could teach photography as a way to make a living, and best of all, somehow to get students to experience for themse...
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Torn Between Two Lovers
January 27, 2014 - I've always smiled at the thought of American Poet Robert Frost's epitaph, which reads, "I Had A Lover's Quarrel With Th...
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We Were Mod Once :: Last Of My iPhoneography Books
January 19, 2014 - Feeling nostalgic for things we grew up with is as natural to humans as breathing. We're simply wired for nostalgia. Som...
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On Resting Places
January 14, 2014 - Sometimes it seems like this techno-photo-centric world we are in is racing along at a break-neck speed. Newer cameras,...
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Reflections :: A 2013 Look Back And A Look Forward
December 18, 2013 - As this is the last post of the year, I can't help and do some reflecting on this past year, and looking forward to 2014...
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Why Zenfolio Matters
December 10, 2013 - Why have I chosen Zenfolio for my website as opposed to any other portfolio hosting solutions or a Wordpress site? Essen...
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Are You "Seriesous"?
November 26, 2013 - Creating a new body of work can start with a whiff of inspiration from anywhere, and that inspiration can come to you at...
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"But It's Not A Portrait"
November 12, 2013 - These two images of my mother's hands are part of a new project I'm working on; a long term project to create portraits...
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Create Custom Textured Brushes For Unique Portraits
November 07, 2013 - Creating a completely unique and customizable look to your images can be as easy and fun as painting with textured brush...
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Got Film? Digital Photographers Now Have Choices
November 04, 2013 - To answer the question above, it can now be argued that "yes, indeed", digital photographers have film. Or rather "film...
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Forget About Finding A 'Style', Cultivate A 'Sensibility' Instead
October 31, 2013 - So what exactly is " style", and why are so many photographers looking for it? Put a group of photographers together: pr...
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Why Pixelmator Matters
October 27, 2013 - This post could be subtitled: " How's that working out for you without Photoshop?" All said, I have to say I'm only scra...
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The Fine Art Of Texture Overlays For Creative Portraits
October 20, 2013 - This two part tutorial on creating fine, textured overlays and backgrounds for creative portraits, is a companion piece...
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When Good Lenses Go Bad
October 08, 2013 - So, what to do when a good lens goes bad? Let me explain: The other day I was on location shooting portraits when my 17-...
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iPhone Tintype For Creative Portraits Tutorial
October 03, 2013 - This tutorial on creating tintype textured backgrounds and overlays for creative portraits was inspired by a recent crea...
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On Jobs, Apple, And The Pursuit Of Excellence
September 23, 2013 - Apple Wallpaper
Some two years + since Steve Jobs passed on, his legacy for the pursuit of sheer excellence is still...
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Nothing To Teach, And No One To Teach It To
August 12, 2013 - I heard this phrase once in an Alan Watts lecture he had recorded years ago. " I have nothing to teach, and no one to te...
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"Excuse Me, Do You Know The Way To Paris?"
May 08, 2013 - Ah, Paris! City of Lights, City of Love, City of Culture, City of Photography. The history of photography, relatively sh...
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A Day At The Museum With Maggie Taylor :: Certainly No Ordinary Day
May 06, 2013 - I believe I fell in love this past April 20th, on the last day of Maggie Taylor's exhibition at the Polk Museum of Art....
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A Navajo Rose For Rosa :: And An Artists' Reply
April 26, 2013 - This post is a reply to a very well written response to my earlier blog post, "Who Is An Artist?" My friend Cedric says...
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Who Is An Artist?
April 15, 2013 - For as long as there has been Art, there likely has been debates about what it is, and isn't. Not as often debated is th...
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Navigating A Life Photographic
March 27, 2013 - Navigating a life photographic, finding your way from first love to a life-long relationship of creativity is one of the...
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Every Photograph You Create Is A Self-Portrait
March 18, 2013 - If we really think about it, every photograph we create is a self-portrait. Notice I use the word create. Every image in...
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Feminine Ripples :: A Wealth Of Images By Female Artists
March 06, 2013 - It may be an old nut, the question of how "good", or how talented female artists are compared to their male counterparts...
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What Is In Your Photographic Kitchen?
February 20, 2013 - What is in your photographic kitchen? What herbs, seasonings and flavours do you most use? Like cooking, photography is...
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If I Were An Artist
February 18, 2013 - "If I were an artist... " how many times have I heard that from friends, and students and just folks in everyday convers...
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Why creativeLIVE Matters
January 28, 2013 - What is creativeLIVE? In short, it is a worldwide, on-line classroom for free while live, and during re-broadcasts, for...
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A Poet's Place
October 26, 2012 - What inspires you? What encourages you? Do you know the difference? Words are important things, what they mean, and what...
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Autumn's Focus
October 22, 2012 - This time of season, many of us turn reflective and look back over the year, contemplating accomplishments and thinking...
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Dead Photographers Society
July 05, 2012 - Taking inspiration, and ripping out a page from the Peter Weir film "Dead Poets Society ", this is a follow up to my pre...
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An Open Letter To A Young Photographer
June 27, 2012 - Photography is an art that captures all of us at some time in our life. Whether we are six or sixty when it happens is n...
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Create Something! :: Notes From The Unknown Lens
June 18, 2012 - Shell Study I
Every once in a while, hopefully not too often, we creative folks find ourselves in a place of deep funk,...
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Zen And Creativity :: An Homage To A Mentor
May 31, 2012 - I recently created a small series of composited photographs, collectively called " The Bodhi Lands" that were originally...
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The Photo Blog :: A Gallery With Benefits
May 30, 2012 - Palm Study II
What are you going to do with new images, or a series of images that in themselves are every bit as compe...
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Ten Polaroids :: Creating Images With Malleable Materials
May 25, 2012 - The Navigation Legend:: Polaroid SX-70 Film
I've created a new, one-off series called Ten Polaroids to showcase work cr...
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10,000 Hours or 10,000 Photographs?
May 22, 2012 - Ever wonder what 10,000 hours really looks like? In terms of days, weeks, months, etc.? How about in terms of actual art...
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Note To Self #1
May 03, 2012 - Ever wish you could meet up with your younger self and offer some sage advice at a crucial point in growing up? Aside fr...
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Writings On The Walls
February 17, 2012 - When I started exploring the fine art aspect of photography, and imagined my first solo show of photographs, I liked thi...
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