Jeff Curto's Camera Position

When we position the camera, we are ultimately positioning the viewer of our photographs. We explore this idea using a 1757 painting by the Venetian Painter Canaletto, who often used a camera obscura to create his paintings. Thanks to Dirk Rösler and the folks at the Large Format Photography Forum for setting these wheels in … Continue reading Camera Position 173 : Position The Camera – Position The Viewer →

Everyone has ideas, but many people keep those ideas hidden inside. The creative person finds a way to get those ideas out the door in a way that allows them to breathe. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: Camera Position on Facebook – Share your images Camera Position on Flickr – Share your images Jeff’s … Continue reading Camera Position 172 : Get Your Ideas Out The Door →

“Anyone can print black – just put a piece of photo paper under the enlarger, turn the enlarger light on and leave it on. But light values… ahhh… light values… they are the soul of the black and white photograph. Not everyone can print white and have it sing.”   So said one of my great … Continue reading Camera Position 171 : Tone, Value and Mr. Bennett’s Button →

Camera Position is ten years old!  The first episode of Camera Position was published February 5, 2006 and it’s been a wonderful decade of learning about photography, my listeners and myself. A huge thank you to all of you listeners out there! I really appreciate your support and your participation in the Camera Position community. … Continue reading Camera Position 170 : Camera Position Turns 10 →

“How do I get started in learning black and white photography?” That was the question I got by the boatload after the podcast about B&W photography, so this episode is dedicated to articulating some resources for that pursuit, starting with some advice from one of the greats, Ansel Adams. Play Podcast: Links for this episode: … Continue reading Camera Position 169 : Black and White Revisited →

Edges – The edge of the frame, the edge of the subject, the edge of the world, the edge of a moment. Regardless of how we interpret it, the assignment of “Edges” can be a good one to expand our understanding of photography. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: Camera Position on Facebook – Share … Continue reading Camera Position 168 : Edges →

Can photography be better learned in black and white? That’s the question that I look at in this episode, as we look at line, shape, tone and texture as we see our world in black and white. Play Podcast: Links for this Episode: Camera Position on Facebook – Share your images Camera Position on Flickr … Continue reading Camera Position 167 : Learn Photography With Black and White →

Photography is about storytelling. Sharing your images and the story that they create is one of the ultimate goals for most photographers. Fortunately, our contemporary world has some amazing tools and interesting ideas that can help us tell our stories with words and pictures. Play Podcast: Links to some ideas discussed on the podcast: Listener … Continue reading Camera Position 166 : Sharing Your Story →

Today’s world of photography is so very confusing. Photographers are confronted with a barrage of advice about how to make good photographs and what gear you must have to make them. Of course, that advice has some value, but I think  best way to learn is to actually go and make photographs because, as a … Continue reading Camera Position 165 : Forget The Gear →

The great photographer Ernst Haas said, “”The frame of the camera is the photographer’s discipline. It can contain as much as it withholds, cut into or hold together images that detract or contribute to a given theme.” In this episode, I explore the idea that the frame of the camera is a discipline. Play Podcast … Continue reading Camera Position 164 : The Frame Is A Discipline →

Using a quote from Janet Malcolm’s collections of essays about photography as a springboard, I talk about the relative truth of photographs and look back to our discussion about peripheral vision. Play Podcast Camera Position on Facebook – Share your images Camera Position on Flickr – Share your images Janet Malcolm’s Diana & Nikon on … Continue reading Camera Position 163 : Photographer’s Bookshelf – Diana and Nikon →

As a driver, you use your peripheral vision all the time. So, too, with photography as you need to learn how to pay attention to what’s at the edge of your visual field in order to really see the world. Play Podcast Camera Position on Facebook – Share your images Camera Position on Flickr – … Continue reading Camera Position 162 : Driving Your Peripheral Vision →

What’s your hobby? As a recently retired person, it’s the question I often get as people try to figure out what I “do” with the time I used to spend “working.” In this episode, we look at the interconnected aspects of the things we like to do. Play Podcast Camera Position on Facebook – Share … Continue reading Camera Position 161 : What’s Your Hobby? →

With creative work, there is often a gap between our ambitions and our ability to create work that meets our expectations. Fortunately, our “inner critic” is there to help us close the gap between our goals and the photographs we make. Play Podcast Infographic on the 4 steps of Critique as a PDF Camera Position … Continue reading Camera Position 160 : Accept the Inner Critic →

Human values — those emotions, beliefs, traditions, and knowledge that we understand and share as human beings are an integral part of how we come to express ourselves in photography. In fact, it may be the essence of why we want to express ourselves with photography. Play Podcast Camera Position on Facebook – Share your … Continue reading Camera Position 159 : A Sense of Humanity →

Rollo May (1909 – 1994) was an American existential psychologist and author. Among his books was The Courage to Create. In it, May lays out some ideas about art and creativity that have important implications for the creative person; photographers included. Play Podcast Jeff’s Podcast Facebook Page – for discussion of podcast topics The Courage … Continue reading Camera Position 158 : The Courage To Create →

One of the four steps of achieving true critique of a work of art is analysis and doing that analysis requires applying the elements and principles of art. In this episode, we look at what those elements and principles are so we can employ them in true critique of our photographs. Play Podcast Links for … Continue reading Camera Position 157 : The Elements and Principles of Art →

In the last couple of episodes of Camera Position, I talked about feedback on your work and the type of feedback you typically get contrasted against the type of feedback you want, which is true, genuine critique of your work. In truth, critique of any sort is based entirely on critical thinking or the objective … Continue reading Camera Position 156 : Critical Thinking is Creative Thinking →

Feedback on our work usually comes in one of two forms: Reaction and Direction. Both are simple to do but don’t give us what we really want to help move our work forward. This second podcast of two parts looks at a third and much more useful type of feedback: Critique. This form of feedback … Continue reading Camera Position 155 : Feedback Part 2 – Critique →

Feedback is something that photographers always want. Regardless of their level of interest or expertise, photographers always want to hear what other people think about their work. Most of the time, though, we often get feedback that doesn’t match what we are looking for. This first episode of a two-part set of podcasts looks at … Continue reading Camera Position 154 : Feedback Part 1 – Reaction and Direction →