I believe that trying to be original for the sake of it is counterproductive, and ultimately impossible. Instead of worrying about what others have or haven’t done, we should focus on being true to ourselves and photographing subjects that resonate with us. If that’s an iconic location, so be it. If it’s something no one else has photographed before, that’s great. Perhaps it's a combination of both.
Indiana, January 2023.
Nevada, December 2024.
From the video Photography under a foot of snow in Tahoe.
Tahoe, California, December 2024.
From the video Photography under a foot of snow in Tahoe.
Indiana, January 2023.
California, December 2024.
From the video Photography under a foot of snow in Tahoe.
Outdoor photography gets romanticized often, but the reality can be very harsh for most of us. A dream job is still a job, after all.
In this video, I talk about why I took the step of quitting my job and becoming a full-time photographer, how to make money with photography, and some practical tips.
California, December 2024.
From the video Photography under a foot of snow in Tahoe.
Galicia, July 2023.
San Francisco, January 2025.
With TikTok facing a potential ban and Instagram ruining profile grids, many creators are questioning if building a presence on social media is worth the effort, given the uncertainty of the medium.
I’ve always advocated for personal websites and blogs: a platform you can truly own, free from the whims of tech billionaires. At the same time, though, I don’t shy away from sharing my work on social media.
These days, a website feels like opening a studio in a quiet, rundown part of town, while everyone is hanging out at the mall. It is flashy, lively, and all the cool kids are there. They even offer us a little corner for free, so we can speak our truths to the whole world.
That’s until the mall starts charging a fee and diverting visitors to the business placing the highest bids. Over time, you also realize that even though you got to interact with a lot of visitors, most of those interactions were fleeting. You’ve never seen those people ever again.
Yet, among the noise, meaningful connections still happen every now and then at the mall. While I’ve connected with fellow photographers through my or their websites, most of my relationships with people in this field have come through social media.
This has never been a case of the website or social media, but about embracing both the website and social media. The most beautiful, personal website is useless if no one ever visits; and your social media presence relies on whatever happens to please the owner that day of the week.
There’s no ideal solution to the problem of reaching an audience in this noisy, loud world. I believe that embracing both worlds is the best we can do.
California, December 2024.
From the video Moody photography at the California Coast.
This is an excerpt from my eBook Creative B&W Editing in Lightroom:
"If you follow me on social media, you may have noticed that I add white borders to the images I share there. The idea behind these borders is to maintain a consistent perception of the images across various platforms and viewing conditions.
I have very little control over how my images are displayed on platforms I don’t own. With the relatively recent introduction of a dark mode (night mode) on mobile devices and apps, the same photograph can now be presented against a white background during the day and a dark one at night, effectively altering the perceived tonality of the image.
By adding borders to my photographs, I can have at least some control over how the viewers will perceive the tonality, regardless of how the platform decides to present my work.
On the platforms I fully control —and that is, my website—, I publish my images without borders while still ensuring a consistent experience."
--
Sadly, Instagram is rolling out a change to the way it displays profile grids, so I might have to tweak my approach a little. But this change further proves the importance of controlling how your imagery is presented.
I believe these little details matter a lot, as they can significantly change how a photograph is perceived.
California, December 2024.
From the video Moody photography at the California Coast.
It was a wonderful rainy and moody day of photography along the California Coast. This is a ambient video, with no commentary, something I should do more often.
Bodega Bay, California, December 2024.
From the video Photography in zero visibility at the Sonoma Coast.
I had heard nothing but praise about Dan Winters’ Road to Seeing. So I was very excited when the only copy at my local library became available.
It’s a beautifully crafted book--thick, heavy, gorgeous print, with of incredible photography, including Winters’ own work but also other renowned photographers. Anyone who bought it for the retail price of $50 when it came out definitely got their money’s worth. The book is no longer in print, and secondhand copies can sell for hundreds of dollars.
But what about that road to seeing?
I appreciate when a photographer shares their influences because it helps contextualize their work and their way of thinking. However, I feel like this takes too much space in the book, especially because it features work by well-known photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, W. Eugene Smith, or Robert Frank, hardly new to anyone with some knowledge of photography. The same applies to the section about the history of the medium.
The rest of the book is great, though. At times, the book reads like an autobiography, where Winters shares parts of his life at first seemingly unrelated to photography, but always connecting everything back to his growth as an artist. In my opinion, this explains much more about the photographer than a dull, boring explanation of composition and technical details.
A substantial part of the book is dedicated to his incredible portrait work. It’s always interesting to see how some of the most celebrated pictures came to be.
But my favorite sections of the book are those dedicated to his personal projects, from photographing bees to his son. They show how Winters has embraced the camera not just to create beautifully crafted portraits of celebrities, but also to document his personal life, what he was seeing at the moment, and make it all a work of art.
This is the big takeaway of the book, in my opinion. Even though there are some actionable strategies shared in these pages -photograph often, pay attention, don’t forget to live life-, Road to Seeing is not a field guide on how to make better photographs. Dan Winters shows us instead how he carved his own path, and he encourages us to do the same. That beyond the craft and all the technical considerations, the artist must be curious, persevere (even obsess), and explore.
Recommended read if you can find a copy at your local library. Otherwise, you might be able to buy an electronic version of it somewhere.
San Francisco, January 2025.
I’ve never been a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. I am too aware that they’re just mind tricks: whatever we’re trying to change on January 1st is just as hard to change as it was on July 23rd.
The human brain is fascinating, though, and mind tricks can work wonders. People can believe crazy things, and it’s that mindset that has propelled some of history’s greatest achievers to do what was previously impossible -- and others to fail spectacularly.
But I digress. I’m not a resolutions person. Last year, I made the mistake of writing down some goals I hoped to achieve in 2024. Some I accomplished; others I didn’t. I say mistake because looking at the “failures” didn’t exactly make my day any better.
Having specific goals can be a great motivator, but they come with risks. Many goals aren’t entirely within our control, even if they seem that way on the surface. Other goals are too shallow and miss the bigger picture.
For example, setting a goal to read a specific number of books in a year is admirable. But I think we’d all agree it’s much better to read only one book, but one that creates lasting change in your life, than to read 20 you forget within a week.
In 2025, as in previous years, I want to work more, learn more, and enjoy more. But I won’t be using any sort of yardstick to measure my success or failure when December 31st inevitably rolls around. Instead, I’m placing my trust in the power of compounding and focusing on one day at a time.
Every day, I want to either learn something new, create something, or enjoy something. These aren’t mutually exclusive. The days when I can do two, or even all three, will be the best days. How big or small those “somethings” are doesn’t matter; it all adds up in the end.
Here’s to a wonderful new year.
Tahoe, California, December 2024.
From the video Photography under a foot of snow in Tahoe.
