When does a photograph become dishonest?
The answer to the question, when does a photograph become dishonest, seems obvious. Unless it’s not. And that’s the tricky part. Several people have mentioned this lately so I thought I’d start down a...
View ArticleI love photographers
Today was exceptional. Thank you, today. Why? I talked to an amazing range of people who are photographers. One is just a few years out of school and is learning the ropes. Another just took a buyout...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fly, drive, walk, bike, take a bus or a train but by all means, get to Look3
Virginia Quarterly Review used most of its spring issue to show the work of photographers that Look Between gathered together last summer. Next month's gathering returns to the giant roster of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Such a busy month
Matt Eich was among photographers chosen for PDN's juried Curator selections. Matt projects is about Baptist Town, a neighborhood in Mississippi.What a busy month. I can’t believe it’s been nearly 30...
View ArticleMoving to Syracuse in the Fall
My wife, Deborah Pang Davis, has accepted a tenure-track faculty position with Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications, teaching a range of design classes beginning in January....
View ArticleClik here to view.
A white paper worth reading
Click on the image to go to a page where you can get a copy of the white paper.Photoshelter CEO Allen Murabayashi just publshed a white paper about creating photo books as marketing tools. It's a good...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pardon my absence, now let’s get ready for contests
On the road trip from Portland to Syracuse, we stopped for a couple days at Ojo Caliente, a hot springs in northern New Mexico. This was during an early morning walk there. We have resettled in...
View ArticleIn search of clarity
How do you arrive at a decision? Which lens, what kind of light, when to be there, who to speak with, how do you begin, this story or that one, this subject in this form or that one in another form....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Swan song
This was the last assignment I had in Portland. I only did a couple shoots a month, to keep my eye fresh and fully engaged. It helps when working with photographers if I'm out there now and then, too,...
View ArticleYour archive should have a hierarchy
With just a few more weeks left, how do you winnow the year’s work into a useful heirarchy? And why should you? To answer the second question first, there are several benefits to creating a hierarchy...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Make pictures that are larger than the frame
You can engage people who look at your work more dimensionally if you decide whether to make the picture larger than the frame. Huh? The notion is pretty straightforward but explaining it is not so...
View ArticleIf clichés are so bad, why do they win contests?
A photographer asked: “If cliches are so bad, why do so many of them win contests?” Good question. Having just judged photos that were entered in the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar contest, it was...
View ArticleHow do you know if you’re any good, as a photographer?
It amazes me how some people who call themselves photographers consider their work to be amazing, when their photographs, in fact, aren’t so hot. And at the other extreme, some purely humble folks make...
View ArticleGot a question?
I can write endlessly about photography but maybe you have something in particular you'd like discussed. If so, send me the topic you'd like to hear about: m at michaelddavis dot com
View ArticleHow do you toot your horn, inflate your balloon, expand your horizons?
Following up on the post about knowing whether you’re any good as a photographer, Ryan Stone asked how best to get the word out about your work, if you tend to be on the modest side. In other words,...
View ArticleTwo digital questions, and responses
Frank M. wrote from Portugal asking a couple questions, in response to my post asking people to ask questions if you have them: Retro/vintage iPhone photo apps - why does a wrong color palate make...
View ArticleThank you for 2011
To the many of you who I've gotten to work with in the past year, thank you. It was a pleasure, a growing experience for me, and I hope for you. And to you all I wish a prosperous year, an ever...
View ArticleOn the passing of Eve Arnold
Eve Arnold passed away this week. It's sad whenever someone with great talent dies. I'd never met her but her pictures touched me in an unexpted way. During her travels to produce "In America", Eve...
View ArticleWhere’s the line on toning photos, especially for contests?
My aunt asked me for recommendations of software that would easily allow her to remove people or objects from photos. At first, I fired up an ethically infuriated head of steam. How dare anyone remove...
View ArticleQuestion from Libby: How do you know it’s good?
As a followup to the previous post, Libby asks: How do you know when a shot has that X Factor, especially if it’s outside the realm of acceptable technical parameters? By X factor, I’m taking the...
View Article