Use The Stages In A Journey To Structure A Body of Work – Michael J Quinn

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Michael Quinn used the stages in a journey to structure a body of work during my Arches digital photography workshop. The structure of a journey gave him a creative challenge that generated new ideas and helped focus his efforts. At the end of the workshop, he found that he had created more keeper images in a short time than he had previously. The structure also helped him identify ideas for new images still to be made – ways to expand his creative journey. What’s more, because the images related to one another, he can put the images to many more uses – a slideshow, an exhibit, a book, etc.

What creative challenge could you set for yourself to generate new ideas and increase your productivity?

See more of Michael J Quinn’s work here.

Use Words To Tune Into Hidden Dimensions – Craig Colvin

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In my Death Valley digital photography workshop, Craig Colvin discovered the power of words and of metaphor. When he made images he’d find the words that described the relationships in the image before making the exposures. Solitude. Community. Birth. Loss. He found that by using the power of words he saw things differently and he saw new things. A few simple words, the right words, unlocked hidden potentials within the subject and within himself.
How can words help unlock your creativity?
How many ways can you think of to integrate them into your creative process?
Read more in my creativity lessons.
Find out more about my Death Valley digital photography workshop.
Learn more in my digital photography workshops.

Loading Up Your Images – Steve Lumpkin

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In my Death Valley digital photography workshop, Steve Lumpkin stumbled into a real keeper. “I looked back and realized my footsteps would soon be gone.” This was more than a magic moment; it was also a moment of personal insight. Steve made the most of his situation and invested a lot of himself in his image both literally and figuratively.
Was it the adversity of the situation, photographing in high winds on a dune field, that encouraged him to shoot from the gut? Was this a deep-seated feeling waiting to be expressed? Whatever it was the image has emotional intensity and it’s loaded; it works on many levels both formally and thematically.
What does or would it take for you to make loaded images?
Read more in my creativity lessons.
Find out more about my Death Valley digital photography workshop.
Learn more in my digital photography workshops.
 

Find The Courage To Reveal Yourself – Justin Hartford

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In my Death Valley digital photography workshop, Justin Hartford consistently found a quiet corner to pursue his nude self-portraiture using his quiet gestures in the surrounding landscape as a way describing varying psychological states. His style was immediately recognizable, so much so that when another participant presented a nude of him everyone in the group thought it was his work. His approach was so different it stimulated a lot of dialog. His presence prompted us to ask how we could make our photographs more personal.
How many ways can you think of to make your images more personal?
Read more in my creativity lessons.
Find out more about my Death Valley digital photography workshop.
Learn more in my digital photography workshops.

When Two Images Are Better Than One – Tom Barry

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In my Death Valley digital photography workshop, Tom Barry tried something new. He began shooting images to present side-by-side in diptychs. This formal device gave his images a smart new cinematic quality. This planned experiment opened up a whole new way of thinking and looking for him. Now he’s got new experiments to try – combinations with more than two images. He’s not sure just how far he can or should take it and still be successful. He’s got a mystery on his hands – and this excites him! How will it work out? Only more images will tell.
How could you use two or more images in combination?
What planned experiments would help you most?

Read more in my creativity lessons.
Find out more about my Death Valley digital photography workshop.
Learn more in my digital photography workshops.
 

Following Up On Break Throughs – Danielle Vick

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In my Death Valley digital photography workshop, Danielle Vick made a break through in her composition skills and found a whole new way of looking. Instead of looking for the next new thing, she stayed focused, went back and repeated her success, went deeper with it, and made this new way of seeing a habit, not just a one time stroke of luck. Her productivity soared. She created a small body of work of related images the following morning. She found a new confidence in her vision and her craft.
Which of your successes would it benefit you to repeat?
Read more in my creativity lessons.
Find out more about my Death Valley digital photography workshop.
Learn more in my digital photography workshops.

Kathy Beal – Desert Inspirations

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Desert Inspirations: Journeys Without and Within
The Desert at Death Valley

For me, the desert has always been sacred. It’s an environment so stripped down that I can’t help but feel closer to spirit. All distractions fall away and I’m left to observe my surroundings and myself, from without to within.
Upon first glance the desert is, well, deserted, and many people never get past that concept. But the more time spent, the more I notice, and upon closer inspection, that the desert is a complex, beautiful, timeless, spiritual place.
For the images in this book, I’ve taken source material directly from the desert; from the stones underfoot at Death Valley Canyon, to the salt crystals at Badwater Basin, the colored rocks of Artist’s Palette, to the brush on the edges of the road at Stovepipe Wells.
In the images themselves, you may see remnants of the undulating Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, the craggy peaks of the Panamint Range, or the shadows of Zabriskie Point, but most of all, I hope that you’ll also be able to see and feel the spirit of the desert come alive in these images.
Kathy Beal
2010

The View Project – Tenneson Lecture Tonight in Naples

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Joyce Tenneson lectures tonight at the Naples Museum of Art for The View Project exhibit on display Dec 18 – March 13.
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The View Project, conceived and organized by Joyce Tenneson, is an exploration of why certain places or photographs that have such a powerful effect on us as individuals. What is it – beyond surface beauty – that makes specific visual moments so indelible in our memory?
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“The View Project is about photographs that mirror something in the photographer’s inner life – images that are personal and powerful, yet perhaps not clearly understood, even to the viewer/photographer” – Joyce Tenneson
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Photographs and comments by a wide array of photographers are included – John Paul Caponigro, Sean Kernan, Douglas Kirkland, George Lepp, Jack Resnicki, Rick Sammon, Joyce Tenneson, Jerry Uelsmann, and many more.
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Two of my alumni Kathy Beal and Stephen Starkman are included in the book and exhibit.
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Alumni Participate in The View Project

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Alumni Kathy Beal and Stephen Starkman are included in Joyce Tenneson’s book and exhibit The View Project.
Photographs and comments by a wide array of  photographers are included – John Paul Caponigro, Sean Kernan, Douglas  Kirkland, George Lepp, Jack Resnicki, Rick Sammon, Joyce Tenneson, Jerry  Uelsmann, and many more.
The View Project, conceived and organized  by Joyce Tenneson, is an exploration of why certain places or  photographs that have such a powerful effect on us as individuals. What  is it – beyond surface beauty – that makes specific visual moments so  indelible in our memory?
“The View Project is about photographs that  mirror something in the  photographer’s inner life – images that are  personal and powerful, yet  perhaps not clearly understood, even to the  viewer/photographer” –  Joyce Tenneson