Why photography can't be mastered

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To master something is to:

  1. gain control of; overcome

Photography is rarely under your control, unless you are shooting in a studio. Ask any landscape photographer, street photographer or journalist. No, you are always at the mercy of the elements.

  1. acquire complete knowledge or skill in (a subject, technique, or art)

While there's some knowledge and skills involved in photography, knowing how to use a camera or how to print doesn't make you a good photographer.

In fact, technology has made photography much more accesible, exposing what has always been the most important part of this art: seeing.

 
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No, I don't think photography can be mastered.

You can master your camera, or the printing process. But not the art. That is inside you, it's the way you see the world. You can't master yourself.

Take a look at the early work of the "masters" of photography. Yes, their images evolved over time, but their vision was always there. You won't find a point where they "became" a master.

I believe photography is a lifelong journey, there's no finish line. There's no "I've made it" in sight. No 10,000 hours.

No mastering. Just practice.

Leave room to reframe your photographs

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One of the things I noticed when I switched from 120 medium format film back to digital, was the extra step I had to take with every single one of my photographs. I had to crop them to square. Digital sensors are usually rectangles, 3:2 ratio, so I was capturing more of the scene than I really needed.

At first, I thought that was a waste of my time and of space. After all, after cropping the RAW files to a square, a third of the "negative" was going unused. That could add up quickly, especially if you shoot a lot of images like I do.

Anyway, over time, I started to see how useful that information to the left and the right of what I had seen in the field could be. It allowed me to reframe images where I could have done better, or to discover slightly different compositions from the one I had seen in location.

I liked it so much that I wanted to do the same on the top and bottom of the frame. So every time I was about to take a photo, I'd take a step back to capture a little bit more of the scene.

On photographing where we live

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I am a big fan of local, everyday photography. I don’t want to limit myself to photographing just a few days or weeks a year, whenever I have the chance to go to an overcrowded, and over-photographed place. I like that too, of course, but even though it can be very frustrating at times, carving my own path, discovering images that are unique to me, that — that is way more interesting.

Visual Diaries #1

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Every day, I venture outside with a camera in hand, seeking out new ways to see the familiar. Many times, I get some footage of the scenes I photograph, even though I don’t know what to do with it. So I decided to compile these loosely connected clips, along with the images I make, in regular episodes I’ll call, “Visual diaries”. I know, the name is not very original, but it is what it is. This is the first episode, and I hope you enjoy it.

A sense of completion

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I owe photography a new way to see the world. I felt an urge to capture and share what I saw, and that’s what drove me for years. Until I published my book. For the first time, there was a sense of completion, almost as if I had accomplish my mission.

Was that it? Was I done with photography?

I wasn’t. All I needed was a break from the summer, and I finally got the perfect morning.

The gift of photography ~ from Bandon, Oregon

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A few weeks ago, I celebrated my birthday by giving myself the gift of photography in one of the most beautiful locations I've been to: Bandon, Oregon. The west coast is filled with little gems, but this one is in my opinion one of the best. Incredibly beautiful rock formations, perfect weather, wildlife, and far enough from everything so it doesn't get as crowded as other locations.

It was, indeed, the perfect gift.

Photography in Olympic National Park

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The Olympic National Park in Washington is not only a big park, but also a diverse one. From the beautiful rocky beaches to the stunning peaks, and the rainforests in between. It's a stunning place that deserves quite some time to explore. I didn't have nearly enough to do anything but scratch the surface of what this place has to offer, but I still managed to make a few images I like. This is the video of my time there.

Photography in Glacier National Park

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The first stop of my "spring" 2021 road trip was Glacier National Park, in Montana. And I quote spring because what I've found so far (and not just in Glacier) is much colder and much wetter weather than I had anticipated -- not complaining, though, much better than heat!

So, I got to Glacier way too early in the season. Most roads were closed, and most trails were not accesible. Not that I was planning on doing a lot of hiking alone, grizzlies are not something I'd want to mess with.

I still got to see quite a bit of the park. In this video I show you footage from the East side of Glacier National Park, where I spent 3 days. And the images I made there, of course.

I hope you enjoy it.

My ND filter collection

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I use ND filters almost on a daily basis, both for my photo and video work. My collection has grown over the years, so in this video I show you which ND filters I have, why and how I use them.

The ND filters shown in this video are: