The Basics (part 3)
By popular demand (read one request) I was asked to review the basics of macro photography. If you don’t know what macro photography is…it is simply the art of taking pictures close up of small objects. The Basics 1) Use a tripod or equivalent: When you are focusing on such a small object, camera shake will […]
Sometimes doing nothing is better than doing something
When I left town a few days ago, I packed a wonderful collection of Lego and all my camera gear with grand intentions. My family and I would be driving nearly 1800 miles (2824 km) across the US and we would be passing by some of my favorite places in the country like Yellowstone National […]
So You Want to Be an Artist
Congratulations! Like many people you might have the fantasy of quitting your mind numbing job and joining those carefree bohemien artists creating and selling their art. This is an admirable goal and I salute you. Before you embark on your dream I ask you this one question: do you support the arts yourself? Do you […]
The Burden of Dreams
I confess I’ve been watching documentaries again. This one was about Werner Herzog and his epic struggle to complete his movie Fitzcarraldo. The documentary, Burden of Dreams, concerns a movie maker on a seemingly Sisyphean task who’s main character is on a similar, nearly impossible task. As Werner Herzog is talking about his project, after hitting the umpteenth major snag, he said the following: If I […]
No One Ever Said This Would Be Easy
Have you seen Sting’s TED talk? I did and I was mildly amused by Sting and his talk. I think it is important to realize that every artist struggles with the artistic process. No matter if you are a multi platinum musician who makes enough off his royalties to live in a chateau and grow […]
Staying Motivated is Hard to Do
I don’t think there is any skill harder to develop than the ability to stay motivated. No matter what you are doing, taking photographs, building your latest MOC or writing the next great novel, staying motivated is hard. It’s easy to get distracted by day to day obligations, or worse yet just quitting altogether, because […]
Art & Fear, You Are Not Alone
I want to offer up a recommendation to one of my favorite books on creativity of all times: Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles & Ted Orlando. I read this book many years ago and it was helpful when I hit a few creative rough patches. I […]
My Unikitty Alter Ego
Today I felt like Angry Unikitty for much of the day. Whenever I feel like this I’m tempted to post cutting remarks on various social media platforms but then I remember the immortal words of Mark Twain… It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to […]
Two steps back…
This week has been filed with lost opportunities, missed connections and course corrections…or as I like to say, business as usual. All of this made me think back to the book Steal Like and Artist and one of its more accurate diagrams. I have had countless ideas that I have thought: “Eureka, this is going to be […]
The Basics (pt 2)
I did a post for the Instagram Group Brickcentral a few months ago passing along a few tips for better outdoor macro photography. I thought it might be a good idea to go over these tips again to make sure we are all on the same page as we move forward to better photography. 1) Pay attention […]