LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process

Episodes

• Remembering Duane Michals 15.06.2026

  As a remembrance of Michal's life and work, we're taking a hiatus today from our regular podcast to bring you two archive audios of Duane Michals, recorded in Portland in 1995.
• HT2653 - There Are No Bad Lenses, There Are No Perfect Lenses 14.06.2026 2m

  The other day I was working on some images in Lightroom and realized that one of them was a fantastically sharp image that I had made with a notoriously bad lens. Looking more closely at the EXIF data I realized this image had been shot in the middle of the zoom range and stopped down a bit. My "bad lens" performed beautifully. Wide open at maximum zoom this lens was just crap. Do I blame the lens for making bad pictures, or do I blame myself for not knowing the lens as well as I should have?
• HT2652 - A Grand Slam Home Run 13.06.2026 2m

  If you are a baseball fan like I am, you know what a thrill it is when your team hits a grand slam. A true baseball fan, however, knows that the occasional grand slam is not the reason to be a baseball fan. It just happens from time to time. The true fan loves every pitch, every swing, every hit, every subtlety of the game. I say the exact same thing about photography. The stone-cold winners are a thrill, but not the reason to be a photographer.
• HT2651 - Processing Delta 12.06.2026 2m

  In mathematics and statistics, delta is the measure of change. Strangely enough, I find this a useful concept in processing my photographic artwork. What is the delta (change) required between the scene captured and the artwork I envision? My role as a creator changes dramatically depending on the delta between the image capture by the camera and the finished photograph.
• HT2650 - The Question Answered by the Caption 11.06.2026 2m

  First, let's admit that not every photograph needs a caption. If a photograph does need a caption, it can be useful to consider the question the caption is intended to answer. For so much of landscape photography, for example, the question is Where is this? With that as the question, providing location in the caption makes sense. But, is that the most important question? Is "Where?" more important than "Why?"
• HT2649 - Overwhelming Beauty 10.06.2026 2m

  Sometimes I really struggle as a landscape photographer. When the scene is overwhelmingly beautiful, one would think that making a successful photograph would be easier. It's not. The more beautiful the scene before my camera the more difficult it is for me to make manifest my personal response. I'm reduced to using the camera as a recorder rather than as a medium of personal expression. Said another way, the more beautiful the scene the more my picture looks like everyone else's.
• HT2648 - One Hundred Compositions 09.06.2026 2m

  Let's say you find yourself in a fascinatingly photogenic location and decide to work it intensely. We've all had this experience at one time or another. What often happens to me is that the first dozen or so images are cliché, the easiest ones, the ones that probably copy other photographers, even if I'm unaware of their images. The next few dozen images might be my own, and are usually accompanied by a thrill. That emotion carries me downstream with enthusiasm. It's then that the real challenge starts has the easy ones are exhausted and I find myself swimming upstream where the most personal artwork inevitably can be found.
• LW1509 - A Book Is More Than a Paper Thing 01.06.2026 12m

  Words mean things. In fact, words can mean several things, several things that are quite different from one another. Take the term "book." It might mean a physical thing with paper and ink. Then again, if I ask you if you've read a good book lately, isn't it obvious I'm not referring to the paper and ink but rather to the content of the story?
• HT2647 - New Work 08.06.2026 2m

  Here in the 21st century, the volume of creative work that is being produced leads people inexorably to over-value the new. I don't recall anyone ever asking me to see work I did 25 years ago. The question is always, "What have you done that's new?" Or perhaps, "What are you currently working on?" I can't help but think that they're asking to see my work that is yet unproven and has not survived the test of time. Why is "the new" of greater interest than our proven, previous work?