I recently came across this quote by the legendary photography pioneer Edward Steichen: “Every other artist begins with a blank canvas, a piece of paper…the photographer begins with the finished product.” I don’t believe that Steichen was criticizing or downplaying photography’s artistic role compared to the other arts. I see it as a statement on […]
Some photographers, especially those of my generation and older, yearn for the old days of film. They think that things have gotten too easy in the digital age and they lament the fact that the photography’s golden age of Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks, and others, is gone. While it’s true that those early […]
“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.” Robert Capa In this time of the coronavirus the best thing to avoid exposure is to stay inside and away from other people, but my job doesn’t afford me that luxury. I can’t take a picture over the phone or through a closed car door. […]
The reasons I started the Readers Photo Challenge back in 2013 were two-fold. First, I had judged the San Joaquin County Fair’s photo show and the Stockton Camera Club’s monthly members contest and saw that there was a lot of talented photographers out there and the paper could an outlet for that talent. Secondly, the […]
When people think of the word “photojournalist” they often think of a photographer covering some war-torn corner of the globe, however, I have never desired to be one of those photographers. For a couple of reasons, I have always preferred to take local photos of the people and places much closer to home. First, there […]
In January, I was asked to be a judge a portion of the 2017 Texas Associated Press Managing Editors (TAPME) photo contest. The contest encompasses stories as well as pictures. I judged a news photo category as well as what the TAPME calls their Star Photojournalist awards. The single photo category is pretty straightforward: pick […]
Recently I got an email from a reader who wondered how she could go about getting inside the fence on the field to photograph her nephew as he plays Little League baseball. I told her that as professional photographers we know the dangers of the game and are willing to risk them its a part […]
The other day I got a haircut. It was at one of those haircut franchises where you can get a trim quickly at a reasonable price, nothing fancy. The stylist that cut my hair was young, barely out of cosmetology school. She spent a lot of time with me and when she was done she […]
Some readers may have noticed a slight change in the rules to the monthly Readers Photo Challenge. A limit on the number of entries has been added. Most photo contests have some sort of limit to the submissions they receive. Some cap the entries at a certain number. Other contests will have an entry fee […]
The ones that got away
I remember one the first times I covered a prep football game as a young photographer. The quarterback faded back and threw the ball in a beautiful arc. It sailed gracefully in the air and the receiver made a perfect fingertip catch. I remember it so vividly because when the play was over I realized […]