In today's podcast, we'll be talking with Long Island-based pediatrician and self-taught photographer Dr. Greg Gulbransen, whose newly released book Say Less documents the three years Gulbransen spent embedded with Malik, the paralyzed leader of a Crips' set in the Bronx.
Gulbransen details his journey from wildlife and fashion photography to documenting the lives of at-risk members of the Bikes Up Guns Down club to his most recent (and most daunting) project: photographing members of a violent street gang.
Gulbransen also touches on his years-long campaign to require auto makers to install rear-view cameras in all American-made cars, a personal crusade born of the tragic car accident involving his infant son.
Guest: Dr. Greg Gulbransen
Top shot © Dr. Greg Gulbransen

Episode Timeline:

3:45: Dr. Greg's early medical training in the Bronx, and his experiences photographing at-risk kids from the Bikes Up Guns Down bike club. 

13:26: The start of Dr. Greg's 3-year project photographing Malik, a gunshot victim and paralyzed leader of a Bronx Crips' set.

14:55: The complex relationship between Dr. Greg, Malik and his mother, which allowed him to operate in such a potentially dangerous environment.  

19:23: Christmas with Malik and his family.

30:57: Dr. Greg talks best practices for administering Narcan, using informants to keep himself safe, and helping Malik stay out of prison.

44:48: Episode Break

45:46: Working with former LIFE magazine editor in chief Bill Shapiro to edit and plan his photo book.

49:22: Obtaining two sets of releases from Malik and other set members for all photos and text to appear in the book.

51:40: Dr. Greg discusses his copious notes while embedded, and details about capturing candid photos of set members and other neighborhood subjects.

54:50: Dr. Greg's traumatic yet successful campaign requiring the auto industry to install of rear-view cameras in all American cars.

Guest Bio: Dr. Greg Gulbransen is a Long Island-based pediatric doctor, who has been making photographs since 2014. Following a tragic car accident involving his son in 2002, Gulbransen successfully campaigned to get the auto industry to install rear-view cameras in American cars. As a result, all new cars in the US must have rear-view cameras, leading to an immeasurable impact on the lives of Americans. 

After starting out with wildlife pictures and editorial fashion work, Gulbransen transitioned to documenting the lives of unique individuals with interesting stories in an aim to preserve their legacies through photography. This work is often informed by a drive to highlight issues impacting American society, with a focus on young people. 

Over the course of three years, Gulbransen photographed Malik, a set leader of the violent street gang, the Crips. In 2018, Malik was shot and paralyzed by a bullet from a rival gang. As a result, his world now centers around the small Bronx apartment where he's cared for by family and fellow gang members. This project was recently released by Gost Books as the monograph Say Less, Gulbransen's first book. 

Stay Connected:
Dr. Greg Gulbransen's Website: https://www.gulbransenphoto.com/
Dr. Greg Gulbransen's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greggulbransenpeds
Word on the Street YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@superwariobro
Dr. Greg Gulbransen's book Say Less: https://gostbooks.com/en-us/products/say-less

How would you feel if all the coverage you saw about your culture was a superficial view from the outside, rather than a narrative steeped in details of lived experience?

Above photograph © Tailyr Irvine

This is the motivating force that led today's guest to pick up a camera, enter the newsroom, and cultivate an insider's perspective on contemporary Native American life, to expand the scope and enhance the accuracy of stories being told.

From exploring quiet moments at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests to a revealing photo project on Blood Quantum, you'll gain fresh insight into the traumatic history and complex issues affecting Native American people today.

Make sure and stay to the end for details about valuable resources like the Indigenous Photograph database and Illuminative's Guide to Native Representation, as well as to learn about Tailyr's ongoing work with businesses and organizations, to foster native representation in their projects.

 All told, you'll walk away with a new appreciation for the idea that "Learning your culture is a privilege, and it's not a privilege that everyone gets."

For more information on our guest and the gear she uses, click here.

 If you haven't already listened, check out all the episodes of our Picturing World Cultures podcast series here.

Episode Timeline:

2:04: Tailyr's early documentation at Standing Rock, and the value of her insider perspective as a Native journalist.

8:19: Distinctions between stereotypical views and a more authentic and diverse representation of Native culture. 

12:42: Tailyr's Reservation Mathematics project and the controversial issue of blood quantum. 

21:05: The role of reservations as a center for Native culture and history, and the recent push to revitalize Native traditions.

24:11: The dark history of Native boarding schools and Tailyr's work in telling stories about past abuses.

29:25: The public response to Tailyr's Reservation Mathematics story and the challenges to changing this system.

32:30: Episode Break

34:25: Tailyr Irvine's go-to gear and photojournalistic techniques.

38:21: Documenting tribal powwows to feature individual style rather than reinforce Native stereotypes.

42:56: Rules of etiquette at a powwow, the importance of consent, and questions of picture use. 

47:17: Tailyr's first assignment on the Blackfeet Boxing Club and an ESPN editor's help to overcome economic barriers to entry. 

54:28: Tailyr's consulting work and building partnerships with businesses and organizations to foster native representation in projects.

1:04:06: Tailyr Irvine answers our PWC Visual Questionnaire.

Guest Bio: Tailyr Irvine is a Salish and Kootenai photographer and journalist born and raised on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana. Her work focuses on providing in-depth representations of the lives and complex issues within the diverse communities that make up Native America.

Tailyr is also a co-founder of Indigenous Photograph, a global database dedicated to support the media industry in hiring more Indigenous photographers to tell the stories of their communities and to reflect on how we tell these stories. She is a National Geographic Explorer and frequently contributes to the New York Times and other national outlets. 

Stay Connected:

Tailyr Irvine Website: https://www.tailyrirvine.com/

Tailyr Irvine Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/TailyrIrvine/

Tailyr Irvine Twitter: https://x.com/tailyrirvine

Tailyr Irvine Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TailyrIrvine/

Tailyr Irvine on National Geographic: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/storytelling-through-photography-tailyr-irvine/

Tailyr Irvine's Blackfeet Boxing Story: https://indigenousfutures.illuminatives.org/ending-violence/tailyr-irvine

Illuminative's Guide to Native Representation for Entertainment Industry Professionals: https://illuminative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IllumiNative_industry-guide_June-2022.pdf

Native American Journalists Association Website: https://najanewsroom.com/

Tailyr Irvine's Vital Impacts Grant: https://vitalimpacts.org/pages/grant-winner-2023-tailyr-irvine

Indigenous Photograph Website: https://indigenousphotograph.com/

Senior Creative Producer & Host: Jill Waterman
Senior Technical Producer: Mike Weinstein
Executive Producer: Richard Stevens
Theme Music: Gabriel Richards

For anyone familiar with the photo industry, the mammoth lawsuit between The Andy Warhol Foundation and renowned music photographer Lynn Goldsmith should be no secret. This complex battle over the rights to her 1981 portrait of the artist formerly known as Prince lasted seven years and went all the way to the Supreme Court.

But do you know the circumstances behind her original portrait session with the famously reserved musician, and were you aware of all the misinformation about this case that was disseminated in both legal documents and the press?

Lynn is a longtime friend of the show, and our 2017 episode about her extensive, long-term work with the band Kiss, among other crazy stories, was a fan favorite. We invited her back to discuss this case in 2022, when the Supreme Court first agreed to hear it, but heeding the advice of her legal counsel she wisely declined our offer at that time. 

In May 2023, the Supreme Court ultimately ruled in Lynn's favor in a 7-2 decision, which has already been shown to benefit others seeking remedies for the misuse of their creative works.

Yet, while this landmark decision happened last year, the case itself was not officially resolved until very recently—Friday, March 15, 2024, to be exact—a day some might recognize as the Ides of March.

Now that the final resolution has been signed, sealed, and delivered, we felt it was a perfect opportunity for Lynn to give us a recap of this David vs Goliath battle, with all its complexities and underlying bias.

From details about the Fair Use doctrine, to the matter of copyright registration, to her thoughts about the current photographer community, to the importance of standing up for one's rights, Lynn provides a clear and insightful assessment of one of the most traumatic and threatening experiences that any independent artist can face, as only she can.

To her very core, Lynn believes creativity can make anything possible, an ideology she sums up aptly at the end of our chat.

"I felt like some higher power picked me for this," she says. "And that I had to make myself feel like a 1940s film with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, where there was going to be a happy ending, that everything would work out just fine, and that I was going to prevail."

Guest: Lynn Goldsmith

Top shot © Lynn Goldsmith

Episode Timeline:

2:50: The backstory to Lynn Goldsmith's 1981 photo session with Prince.

7:17: Shooting both color and black-and-white in the days of film, a separate camera for each option.

11:15: Vanity Fair's 1984 use of Lynn's black and white portrait for artist reference.  

13:47: Lynn's discovery of the original image use after Prince died in 2016. 

19:50: The value of saving detailed records of licensing agreements for future reference.

23:14: The preemptive lawsuit the Andy Warhol Foundation filed against Lynn, and the misinformation contained in the Federal court filing.

32:15: Lynn discusses the Fair Use doctrine and the matter of copyright registration in relation to her case.

36:43: Episode Break

38:04: Meeting with the Andy Warhol Foundation and the deal on offer to resolve the lawsuit.

44:40: Lynn's thoughts about the current photographer community and the importance of standing up for your rights.

48:09: The multiple rounds of the Prince portrait lawsuit, from the first Federal case to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court.

56:29: Uneven reporting about the lawsuit in the press, with the photo press being fearful to write anything, and the art press releasing misinformation without fact checks.

1:00:27: Behind the scenes at the Supreme Court hearing, the effects of the 7 – 2 decision, as well as Justice Kagan's written opinion.

1:08:48: Lynn's thoughts about generative AI.

Guest Bio: Lynn Goldsmith is a multi-awarded portrait photographer whose work has appeared on and in between the covers of top magazines worldwide. Her subjects have varied from entertainment to sports, film directors to authors, and from top celebrities to the ordinary man on the street. Her forty years of photography are both an investigation into the nature of the human spirit, as well as the natural wonders of our planet.

As the author of 12 major photo books, Lynn's images are also featured in numerous museum collections, yet her professional achievements are in no way limited to the world of photography. She is the youngest member ever accepted into the Director's Guild of America (DGA), where she achieved several firsts—from the first rock show on network television to the first music documentary released as a theatrical short, and more. In the mid-seventies, Lynn stopped directing to concentrate fully on photography.

By the early 80s, she departed from both photography and film, to become the first 'optic-music' artist. Using the a.k.a. Will Powers, she produced the album "Dancing for Mental Health" on Island Records. Her debut album won critical acclaim and her single, Kissing with Confidence, reached #3 on the British charts.

The wide range of Lynn's talents, skills and achievements are products of a belief she holds constant: Creativity is based on breaking limiting thought patterns, thus making anything possible.

Stay Connected:

Lynn Goldsmith's Website: https://lynngoldsmith.com/menu.html

Rock and Roll Photo Gallery Website: https://rockandrollphotogallery.com/

Lynn Goldsmith's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lynngoldsmith/

Lynn Goldsmith's Twitter: https://twitter.com/goldsmithphoto

Lynn Goldsmith's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lynngoldsmithartist/

Lynn Goldsmith's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lynn-goldsmith/

Lynn Goldsmith's GoFundMe Campaign

Lynn Goldsmith's Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Goldsmith

Pelican 1510TP Carry-On Case: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1241003-REG/pelican_015100_0050_110_1510tp_carry_on_case_with.html

 Professional tree planting is back breaking piecework—a combination of high intensity sport and industrial labor that requires both technical finesse and remarkable physical and mental endurance. Using techniques more often associated with high-performance athletes, experienced planters (commonly known as high-ballers) leap up and down through uneven and debris-strewn terrain, armed only with a shovel and 30-kg bags of seedlings on their backs.

In recent years, tree planting has become a rite of passage among young Canadians not afraid of hard work and dirt under their fingernails.  As seasonal work, it attracts many students from Canada's southern cities. Due to the brutal physical demands, most are under 30 years old. Out on the cut block inclement weather is common, and the swarms of biting insects are legendary.

Working in—rather than on—the land for months on end, and sharing an isolated camp site creates a solid bond among planters. This has molded into a subculture of sorts, which is the subject of today's show.

My guest for this episode is Canadian photographer and filmmaker Rita Leistner. Rita documents communities living in extreme conditions, typically investing months or years in a project. After spending a decade as a tree planter during her youth, Rita returned to the forest in 2016 to document a new generation. In 2021, she released her results as an Art Trifecta, featuring large fine art photographs, a 256-page photo book, and the documentary feature film "Forest for the Trees." 

Equally in her element in forests and war zones, Rita's photographs and her writings about photography, art, and war have been published, exhibited, and collected worldwide. She is represented by the Stephen Bulger Gallery for art, and by Green Planet Films for film.

Guest: Rita Leistner

Above photograph © Rita Leistner

For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/picturing-world-cultures-rita-leistner-canada

And if you haven't already listened, check out all episodes from our Picturing World Cultures podcast series here.https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/promotion/picturing-world-cultures 

Episode Timeline:

2:02: The backstory to Canadian tree planting as a business

5:21: Rita's interest in photography and her early days as a tree planter.

12:43: Comparisons and contrasts between Rita's early tree planting experiences and what she found when returning to the forest to document this subject.

18:21: A typical day in the life of a tree planter and the actual planting process

26:31: How Rita landed on her distinctive photographic style of capturing fast moving planters with a PhaseOne camera and Profoto lighting.

32:40: Rita talks about how the young planters responded to her sudden presence in the camp. 

36:17: Rita's lighting set up with Profoto B1 lights and coordinating with an assistant to carry all the gear. 

41:56: Episode Break

43:10: Rita talks about power consumption, batteries, generators, workflow, and more when working in remote locations.  

45:03: Inclement weather, dirt, and bugs when shooting both stills and video footage out in the wilderness.

48:41: The lighting details behind Rita's enchanted forest nighttime images and timelapse footage.

53:38: How the work of tree planters is perceived by both the logging industry and environmentalists, and the effects this has on the planters themselves.

1:03:47: How Rita's Tree Planter project has affected her sense of Canadian identity. 

1:06:04: Rita Leistner answers our PWC Visual Questionnaire.

Guest Bio: Rita Leistner is a Canadian photographer and filmmaker who creates portraits of communities living in extreme conditions, typically investing months or years in a project. After spending a decade of her formative years as a tree planter in the Canadian wilderness, she returned to this theme to document a new generation of planters from 2016 to 2019. In 2021, she released the project as an Art Trifecta, featuring fine art photographs, a 256-page monograph, and the 91-minute documentary film Forest for the Trees.

Additionally, Rita has been captured by insurgents, assaulted, and shot at, and she has run into gunfire to get a photograph. She has published four books of photography including Unembedded: Four Independent Photojournalists on the War in Iraq (2005), widely considered one of the most influential anti-war books to come out of the Iraq conflict. Rita's photographs and her writings about photography, art, and war have been published and exhibited worldwide, and are in major corporate and museum collections. From 2010 to 2016 she served as Associate Professor in the History of Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the University of Toronto. She is represented by the Stephen Bulger Gallery for art, and by Green Planet Films for film.  

Stay Connected:

Rita Leistner Website: http://ritaleistner.com/

Forest for the Trees Website: https://www.forestforthetreesdocumentary.com/

Rita Leistner Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ritaleistner/

Rita Leistner Twitter: https://twitter.com/ritaleistner/

Stephen Bulger Gallery Website: https://www.bulgergallery.com/artists/45-rita-leistner/overview/

Green Planet Films Website: https://greenplanetfilms.org/products/forest-for-the-trees?_pos=1&_sid=90a01a45d&_ss=r

Canadian photographer Lorraine Gilbert: https://www.lorrainegilbert.com/

Cozy up to a ringside seat for a behind-the-scenes tour of the wildest shows in sports entertainment, during our insightful chat about the still photos produced for World Wrestling Entertainment, (otherwise known as WWE).

In 2023 alone, the WWE photo team traveled the globe, covering close to 170 live events, and producing 2.6 million stills to serve the organization's various platforms.

You might—incorrectly—assume that WWE's still images are generated from video screengrabs. Well, this couldn't be further from the truth.

 In this week's podcast, we get the full scoop about stills from WWE's Vice President of photography, Brad Smith, and Senior Director of photography, Rich Freeda.

Among the many details we unpack: The learning curve required for shooting a WWE event, the importance of showing all aspects of the spectacle in pictures, and the delicate dance between still photographers and TV camerapeople, who are tethered together and both wearing headphones while capturing a show.

 In addition to live event coverage, the photo team creates high-level studio portraits of WWE Superstars, which necessitates complex studio set ups at each venue. Given the relentless schedule of three live shows weekly, two of which are traveling, studio gear is circling the country all year long. As Rich Freeda puts it, "We could be a Consumer Reports testing lab."

And when it comes to the type of photographers best suited to covering WWE shows, Brad Smith sums things up nicely. "[At first,] I instinctively thought, if we're going to hire new people, they have to be sports photographers. And now I don't think that at all. I'll tell you who I'd rather have. I'd rather have a photographer who's a tour photographer for Bon Jovi than somebody who's the Yankee's photographer, because they understand that event is the important thing."

Psych yourself up for WrestleMania 40 with our WWE episode from the B&H Photography Podcast!

Guests: Brad Smith and Rich Freeda

Above photograph © Rich Freeda/WWE

For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/still-photography-the-wwe-with-brad-smith-rich-freeda

Stay Connected:

WWE Still Photography Page: https://www.wwe.com/photos

Brad Smith Website: https://www.bradsmithcreative.com/

Brad Smith on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradpix/

Brad Smith on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Brad-Smith-Creative/

Brad Smith on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nybradsmith

Rich Freeda Website: https://www.richardfreeda.com/collections

Rich Freeda on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richfreedaphoto/

Rich Freeda on Twitter: https://twitter.com/richfreedaphoto

Rich Freeda WWE Profile: https://www.wwe.com/videos/the-photography-of-wrestlemania-with-rich-freeda-making-wwe

Where will you be on April 8, 2024? If you don't already know, you'd better figure it out fast, particularly if you've got an interest in observing—and ideally photographing—the awe-inspiring phenomenon of a total solar eclipse.
 
To get you up to speed on essential eclipse details, tune in to our chat with science writer Rebecca Boyle and Gabriel Biderman from B&H's Road Marketing team. Boyle shares tidbits about Earth's silvery sister gleaned from research for her book Our Moon, while Gabe discusses preparations (and practice!) for your eclipse photo session, plus strategies for juggling multiple set-ups.
 
To celebrate the total eclipse back in 2017, B&H teamed up with Atlas Obscura for a two-day festival in Eastern Oregon's Snake River Valley. This year, the party's expanding from two to four days! We end the episode with details about the 2024 Ecliptic Festival, held alongside the Valley of Vapors music festival in Hot Springs, Arkansas, smack in the Eclipse's umbra.
 
Immerse yourself in this rare astronomical occurrence while rubbing shoulders with celebrated scientists, legendary musicians, artists and photographers galore, plus benefit from dedicated space—and tools—for star gazing and tracking the path to totality and back. The sky's the limit!
 
Guests: Rebecca Boyle & Gabriel Biderman

Top shot © Gabriel Biderman
 
For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/ecliptic-visions-with-rebecca-boyle-gabriel-biderman-atlas-obscura-bh
 
Stay Connected:
Atlas Obscura Ecliptic Festival: https://ecliptic.atlasobscura.com/
Atlas Obscura Website: https://www.atlasobscura.com/
Rebecca Boyle Website: https://rebeccaboyle.com/
Rebecca Boyle Our Moon book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/611468/our-moon-by-rebecca-boyle/
Rebecca Boyle's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/by.rebecca.boyle/
Rebecca Boyle's Twitter: https://twitter.com/rboyle31
Rebecca Boyle's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rboyle31/
Gabriel Biderman's Website: https://www.ruinism.com/
National Parks at Night Website: https://www.nationalparksatnight.com/
National Parks at Night's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nationalparksatnight/
National Parks at Night's Twitter: https://twitter.com/natlpksatnight
National Parks at Night's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nationalparksatnight
National Parks at Night's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NationalParksatNight

There are many different ways to look at culture, and today we take a geographic approach, to distinguish people who live in rural mountain and hilly settings from those of the wider plains and urban areas.

Our focus is the country of Romania, where we'll explore the rustic landscape of small farms, hand tilled fields, and local communities that still identify with the working methods and traditions of the past. Along the way, we'll follow the cyclical work of farmers and shepherds, gain insight into the Orthodox faith, explore vibrant holiday celebrations, and reveal unique rituals with pagan roots.

In this fourth installment of our monthly series, Picturing World Cultures, we speak with Daniel Rosca, a Romanian photographer and travel guide specialized in photographic, cultural, and genealogical tours.

As a child, Daniel experienced the age-old traditions of rural Romania first-hand during time spent on his grandparent's farm. Following university studies, he spent four years abroad, working in youth development, consulting, and corporate social responsibility. After living in Brussels, Warsaw, Istanbul, and Cairo, and travelling to another 40 countries on four continents, Daniel decided travel should become his full-time job.

He chose to return to his homeland in 2011, where he founded Romania Photo Tours and True Romania Tours, to help curious travelers immerse themselves in—and capture images of—old-world Romanian culture.

In summary, to quote the motto of his photo tour site: Veni, Vidi, Click!

Guest: Daniel Rosca

For more information on our guest and the gear he uses, see:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/picturing-world-cultures-daniel-rosca-romania

And if you haven't already listened, check out all episodes from our Picturing World Cultures podcast series here: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/promotion/picturing-world-cultures

Episode Timeline:

2:07: The blend of various cultures and influences that make up Romanian culture, geographic distinctions between regions based on mountains, hills, and plains, Romania's historic regions, plus the country's widespread agricultural focus.

9:41: Common misconceptions about Romania: dispelling inaccuracies about Dracula and Romania's communist past, plus Romania's current strengths in tech, IT, and engineering.

12:34: Special considerations, both general and cultural, when photographing people in different regions, making pictures of the Roma, military, or police, plus Romania's strict policies that prohibit driving after even a sip of alcohol.   

17:44: Romanian agricultural traditions of scything, haymaking, horse carts, blacksmiths, shepherding, plus the art of traditional egg painting.

23:24: Forging a human connection with local villagers and craftspeople, etiquette and logistics when making pictures, plus the issue of obtaining model releases for portraits.

30:14: Daniel's go-to photo gear: Nikon Z6 mirrorless and a 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens, the benefits to carrying a flash, plus recommendations for packing and benefits to traveling light

34:08: Episode Break

35:10: Romanian Orthodox churches, regional differences in appearance, rules of etiquette and respectful behavior when photographing, plus the many denominations of Orthodoxy, and details about holiday schedules.

44:42: Meaning of the word Orthodox, distinctions between Orthodox and Catholic faiths, plus Romania's Lutheran heritage, and fortified churches of Transylvania.

47:11: Romanian bear dance festivals of Moldova over New Year's, the festival's pagan roots, tips for getting good pictures by interacting and considering the background first, plus other year end celebrations

54:20: Romanian Easter traditions, a candle lit in Jerusalem on Easter morning and flown to all Romanian Orthodox churches, breaking the Lenten fast, plus Romania's little-known focus on vegan foods.

1:00:58: Romania's Dracula lure, distinguishing true cultural history from the literary myth, useful resources for more background about Romania, plus details about Daniel's genealogical tours.

57:22: Daniel Rosca answers our Picturing World Cultures Visual Questionnaire.

Guest Bio: Daniel Rosca is a Romanian photographer and tour guide specializing in photographic, cultural, and genealogical tours. As a child, he spent a lot of time at his grandparent's subsistence farm and experienced many of the traditions of rural Romania. After university and four years abroad, he realized how interesting rural Romania and its traditions are and decided to return to his native country to help curious travelers discover them as well.

Before setting down roots in travel, Daniel worked in youth development, consulting, as well as in corporate social responsibility for Microsoft. After living and working in Brussels, Warsaw, Istanbul, and Cairo, and travelling to another 40 countries on four continents, he decided travel should become his full-time job, in the country where he feels most connected. He founded Romania Photo Tours and True Romania Tours in 2011. In summary, to quote the motto of his photo tour site: Veni, Vidi, Click! Where click is not only about clicking the shutter, but also about clicking with the culture. 

Stay Connected:

Romania Photo Tours Website: https://romania-photo-tours.com/

True Romania Tours Website: https://true-romania.tours/

Romania Photo Tours Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/romaniaphototours/

Romania Photo Tours Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/touroperatorRomaniaPhotoTours

True Romania Tours Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrueRomaniaTours/

Romania Photo Tours X: https://twitter.com/photo_romania

True Romania Tours X: https://twitter.com/TRomaniaTours

True Romania Tours Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/trueromaniatours/

Romanian photographer Sorin Onisor: https://www.instagram.com/sorin_onisor/

How much can you edit a photo before it stops becoming true? That's the question CNET tech reporter Stephen Shankland recently asked in the opening lines of his story, How Close is that Photo to the Truth: What to Know in the Age of AI.

The article, which examines digital photography and advanced smartphone image processing in the era of AI, reaches beyond the polarizing visual minefield of generative AI by delving into aspects of this technologythat's been quietly pre-baked into most every camera on the market these days.

The sophisticated processing under the hood of your digital camera is our jumping off point for a wide-ranging discussion with Shankland that touches on many aspects of the digital workflow, before scaling the slippery slopes of generative AI.

A few of the many points we cover include: Comparing the three primary generative AI platforms and discussing their differences, an assessment of AI manipulations and deepfakes, the ways in which a proliferation of camera phones can serve as a buttress against fakery, and the factor of a social contract in weighing the veracity of an image.

Today's AI landscape seems to be morphing by the minute, a reality that's reflected here with bonus content! Barely a week after our original discussion, Open AI's new text to video application, Sora, was released to a tidal wave of interest, so we got Shankland back on mic. Stay to the end to hear our first impressions of this new technology and listen closely to discover how an AI bot got the last word in our chat.

Guest: Stephen Shankland

Top shot © Allan Weitz, https://www.allanweitzdesign.com

Episode Timeline:

2:22: How much can a photo be edited before it stops "becoming" true? Plus, the digital processing that goes on under the hood of your digital camera.

7:06: The sophisticated processing in your camera phone and how the resulting images compare to pictures made with a 35mm digital camera.

13:02: How much digital editing is too much and what's the least amount of image adjustments possible before a photograph stops "being true."

18:22: The matter of generative AI manipulations and deepfakes, the democratization of altering images, and how the proliferation of camera phones can serve as a buttress against fakery.

23:24: Comparing the three big generative AI platforms Stephen has worked with—Open AI's Dall-E, Google's ImageFX, and Adobe's Firefly—and discussing how they differ, plus Allan's impressions about working with Adobe Firefly, and how much of an AI-generated image is truly one's own.

31:58: Prompt engineering, the bias of training data, the role of having fun when assessing the creative aspects of generative AI, and the factor of a social contract into reading the veracity of an image.

40:22: Episode Break

41:30: The potential for career opportunities in prompt engineering, new educational programs to arise from these new technologies, plus reasons why illustration is the creative area most threatened by AI.

48:27: The democratization of creative tasks due to computer technology, and the value of having a unique style or vision to creative success, plus the advantages of AI for stylistic

52:08: Ethical considerations, intellectual property rights, and copyright concerns in relation to AI generation.

57:03: In-camera authentication, content credentialing, and following the provenance of an image to be assured of its trustworthiness, plus whether this technology will ever show up in camera phones.

1:04:24: Episode bonus: Stephen's first impressions of Open AI's new text to video application, Sora.

Guest Bio: Stephen Shankland has covered technology, computing, and digital imaging as a principal writer and reporter for CNET since 1998. He's also a professional photographer who's particularly intrigued by new trends in AI. Stephen stumbled into journalism as a fledgling science reporter covering the Los Alamos National Laboratory. His first, and biggest, scoop was about radioactive kitty litter discovered at the town dump.

Stay Connected:

Stephen Shankland's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stshank/

Stephen Shankland's Twitter: https://twitter.com/stshank/

Stephen Shankland's Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/people/Stephen-Shankland/

Stephen Shankland's Flickr:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/shankrad/

Stephen Shankland's MuckRack:

https://muckrack.com/stshank

Stephen Shankland's CNET profile:

https://www.cnet.com/profiles/shankland/

Stephen Shankland's CNET article on AI: https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/features/how-close-is-that-photo-to-the-truth-what-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai/ 

Open AI's Chat GPT: https://chat.openai.com/

Open AI's Dall-E: https://openai.com/dall-e-2

Open AI's Sora: https://openai.com/sora

Panasonic Lumix Cameras: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/panasonic-lumix-mirrorless-cameras/ci/39961

How did a space-age invention become ubiquitous in today's digital imaging landscape? Learn all about it here in our latest podcast, featuring pioneers of photography and digital imaging.

In 1993, noted physicist and engineer Eric Fossum led the invention of the CMOS active-pixel image sensor as part of his work for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Then, as part of JPL's mandate to seek commercial and consumer applications for emerging technologies, he was active in the transfer of the CMOS sensor's "camera-on-a-chip" technology to industry.

In our informative conversation with Professor Fossum, he makes distinctions between solid state CCDs and his more efficient CMOS sensor that would come to dominate the marketplace. To transform high-level science into layman's terms, he uses the analogy of a bucket brigade collecting rain on a football field.

In a similar down-to-earth fashion, we touch on metaphysical issues like wave particle duality, and how this is demonstrated every time light enters a camera and you take a picture with your phone.

Join us to marvel at the wonders of science amid fun food references—from the way deep space radiation degrades CCD chips so they start to act like Swiss cheese, to the synergies between high-level scientific measurements and delicatessen lunch meats, both marks of a creative scientist and visionary educator.

Guest: Eric Fossum

Above photograph © John Sherman Photography, https://jshermanphoto.com/

Episode Timeline:

2:31: Eric Fossum's beginnings in hands-on science explorations, computer programming, and his love for launching model rockets, plus the role photography has played in his life.

9:26: Fossum's early research in CCD sensor technologies, his interest in trying to marry cameras to artificial intelligence, and his invitation to join NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1990.

14:00: The differences between CCD and CMOS sensors, and a description of how they work using the analogy of a bucket brigade to collect rain on a football field.

23:35: A history of active pixel sensor devices, an explanation about two kinds of image noise, the metaphysics of photons, plus how the wave particle duality from quantum mechanics is demonstrated every time you take a picture with your phone.

33:10: Fossum's role in the transfer of CMOS sensor technology to US industry, co-founding his company Photobit, and negotiations for licensing the technology with CalTech.

43:23: Episode Break

44:36: The sale of Photobit to Micron, Fossum's move to New Hampshire, consulting work on 3-D imaging sensors for Samsung TVs, and the beginnings of his teaching career at Dartmouth.

50:00: A book chapter on the future of image sensors, and the evolution of this idea to a university project, which led to Fossum co-founding the start-up company, Gigajot, with his PhD students.

52:30: Explaining the difference between the operation of CMOS and Quanta image sensors.

54:03: The resulting applications of CMOS image sensor technology, and the positive use of CMOS image sensors for social justice purposes.

57:22: Fossum's thoughts about STEM education, and connections between academia and applications in the wider world.

1:01:32: Parting thoughts about AI and the ability to authenticate images at the source, plus Fossum's newest award: The Trinity College President's Medal for Science & Innovation.

Guest Bio:

Eric Fossum, a Queen Elizabeth Prize Laureate and recipient of a 2021 Emmy Award, is one of the world's experts in solid-state image sensors. He developed the CMOS active pixel image sensor while working at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Today, this "camera-on-a-chip" technology is used in almost all cell-phone cameras, webcams, many digital-still cameras and in medical imaging, among other applications.

A serial entrepreneur, with a career that has spanned academic and government research, and entrepreneurial leadership, Fossum is currently the John H. Krehbiel Sr. Professor for Emerging Technologies at Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering, where he teaches, performs image sensor research, and directs the School's Ph.D. Innovation Program. He also serves as Dartmouth's Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer. 

Stay Connected:

Eric Fossum Website: https://ericfossum.com/

Eric Fossum Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Fossum

Eric Fossum at the National Inventor's Hall of Fame: https://www.invent.org/inductees/eric-r-fossum

Eric Fossum at Dartmouth Engineering: https://engineering.dartmouth.edu/community/faculty/eric-fossum

Eric Fossum bio from the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering: https://qeprize.org/winners/eric-fossum

Eric Fossum's 2021 Emmy Award in Tech and Engineering https://www.nhbr.com/dartmouth-professor-wins-emmy-award-for-image-sensor-technology/

Logitech: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/browse/Logitech/ci/13968/N/4232861614

While Joshua Irwandi was born and raised in Indonesia, the early pictures he made during his first visit to the region of Asmat, in the province of West Papua, were less than satisfying to him. Yet his fascination with the people and the place stuck, inspiring him to embark on the long-term project Not a Blank Canvas.

In this third installment of our monthly series, Picturing World Cultures, we speak with Irwandi about his experiences documenting the people and landscape of Asmat, which offers a window into long-held traditions and the sweeping changes he's observed there over the past 10 years.

Listen in as Irwandi describes how tapping into the region's rich history through museum collections holding Asmat art proved an important part of his background research. We also discuss the connections he forged with the local Catholic church, and how the many years an American missionary spent learning about and embracing local ways led to a blending of Catholic celebrations and iconography with traditional Asmat feasts.
Contrary to western holidays, Asmat feasts are celebrated for months on end, and Joshua sheds light on their mystical origins through dreams, and the performative rituals that he was privileged to witness and photograph. 

In equal measure, he touches on the changing roles of a people who are essentially subsistence hunter gatherers within contemporary society, and the recent effects of transmigration and gentrification on the region's native inhabitants, which also forms a part of his documentation.

Self-described as a naturally shy person, Irwandi's approach to making pictures for this project is to play the long game, while planning for longer visits that allow him to be a "constant observer," as he describes it.  

"I don't pretend I have all the knowledge," he says. "But I guess it's easier to come and connect with the locals when you walk in like a new blank piece of book, wanting to learn, rather than assume that you know about them already."

Guest: Joshua Irwandi

Above photograph © Joshua Irwandi

For more information on our guest and the gear he uses, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/picturing-world-cultures-joshua-irwandi-indonesia

And if you haven't already listened, check out all episodes from our Picturing World Cultures podcast series here: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/promotion/picturing-world-cultures

Stay Connected:
Joshua Irwandi Website: https://www.joshuairwandi.com/
Joshua Irwandi Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshirwandi/
Joshua Irwandi Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshua.irwandi/
Joshua Irwandi X: https://twitter.com/joshirwandi/
Asmat Museum of Culture and Progress: https://asmatmuseum.org/en/
Joshua Irwandi National Geographic Explorers Page: https://explorer-directory.nationalgeographic.org/joshua-irwandi
Joshua Irwandi's story for The Globe and Mail: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-how-to-move-a-capital-city-an-exclusive-look-at-indonesias-plan-to/
Pulitzer Prize page for Irwandi's Photo The Human Cost of COVID-19: 
https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/joshua-irwandi-freelance-photographer-national-geographic

Press photographers have faced tough workplace challenges for quite some time. Yet, according to recent headlines, their job is about to get even tougher, due to current plans by many law enforcement agencies—particularly the NYPD—to encrypt radio calls, making live transmissions of breaking news inaccessible to common citizens and members of the press. 

Besides being a devastating blow to meddling old biddies and law enforcement buffs, this change has huge implications for photojournalists and news outlets, who depend on such communications as part of their workflow.

Joining us to shed light on this matter, as well as to provide a general update on newspaper photojournalism today, are two generations of accredited newspaper photographers, Todd Maisel and Lloyd Mitchell. As a current board member and past vice president of the New York Press Photographers Association, Maisel has worked tirelessly to investigate and mediate the NYPD's encryption plans.

Among the many topics raised in our discussion are a shift in press accreditation from the NYPD to the Mayor's Office of Media & Entertainment, competing interests within news organizations that prevent broadcasters from taking law enforcement to task, distinctions between police and fire departments when it comes to radio encryption, details about radio encryption rollouts in other US cities, and much more.

Towards the end of our chat, Todd Maisel offers a compelling insight into his mission as a photojournalist, which speaks to the high stakes involving the matter at hand. "What I'm doing as a journalist is a sacred obligation. It's a God-given right to do it, and to continue to do it, and to do a great job at it. And so, I made a promise to protect it, to protect freedom of the press." 
 
Guests: Todd Maisel and Lloyd Mitchell

Above photograph © Todd Maisel

For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see:
https://blogd7.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/holding-to-truth-radio-encryption-the-press-with-todd-maisel-lloyd-mitchell

Stay Connected:
Todd Maisel Website: https://www.toddmaiselvisualjournalism.com/
Todd Maisel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toddmaisel/
Todd Maisel on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Todd Maisel on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ToddMaisel

Lloyd Mitchell Website: https://lloydmitchell43.photoshelter.com/
Lloyd Mitchell on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lloydmitchellphotography/
https://www.instagram.com/urbanfirefightingportfolio/
Lloyd Mitchell on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/randymitchellwritesandphotographs/
Lloyd Mitchell on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lloydphoto
NYPPA Website: https:// www.nyppa.org
Todd Maisel on the Deadline for Newspaper Photojournalism Episode: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/podcast-a-deadline-for-newspaper-photojournalism

Kiana Hayeri was born in Iran, and this was where she launched her career as a photojournalist and visual storyteller. Yet after traveling to Afghanistan for a 2014 assignment, she decided to relocate, spending the next eight years covering both the frontlines of conflict and everyday lives of the Afghan people.

In this second installment of our monthly series, Picturing World Cultures, we speak with Hayeri about her experiences living and working in a region mired in cultural upheaval, failing infrastructure, and rife with political violence.

Listen in as Hayeri shares insights about her early work documenting youth culture in both Iran and Afghanistan, while revealing subtle differences in how each society approaches a division between public and private life.

When it comes to making pictures, Hayeri's first concern is for the latent potential of her photographs to endanger the lives of her subjects. She elaborates on making conscious calculations in her head related to every small detail to mitigate this risk.

Working as a woman within a patriarchal society involves great challenges, and we broach this subject, as well as the advantages she has when photographing culturally sensitive subjects.

While Hayeri has little problem maintaining focus on the frontlines while immersed in her work, we also discuss the tolls of making pictures in traumatic situations, and the importance of taking breaks to reestablish a sense of normalcy and maintain health and sanity.

Hayeri has worked with an extensive network of local contacts to arrange access for the stories she tells. She avoids using the term "fixer" for these essential collaborators, pointing out, "The credit for a lot of the stories that we work on goes to our local colleagues, because they are the ones who put themselves on the front of everything. It's their reputation, their lives that they risk. I have a lot of respect for that."

Above photograph © Kiana Hayeri
Guest: Kiana Hayeri

For more information on our guest and the gear she uses, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/picturing-world-cultures-kiana-hayeri-iran-afghanistan

And if you haven't already listened, check out all episodes from our Picturing World Cultures podcast series here: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/promotion/picturing-world-cultureshttps://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/promotion/picturing-world-cultures

Stay Connected:
Kiana Hayeri Website: https://www.kianahayeri.com/
Kiana Hayeri Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kianahayeri/ 
Kiana Hayeri Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kianahj
Kiana Hayeri Ted Talk: https://www.ted.com/speakers/kiana_hayeri

Where does the medium of photography stand in an era where the latest mantra encourages people to "Skip the Photo Shoot?"

How can a viewer continue to trust photographs as evidence in a marketplace where AI is touted as a "revolution," and "the new digital camera" that we need to embrace?

And what methods can a photographer use today to be considered a credible witness with a transparent code of ethics?

These are just a few of the points raised in our discussion with renowned writer, photo editor, and educator Fred Ritchin. For more than forty years, Ritchin has kept tabs on the progressive shift from using a camera to record the visible as truth to getting the world to look the way we want it to look.

Join us, as we wade through the swampy terrain separating photographic fact from synthetic creation, as part of a wider series tracing the effects of AI on today's creative community.

Bonus invite: In preparation for an upcoming discussion between visual artists and AI instigators Boris Eldagsen and Miles Astray, we're soliciting listener questions. To get your chance for an on-air shout out, please post a question for our guests to the comments section below or email it to: podcast@bhphoto.com.

Guest: Fred Ritchin

Top shot: Synthetic image, not a photograph, generated by the artificial intelligence system DALL-E, in response to the text prompt by Fred Ritchin, "An iconic photograph from the year 1945," 2023.

For more information on our guest and the gear he uses, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/photography-in-the-age-of-synthetic-imaging-with-fred-ritchin

Stay Connected:

Fred Ritchin Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Ritchin

Fred Ritchin bio from ICP: https://www.icp.org/users/fredritchin

Four Corners Project: https://fourcornersproject.org/

The Fifth Corner https://thefifthcorner.org/

Writing with Light Campaign: https://wwlight.org/

The Synthetic Eye book: https://wwnorton.com/books/9780500297391

2023 has certainly come and gone in a flash, meaning it's time once again for us to reflect on new photo offerings in our ninth annual Cameras of the Year episode, now renamed Photo Gear of the Year. We'll be talking with B&H Camera and Lighting Senior Sales Trainer Kevin Rickert. Featured in our discussion are 25 new releases from Canon, FUJIFILM, Leica, Nikon, Panasonic, Ricoh Pentax, Polaroid, and Sony.

In addition to insights about each camera on our list, we also examine broader topics, such as manufacturers' attempts to regain market share lost to smart phones through a growing crop of cameras geared toward content creation. 

Instant cameras are a popular trend, leading us to diverge from alphabetical order when discussing this growing product category. And with two monochrome models among this year's offerings, we zoom in on the visual differences between pictures shot with these specialty cameras and those made by converting from color files. 

For listeners who enjoy a good debate, whet your appetite for the main course as we consider this year's most touted technological advance—the global shutter.

Finally, as an antidote to overindulgence that's so common during this time of year, Rickert offers some practical advice about avoiding GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) with the tip "You date your cameras, marry your lenses."

Guest: Kevin Rickert

For more information on our guest and the gear he uses, see:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/2023-photo-gear-of-the-year-with-kevin-rickert

Stay Connected:

B&H Photo Video Website: https://www.bhphotovideo.com

B&H Photo Video Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhphoto

B& Photo Video Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhphoto

B&H Photo Video YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BandH

B&H Event Space YouTube: https://bhpho.to/BHEventSpaceYT

B&H Photo Video Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bhphoto

B&H Photography Podcast Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1001107823418353

It's likely that everyone reading this has used, or at the very least heard of Adobe's ubiquitous piece of software called Photoshop. But are you familiar with the very first—and perhaps the most eccentric—of the evangelists working behind that magic curtain?

Well, you're about to meet him today, in our latest podcast featuring pioneers of photography and imaging. As Adobe employee number 38, graphic designer Russell Preston Brown was in the room when brothers Thomas and John Knoll showed up to demonstrate a new piece of software, in 1988. Suitably impressed with what he saw, Russell made a beeline to Adobe co-founder John Warnock and uttered the imperative "Buy it! Now!"

Thirty-five years later, Brown has not lost an ounce of passion for concocting magic with digital imaging tools, and for sharing his knowledge with other users during his outlandish workshops and events.

Join us for a rollicking chat with this shapeshifting impresario in cowboy attire. From Brown's earliest training in darkroom photography to his current digital workflow syncing a mobile phone with Profoto lighting gear, we cover a lot of ground.

Throughout our discussion, we reflect on the revolutionary effects of technological advances, plus Brown's uncanny luck to be there in the middle of the zeitgeist, which led him to a telling analogy:

"Yes, I was in the right place at the right time. I made my fair share of contributions, but it all comes back to—what if the Knoll brothers had not decided to make Photoshop? I want to see that Jimmy Stewart episode of "A Wonderful Life," where Photoshop didn't appear. Would we be using Letrasets?..."

Guest: Russell Preston Brown

For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see:

https://blogd7.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/adobes-first-evangelist-russell-preston-brown

Above photograph © Russell Preston Brown

Episode Timeline:

2:47: A peak behind the scenes of Brown's early experiences at Adobe and what constituted working as a graphic designer back in 1985. 

10:24: Brown's early training in darkroom photography, the type of photos he made and the tech transitions to the mobile phones that he works with today. 

15:55: Thomas Knoll calls the iPhone a hallucination of what you are seeing in terms of colors, dynamic range, and quality of light. It gives us what we want to remember from that moment.

19:45: Brown's workflow for shooting with an iPhone synched to Profoto strobes and other lighting modifiers, and his ability to carry everything around in one bag. 

24:12: Comparing image captures from different brands of mobile phones: iPhone, Google Pixel 7 and Samsung 23. Plus, make sure to use a solar filter over the lens when photographing the eclipse.

31:27: Brown's experiences working directly with programmers in the development of Photoshop, plus working one-on-one with a programmer to develop actions, scripts, and panels for his own Photoshop tools. 

36:06: Episode Break

36:39: Brown reflects on his rapport with photographic purists during early presentations about Photoshop—from a photojournalism conference in Perpignan, France, to an early discussion about digital with Greg Gorman. 

42:39: Adobe's earliest dreams and goals about prepress and processing images to create CMYK output for print publication, and the subsequent ability to access Raw data.

47:15: Differentiating between generations of Adobe users and how they employ the software, plus distinguishing between Lightroom Classic and Lightroom Desktop.

51:46: Applications that have kept all the original tool sets, offering many routes to similar results, to serve the full range and successive generations of its user base. 

54:00: The question of AI and differences between typing text and using AI prompts, or taking one's original photographs and supplementing them with AI through Photoshop's Generative Fill.

1:03:39: The dangers of using creative tools incorrectly, and Brown's predictions about creative trends to come. 

Guest Bio:

Russell Preston Brown is the Senior Creative Director at Adobe Systems Incorporated, as well as an Emmy Award-winning instructor. His ability to bring together the world of design and software development is a perfect match for Adobe products. In Brown 's 38 years of creative experience at Adobe, he has contributed to the evolution of Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator with feature enhancements, and advanced scripts. Most recently he has started to travel the world with a mobile phone camera to capture his adventures from a whole new creative perspective. This new age of mobile photography has sparked his creativity and has inspired a variety of new imaging directions. 

Brown also specializes in inspirational hands-on training at Adobe MAX, where he shows users how to work and play with Adobe software. He shares his delight in testing the creative limits of his tools as a prolific creator of an entertaining collection of Photoshop tips and tricks. His in-depth design knowledge and zany presentation style have won him a regular following among beginning, intermediate, and advanced Photoshop users alike. A live performance of the Russell Brown Show is not to be missed. 

Stay Connected:

Russell Preston Brown Website: https://russellbrown.com/

Russell Preston Brown on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_brown/

Russell Preston Brown on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/russellprestonbrown/

Russell Preston Brown on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/therussellbrownshow/videos

Russell Preston Brown on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user6594224

Russell Preston Brown at the Photoshop Hall of Fame:
https://www.photoshophalloffame.com/russell-brown

Adobe Max: https://www.adobe.com/max.html

"The eye should learn to listen before it looks." – Robert Frank

Australian photographer Wayne Quilliam used to consider his camera as a tool, but today it's become his "companion." This is just one of the inspiring takeaways from our chat for the new monthly podcast series, "Picturing World Cultures."

Listen in as Quilliam describes his journey—from growing up on the island state of Tasmania knowing little about his indigenous roots, to gaining a fascination with culture while traveling with the Royal Australian Navy, to his current roles as a leading indigenous imagemaker and cultural ambassador. 

When it comes to making pictures, Quilliam differentiates between an older approach of maintaining photographic objectivity and more contemporary methods for immersing yourself in a story to have a stronger sense of connection with subjects, and a better understanding of what that story will become. 

We also discuss aboriginal cultural protocols, and Quilliam offers surprising insights into the unique relationship between culture and skin color in Australia's indigenous communities.  

Stay to the end for tips about photographing culturally sensitive subjects by listening for images rather than seeing them, and Quilliam's following parting advice.

•    Know who you are as a person and what your role is within the journey.
•    Make sure you're as informed as possible about your subject and the who, what, how, why, when, and where of the story and end goal.
•    And most important, offer total respect to both the land and people as part of your photographic process.

Above photograph © Wayne Quilliam

Guest: Wayne Quilliam

For more information on our guest and the gear he uses, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/picturing-world-cultures-wayne-quilliam-australiatasmania

And if you haven't already listened, check out all episodes from our Picturing World Cultures podcast series here: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/promotion/picturing-world-cultures

Stay Connected:
Wayne Quilliam Website: https://aboriginal.photography/
Wayne Quilliam Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/waynequilliam/
Wayne Quilliam Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AustralianAboriginalPhotography/
Wayne Quilliam Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/waynequilliamphotography/#
Wayne Quilliam book Culture is Life: https://www.hardiegrant.com/au/publishing/bookfinder/book/wayne-quilliam_-culture-is-life-2nd-edition-by-wayne-quilliam/9781741178760
Wayne Quilliam interactive exhibit "Connection": https://www.thelumemelbourne.com/connection

Lee Miller may have been best known in life as a beautiful muse of the legendary Surrealist Man Ray yet, shortly after her passing, a lucky accident led her family to an attic treasure trove, which made her a photography legend in her own right. During this week's podcast, we unpack the details of this extraordinary tale, and hear many other anecdotes from Miller's adventurous life, in a chat with her son and biographer, Antony Penrose.

From her swift ascent as a '20s-era Vogue fashion model—and the ad campaign that sidelined her appeal—to her audacious exploits as an accredited war correspondent for the very same magazine, Penrose sheds light on a woman who lived many lives, as exemplified in the title of his first book.

Miller's remarkable bravery as a World War II combat photographer was recently immortalized in the feature film "Lee," starring Kate Winslet, which is another facet of our chat. Penrose describes what it was like to work with the actress as she plumbed Miller's archive for her character development, how she mastered the operation of a custom-made Rolleiflex, and how the camera became a personality in itself as part of the film.

Penrose had a troubled relationship with his mother during much of her life, as she struggled with PTSD and the enduring effects wartime atrocities had on her psyche. His reflections on her struggles and her accomplishments reveal the very human core of a creative powerhouse who lived in the moment, in true Surrealist fashion.

"This person who I had dismissed as being a useless drunk, now had other dimensions to her, which I was totally astonished by," recounts Penrose about the treasures she left behind in the attic. "… it had never occurred to me that her career was so distinguished, and so varied, and so absolutely groundbreaking in terms of being a woman war correspondent. And so, that's how it began." 

So, pop in your earbuds and listen in… this is an episode you won't want to miss!

Above photograph © 2023 Lee Miller Archives, England. All rights reserved. www.leemiller.co.uk

Guests: Antony Penrose

For more information on our guest and the gear he uses, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/lee-miller-combat-photographer-fashion-model-muse-with-antony-penrose

Stay Connected:

Lee Miller Archives at Farleys House: https://www.leemiller.co.uk/
Lee Miller: Photographs book: 
https://www.thamesandhudsonusa.com/books/lee-miller-photographs-hardcover
The Lives of Lee Miller biography: 
https://www.thamesandhudsonusa.com/books/the-lives-of-lee-miller-softcover
The film "Lee" on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5112584/
"Surrealist Lee Miller"" exhibit in Melbourne, Australia: https://www.heide.com.au/exhibitions/surrealist-lee-miller/
"Lee Miller in Print" exhibit in Rotterdam: https://www.boijmans.nl/en/exhibitions/lee-miller-in-print
"Seeing is Believing: Lee Miller & Friends" exhibit at Gagosian Gallery: https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/2023/seeing-is-believing-lee-miller-and-friends/

This episode of the B&H Photography Podcast was originally released on November 10, 2017. We revisit it today in honor of Hip-Hop's 50th anniversary, and the holiday of Thanksgiving. 

With great thanks to Vikki Tobak and the Contact High Project, we welcome three photographers to our studio who are responsible for some of the most iconic images from the history of hip-hop. Janette Beckman, Eric Johnson, and Danny Hastings join us to tell the stories behind their photos of RUN-DMC, Wu Tang Clan, Lauryn Hill, and many others. We also speak about issues important to photographers, from on-set technique, to artistic collaboration and influence, to gear, to networking and, of course, copyright and image licensing. For us, this was a highly anticipated recording, and it did not disappoint. Whether you are a hip-hop fan interested in behind-the-scenes stories or a photographer looking for insight, join podcast host Allan Weitz, founding creative producer John Harris, and sound engineer Jason Tables for this epic chat.

Above photograph © Janette Beckman

Guests: Janette Beckman, Danny Hastings, Eric Johnson, and Vikki Tobak

For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/a-history-of-hip-hop-photography-encore-episode-from-november-2017

Stay Connected:
Janette Beckman Website: https://janettebeckman.com/
Janette Beckman Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janettephoto/
Danny Hastings Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dannyhastings/
Upstairs at Eric's: https://upstairsaterics.org/
Eric Johnson Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upstairsaterics/
Vikki Tobak Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vikkitobak/
Vikki Tobak Contact High Project: https://www.contacthighproject.com/
Contact High Exhibition: https://www.mopop.org/exhibitions-plus-events/exhibitions/contact-high/

1950s America proved fertile ground for photographers Robert Frank and Todd Webb, who both received Guggenheim Foundation grants to traverse the country in 1955 and record their respective visions. While Frank's resulting book, The Americans, eventually made him a legend, Webb's photographs remained unpublished, and were all but lost to history due to a 1970s-era business deal gone bad.

The saga of Webb's unaccounted-for archive and its eventual recovery is one of the juicier tidbits from today's show, which focuses on the long-awaited opportunity to compare, contrast, and rediscover Frank and Webb's respective visions from their travels in the exhibition America and Other Myths.

Joining us in this discussion are Lisa Volpe, photography curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Bill Shapiro, former Life magazine editor-in-chief.

Journey back to the Nifty Fifties astride these two photographers as we examine how two distinct proposals to discover America at mid-century evolved along the open road and in the context of the era's social tenure. 

In the words of Lisa Volpe, "They both saw the same social ills playing out in American culture, they just talked about them differently."

Above photograph © The June Leaf and Robert Frank Foundation

Guests: Lisa Volpe & Bill Shapiro

For more information on our guests and they gear they use, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/1950s-america-as-seen-by-robert-frank-todd-webb-with-lisa-volpe-bill-shapiro

Stay Connected:
America and Other Myths Exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston: https://www.mfah.org/exhibitions/robert-frank-todd-webb-across-america-1955
America and Other Myths exhibition catalog: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300270891/america-and-other-myths/
Robert Frank Archive at the MFAH: https://www.mfah.org/films/robert-frank-collection
June Leaf & Robert Frank Foundation Website: https://leaffrankfoundation.org/
Todd Webb Archive: https://www.toddwebbarchive.com/news-events
Blind Magazine articles by Bill Shapiro: 
https://www.blind-magazine.com/stories/on-the-road/
https://www.blind-magazine.com/stories/youre-wrong-about-robert-frank/
https://www.blind-magazine.com/stories/treasure-and-junk/
Robert Frank film footage from Blind Magazine: https://www.blind-magazine.com/stories/exclusive-never-before-seen-video-of-robert-frank/
Bill Shapiro Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billshapiro/
Todd Webb in Africa episode on the B&H Photography Podcast: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/podcast-todd-webb-in-africa%E2%80%94rediscovered-color-photographs

B&H recently celebrated its 50th Anniversary, hosting a spectacular two-day celebration for the creator community, Bild Expo 2023, at New York's Jacob Javits Center. The podcast's past three episodes have featured in-depth interviews with a few of the esteemed speakers gracing Bild's four presenter stages. If you haven't already done so, please give them a listen, and then—hold on to your hats—in this episode we're trying something different!

To prepare for some fun during the show, we assembled a mobile studio and cooked up a three-question Bild Creator Quiz to spring on imagemakers who crossed our path. Once at Javits, we went on the prowl for subjects willing to be ambushed. Our resulting interviews feature a select group of attendees, expo vendors, Bild speakers, and B&H staff members. Ever since the show wrapped, we've been hard at work, combining the short clips we captured live with a narrated story line to take listeners on a virtual stroll through most aspects of the show. We hope you enjoy this taste of the intense, intoxicating, creative camaraderie that permeated the Bild experience.

Happy Anniversary B&H—here's to another 50 years of creativity and growth!

Above photograph courtesy of B&H Photo

Guests: Menashe Horowitz, Cliff Hausner, Mason Resnick, Michael Yamashita, Matt Hill, Nicolas Roman, Elizabeth Krist, Scott Kelby, Christian Domecq, John Harris, Ron Magill, Michael Mansfield, Patricia Beary, Linda Hacker, Erica Price, Brandon Remler, Dana Glidden, Ami Vitale, David Brommer

For more information on our guests and they gear they use, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/connecting-the-creator-community-bh-bild-ambush-interviews

Stay Connected:
B&H Photo Instagram Feed: https://www.instagram.com/bhphoto/
Cliff Hausner: https://www.instagram.com/cliffhausner/
Mason Resnick: https://www.instagram.com/mason_resnick/
Michael Yamashita: https://www.instagram.com/yamashitaphoto/

Matt Hill: https://www.instagram.com/matthillart/

Elizabeth Krist: https://www.visualthinkingcollective.com/elizabeth-cheng-krist

Scott Kelby: https://www.instagram.com/scottkelby/

John Harris: https://www.instagram.com/jrockfoto/

Ron Magill: https://www.instagram.com/ronmagillwildlife/

Michael Mansfield/Maine Media Workshops: https://www.instagram.com/mainemedia/

Soho Photo Gallery: https://www.instagram.com/sohophotogallery/

Erica Price: https://www.instagram.com/eternalpixny/

Brandon Remler: https://www.instagram.com/brandonremler/

Dana Glidden: https://www.instagram.com/danadigital/

Ami Vitale: https://www.instagram.com/amivitale/

David Brommer: https://www.instagram.com/suspectphotography/

Have you ever struggled with editing your images to present in a portfolio or as a story pitch? If so, our conversation in this podcast might be of some help.

We recently had the great fortune to speak with one of the finest picture editors in the business, former National Geographic photographer, photo editor, and director of photography, Sarah Leen, who we interviewed as part of our coverage of B&H's 50th Anniversary Bild Expo 2023.

Sarah has worked all sides of the table, starting in the field with a camera in hand, then transitioning to a photo editor, and ultimately being tapped to lead National Geographic as Director of Photography in 2013—the first woman ever selected for this role.

Among the topics covered in this chat are Sarah's shift from picture maker to photo editor and how she gained the credentials to take on such a role. We make the important distinction between editing the work of others vs. a photographer editing his or her own images, emphasizing the added difficulty of disconnecting from personal experience to make objective decisions, and how the guidance of a skilled photo editor can help.

Turning to her career trajectory, Sarah explains the differences between a photo editor and the director of photography, which is a managerial role. And, when it comes to the recent organizational changes at National Geographic—not to mention within the industry at large—Sarah clarifies that, despite ceasing newsstand sales, the magazine will still be widely available in print, yet by subscription only.

We end our chat with details about Sarah's current work as an independent photo editor and educator, her founding of the Visual Thinking Collective with three former colleagues, and the upcoming release of her latest book project Ukraine: A War Crime, featuring work by 93 photographers.

Above photograph © Sarah Leen

Guest: Sarah Leen

For more information on our guest and the gear she uses, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/communicating-visually-expert-tips-from-photo-editor-sarah-leen-at-bild

Stay Connected:
Sarah Leen Website: https://www.sarahleen.com
Sarah Leen Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roseleen
Sarah Leen X: https://twitter.com/sleen3
Sarah Leen Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarah.leen.92
Visual Thinking Collective Website: https://www.visualthinkingcollective.com
FotoEvidence Website and the book Ukraine: A War Crime: https://fotoevidence.com/books/ukraine-a-war-crime-by-ninety-three-photojournalists

As Deanne Fitzmaurice describes it, a photojournalist's job is part sociology and part archeology, but most important, it's being on the cutting edge of what's happening, telling stories about people. It's this combination of varied disciplines, connecting with subjects, and learning something new every day that has held her fascination from her very beginnings at the San Francisco Chronicle through to the rich tapestry she's woven as a visual storyteller today. We recently sat down with Fitzmaurice to gain insights into the many facets of her career as part of our coverage of B&H's 50th Anniversary Bild Expo 2023. 

During our chat, Fitzmaurice regales us with details from some of her most impactful projects, including the challenging mix of sensitivity and perseverance needed to tell the story of Saleh, a seriously injured Iraqi boy. After explaining how this assignment morphed from a one-day news story into a Pulitzer-prize-winning long-term project, we take a deep dive into how image selection and sequencing were key to this award-winning series. 

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Fitzmaurice also describes confronting baseball great Barry Bonds about his problem with photographers, which shattered his impenetrable armor and resulted in her gaining exclusive access to photograph him both on and off the field. 

When discussing essential rules of journalistic ethics and credibility in documenting an unfolding scene, Fitzmaurice points to the category of portraiture as a rare opportunity to shift out of fly on the wall mode to direct the subject and build rapport. We conclude our chat with insights about the role luck has played in her career, and how she puts herself in a position for synchronicity to unfold. 

Above photograph © Deanne Fitzmaurice

Guest: Deanne Fitzmaurice

For more information on our guest and the gear she uses, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/taking-chances-on-stories-to-tell-photojournalist-deanne-fitzmaurice-at-bild

Stay Connected:
Deanne Fitzmaurice Website: https://www.deannefitzmaurice.com/
Deanne Fitzmaurice Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deannefitzmaurice/
Deanne Fitzmaurice X: https://twitter.com/deanne_fitz
Deanne Fitzmaurice Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeanneFitzmauricePhotography
Think-tank: https://www.thinktankphoto.com/

Water is essential to life on Earth. The health of our oceans—and its inhabitants—is equally crucial to maintaining Earth's delicate balance. This is an apt takeaway from our exclusive chat with renowned underwater photographer and filmmaker Brian Skerry, as part of our coverage of B&H's 50th Anniversary Bild Expo 2023.

Above photograph © Brian Skerry

We sat down with Skerry shortly before his presentation on the Bild Expo Main Stage to get the full scoop on his career arc, from a youthful fantasy of being an ocean explorer in the mold of Indiana Jones to his more recent work interpreting the culture of whales and other inhabitants of the deep.

We also delve into sobering concerns about the extreme geologic change Skerry has witnessed in the oceans over time. 

With such facts in mind, he describes the responsibility he feels to combine scientific research and powerful storytelling, so that we may better understand our relationship to nature, and to change our behaviors for the better.

Guest: Brian Skerry

For more information on our guest and the gear he uses, see:  https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/why-oceans-matter-underwater-photographer-brian-skerry-at-bild

Stay Connected:
Brian Skerry Website: https://brianskerry.com/
Brian Skerry Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brianskerry/
Brian Skerry X: https://www.twitter.com/brian_skerry/
Brian Skerry Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brian.skerry/
Brian Skerry - Secrets of the Whales: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/shows/secrets-of-the-whales 
Brian Skerry - The Sentient Sea Exhibit, Siena, Italy: https://festival.sienawards.com/en/brian-skerry-2/
Brian Skerry - Ocean Odyssey Exhibit, Paris, France: https://www.atelier-lumieres.com/en/ocean-odyssey

Sports enthusiasts from around the world will soon be glued to their nearest viewing screen, watching the action unfold during the international Summer Games in Paris.

But how much do you know about the finer points of photographing elite level competition, or about the lightning-fast, high-tech journey these images make from inside a camera to a remote editing workflow, and then onward to be enjoyed by you, the viewer?

In today's podcast we've got the inside track on how these visual delicacies are brought to life and served up to global audiences. Our guests are Getty Images Chief Photographer Maddie Meyer and Managing Editor James Chance, who runs Getty Images' editing operations in Europe.

We start with Maddie, who details the advance preparations and complex logistics required to ensure the success of 60 Getty Images photographers on the ground in Paris, alongside a sizable amount of remote and robotic gear. In the show's second half, James describes the impressive synergy between the photographers on site and the massive team of photo editors he's assembled to work remotely from London and in other locations around the world—a complex infrastructure that's a first for the agency.

Immerse yourself in the passion for sports and learn what it takes to capture images that set you apart from the pack.

As Maddie Meyer sums up, "That's where the real challenge comes in. And that's where I would say it's really difficult. But that's where knowing the athletes comes in, knowing the way they move, knowing their rituals before they get in the pool, knowing some of the dynamics between the athletes, where you can really kind of pick up on the minutia to try and make something special."

Guests: Maddie Meyer & James Chance

Episode Timeline:

3:37: Maddie's college internship at Getty Images, and her experiences as a woman shooting sports.

8:30: Plans for covering the Paris Games, and details about the Getty Images team.

11:56: Maddie's aquatics specialty and details about photographer assignments.

16:23: A question of shooting strategy: going for maximum volume vs anticipating more and shooting less.

22:37: Dedicated cameras vs remotes and robotic equipment, plus Maddie's go-to gear: A Canon R3 mirrorless and 28-70 mm f/2 lens.

28:23: Episode Break

 29:35: The synergy and trust between photography and photo editing teams.

33:28: Logistics of staff photographers, remotes, and robotic cameras on the ground to capture the Paris Games

 38:28: Details about Getty Images remote photo editing staff in the UK during the Paris games, and their three-stage editing process.

43:33: The technical tools—hardware and software—powering the Getty Images workflow and file management process.

1:00:58: The most important qualities in a Getty Images photo editor.

Guest Bios:

Maddie Meyer is a chief photographer for Getty Images based in—but not geographically limited to—Boston, Massachusetts. She joined the Getty Images team in January 2015, after earning a Bachelor of Science degree in photojournalism from Ohio University. Maddie's assignments range from covering New England's professional sports teams to international travel covering events such as the Men's and Women's World Cup, the FINA World Swimming championships and the Olympic Games in Rio and Pyeongchang. Her pictures are continually published in major metropolitan newspapers, magazines, and websites worldwide, including ESPN, the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, the Washington Post, among many other media outlets.

Equally skilled as a photographer, James Chance began his editing career as a freelancer in London. He currently serves as the managing editor for Getty Images Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He works to train and schedule the editing team, as well as plan editing for major events such as the Women's World Cup in Australia, and the Paris Olympic Games. James helped to create the vision for Getty Images remote editing plan, where photo editors will be working out of the company's London office, while the photographers will be in Paris. 

Stay Connected:

Maddie Meyer Website: https://www.maddiemeyerphoto.com/

Maddie Meyer Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maddiemeyer2/

James Chance Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jameschance_5

Getty Images Website: https://www.gettyimages.com/

Samsung T7 Shield Portable SSD: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1742972-REG/samsung_mu_pe4t0s_am_4tb_t7_shield_portable.html

Artificial intelligence is a polarizing topic, and its rapid evolution within content creation has set our once familiar world on edge. To help demystify this gargantuan subject and add clarity to important concerns, we're turning to an artist positioned at the very center of the debate between photography and AI imagery.

Above photograph © Boris Eldagsen

German media artist Boris Eldagsen made global headlines after entering his AI-generated image, "The Electrician," in the Sony World Photography Awards. He won a top prize, and then ultimately declined the award due to a lack of open discussion about the need to categorize photographs and AI-generated imagery differently. 

Join us for this frank and informative discussion about generative AI. Some of the diverse topics we cover include ways creativity is shared between man and machine, the effects of different languages (and even phrasing) when creating text prompts, inherent biases in AI training data and ways to counter this, the emergence of AI agencies, the newly created job title of Prompt Engineer, and much, much more.

And for those listeners who fear AI as a threat to their photo careers, our discussion ends on an upbeat note, with the classification of generative AI as a knowledge accelerator, being most beneficial to practitioners with a solid background in traditional photography and the visual arts. To quote Eldagsen, "For the first time in history, the older generation has an advantage..." We'll let you listen to hear the end.

Guests: Boris Eldagsen

For more information on our guest and the gear he uses, see: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/fake-memories-promptography-and-generative-ai-with-boris-eldagsen

Stay Connected:
Boris Eldagsen Website: https://www.eldagsen.com/
Boris Eldagsen Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boriseldagsen/
Boris Eldagsen Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boriseldagsen
Boris Eldagsen YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EldagsenBoris/
Boris Eldagsen Workshops: https://www.eldagsen.com/lecturingworkshops/
Boris Eldagsen Panama Exhibition: https://www.eldagsen.com/pseudomnesia3/

Above photograph © Ashok Sinha

How central is your personal drive and unique creative vision to the pictures you make? If these characteristics strike a chord or are traits to which you aspire, then you won't want to miss our inspiring chats with photographers Ashok Sinha and Anabel DFlux. We caught up with both of these accomplished creatives earlier this year at B&H's 2023 Depth of Field Conference.

We begin with architectural photographer Ashok Sinha, whose personal project to document iconic mid-century structures and classic cars in Southern California resulted in the crowd-pleasing monograph Gas & Glamour, now in its second printing. Sinha offers valuable insights about how channeling his passions and not overthinking the details allowed him to bring his photography career to new heights—resulting in his work being displayed as a massive billboard in downtown LA, released as limited-edition NFTs, and featured in gallery exhibitions in collaboration with an international fashion brand.

After the break, professional animal photographer Anabel DFlux describes how she fashioned a personal penchant for pets into a sustainable career path while still a teen. Yet, despite her clear passion for and talent with pets, DFlux reaches beyond a single photographic specialty to cultivate work across multiple niches—including the heady realm of rock and roll.

Check out these real-life career examples and walk away with an equal measure of inspiration and practical tips.

Guests: Ashok Sinha and Anabel DFlux

For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see:
blogd7.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podca…-anabel-dflux

Ashok Sinha Website: https://ashoksinha.com
Ashok Sinha Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashoksinhaphoto
Ashok Sinha Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashok.sinha.3720
Ashok Sinha Twitter: https://twitter.com/ashoksinhaphoto
Ashok Sinha YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ashoksinha2167
Ashok Sinha Gas and Glamour book: https://ashoksinha.com/BOOK/1

Anabel DFlux Website: https://www.deliquesceflux.com
Anabel DFlux Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anabeldflux
Anabel DFlux Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeliquesceFlux
Anabel DFlux YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/anabeldflux
Anabel DFlux at Sigma: https://blog.sigmaphoto.com/author/anabel-dflux

Pelican Cases Link: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/browse/Pelican/ci/4457/N/4232860887

Rodney Smith was a photographic visionary, with an allegiance to the image above all else. Long acclaimed for his iconic black-and-white pictures—not to forget his later jewel-like color scenes—Smith captured enchanted worlds full of subtle magic and lighthearted humor. Using only analog film and the aesthetics of natural light, his dream-like photographs are matched in quality by the craft and physical beauty of his prints.

Smith died in 2016, yet the enduring precision, elegance, and whimsy of his world view is nowhere more evident than in our conversation with Leslie Smolan, his widow and executive director of his estate; and his long-time assistant, master printer Terence Falk.

Listen in as Smolan discusses key aspects of Smith's career development and describes her recent collaboration with the J. Paul Getty Museum on the book, Rodney Smith: A Leap of Faith. And Falk provides firsthand anecdotes about the unique experience of working on a Rodney Smith shoot—an experience that led one powerful New York executive to call his secretary from a midtown pay phone and exclaim, "I feel like I'm in Ferris Bueller's Day Off!"

As New York Fashion Week ushers in the fall season, we're looking back on the career of one of the most distinctive photographers to infuse business and fashion with a timeless sense of style and grace.

Guests: Leslie Smolan and Terence Falk

For more information on our guests and their gear they use, see:
The Estate of Rodney Smith Website: rodneysmith.com/
The Estate of Rodney Smith Facebook: www.facebook.com/rodneysmithphotography/
The Estate of Rodney Smith Instagram: www.instagram.com/_rodneysmith/
The Estate of Rodney Smith Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/rodneysmithpics/
Rodney Smith Lecture at the B&H Event Space: www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photog…mith-1970-2016
Conversation about Rodney Smith at FIT Amphitheater: www.fitnyc.edu/museum/events/index.php
Rodney Smith Exhibition at Staley Wise Gallery in New York: www.staleywise.com/exhibitions/rodney-smith2
Rodney Smith: A Remembrance with Dr Rebecca Senf: santafeworkshops.com/creativity-con…-rebecca-senf/
Rodney Smith: A Leap of Faith book: shop.getty.edu/products/rodney-s…th-978-1606068465

According to food photographer Mica McCook, the secret sauce is more than simply visual appeal, it's connecting to how the images make you feel. As McCook likes to say, she creates cravings, one photo at a time. 
McCook's photos are dramatic like telenovelas, embracing the magic of a chef's palate, and delighting in the vibrant flavors that bring dishes to life. Her approach is theatrical and bold, akin to setting the stage for a grand performance. Each element, from the decadent chocolate drizzle to the vibrant pop of a fresh herb, contributes to the culinary drama. For McCook, food is not just about sustenance, it's an experience. 
In a world where fast food and quick meals are often the norm, McCook is here to remind us of the richness and pleasure of a well-composed dish, and to celebrate the chefs who create, the farmers who cultivate, and the diners who savor. As an extension of her photography business, McCook launched her biweekly podcast, The Savory Shot, in June 2022, because she is perpetually curious about the food industry and those who dwell within it.  

Listen in to hear how a life-altering trip to the Reading Terminal Market, in Pennsylvania, laid the groundwork for McCook's career transition from people to food, and even inspired her unique business name of Austin Food Guide. We also discuss how her background in theater influences her flavorful photographic approach, the dramatic lighting she favors, as well as her collaborative, community-oriented outlook. McCook was recently accepted into an innovative mentorship program for BIPOC photographers led by Apostrophe Reps. Don't miss the juicy details about how to apply!

Above photograph © Mica McCook

Guest: Mica McCook of The Austin Food Guide

For more information on our guest and the gear she uses, see: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/finger-lickin-food-photography-with-mica-mccook-the-austin-food-guide

Stay Connected:

Mica McCook Website: https://micamccook.com
Mica McCook Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mica.mccook
Mica McCook LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/micamccook
Austin Food Guide Website: https://austinfoodguide.com
Austin Food Guide Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austinfoodguide
Austin Food Guide Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/austinfoodguide
Austin Food Guide Twitter: https://twitter.com/ austinfoodguide
Austin Food Guide TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@austinfoodguide
The Savory Shot Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/savory-shot/id1618801583

Bruce Gilden is a street-photography icon. With summer in full swing and International Street Photography Day (otherwise known as Henry Cartier-Bresson's birthday) looming on the horizon, what better time to feature a lively chat with the master himself, recorded at B&H's 2023 Depth of Field Conference, just before the Magnum photographer's keynote lecture.

Gilden's emotionally fraught depictions of real people up close are an acquired taste, and we address this aspect of his work during our chat, with Allan admitting that Gilden's work has terrified him in the past. We also touch on a somewhat surprising facet of Gilden's career—fashion photography—as he discusses making pictures for high-end clients such as Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabana, and Diesel. From the influence of early 20th-century mugshots on Gilden's aesthetic to the importance of making, and living with, visual choices to keep the photography fresh, our discussion covers a lot of ground. Stay to the end to learn about Gilden's long held photographic wish—photographing murder in a beautiful way.

And for anyone who's ever fantasized about a taking workshop with Gilden, check out the link below to his upcoming street photography workshop in New York!

Above photograph © Bruce Gilden

Guest: Magnum photographer Bruce Gilden

For more information on our guest and the gear he uses, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/closer-look-bruce-gilden

Stay Connected:
Bruce Gilden Website: https://www.brucegilden.com
Bruce Gilden Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BruceGilden
Bruce Gilden Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bruce_gilden
Bruce Gilden Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/brucegilden
Bruce Gilden's Magnum page: https://www.magnumphotos.com/photographer/bruce-gilden/
Bruce Gilden's Upcoming New York Workshop: miamistreetphotographyfestival.org/bruce-gilden

The integration of AI technologies with Adobe software has set the creative world on its head. To get a read on this hot-button, rapidly evolving field, we tapped two generations of tech wizardry—Scott Kelby, the original Photoshop Guy, and retouching powerhouse Kristina Sherk. We sat down with both of these experts at B&H's 2023 Depth of Field Conference in February 2023.

Our first guest is Scott Kelby, the original Photoshop guy, who discusses the good and the bad of AI technology, from how it helps create workflow efficiencies to the potential for costing some photographers a job. Kelby envisions a future comprising high-end pros and serious iPhoneographers. With this in mind, we delve into the growing advantages of capturing images on a mobile device, while also identifying subjects that still require more robust gear.

After a break, Kristina Sherk shares details about the powerful AI selection tools integrated into the Classic and Mobile versions of Adobe Lightroom, which are disruptive in a good way. Stay to the end for her story about saving the day for a wedding photographer whose sharp focus was disrupted by a rogue officiant, who stepped in front of the lens just before a couple's first kiss.

Guests: Scott Kelby & Kristina Sherk

For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/adobe-software-and-ai-scott-kelby-kristina-sherk-at-depth-of-field-2023

Above photograph © Kristina Sherk

Stay Connected:
Scott Kelby Website: https://scottkelby.com
Scott Kelby Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottkelby
Scott Kelby Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SKelby
Scott Kelby YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/kelbymediagroup
Scott Kelby Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/skelby01

Kristina Sherk / Shark Pixel Website: https://www.sharkpixel.com
Kristina Sherk / Shark Pixel Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shark_pixel
Kristina Sherk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sharkpixel
Kristina Sherk / Shark Pixel YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SharkPixel

Do you have questions about establishing your photography business and legally protecting yourself and your images? From setting up a business entity to drafting client contracts to key terms in a model release, we cover these points and much, much more, during an in-depth discussion with intellectual property attorney Rachel Brenke.

Listen in and learn about the value of contracts as the center point in any sort of business transaction. You'll also discover how the legal tripod of a business entity, attorney-drafted contracts, and liability insurance can create a powerful force field of protection. During the show's second half we explore various infringement scenarios, and even take the plunge into potential legal implications in the wake of AI technology and other current trends.
Guest: Rachel Brenke
For more information on our guest and the gear she uses, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/legal-matters-for-photographers-with-rachel-brenke-thelawtog

Stay Connected:
Rachel Brenke Website: https://rachelbrenke.com
TheLawTog® Website: https://www.thelawtog.com
Eden Law Website: https://eden-law.com
Rachel Brenke Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelbrenke
TheLawTog® Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelawtog
TheLawTog® Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelawtog
TheLawTog® Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thelawtog
Audio-Technica Link: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/browse/Audio-Technica/ci/15748/N/4232861079

Like good acting—and skilled retouching—masterful lighting is an accomplished skill that should remain mostly unseen. This is the takeaway from our conversations with two great lighting whisperers, Canon technical advisor Eric Stoner and Nikon Ambassador Joe McNally. We sat down with both of these experts earlier this year at B&H's 2023 Depth of Field Conference.

Our first guest is Eric Stoner, a Canon technical advisor who specializes in creating portraits with Speedlites and colored gels. He offers insights about the high degree of control these tools provide, describing how adding colored gels boosts creative improvisation and heightens impact. We also discuss the technological advances of the past 20 years, while reflecting on how great photography still hinges on learning the craft and connecting with your subjects.

After a break, Nikon Ambassador Joe McNally discusses his mission to light photographs in a way that provides an unfettered experience for the viewer. In addition, we explore his long and successful career as a working professional, from his formative years as a LIFE magazine staff photographer to the recent exhibition of those very same images in a fine art gallery. Stay to the end to learn about his latest book The Real Deal, which he wrote during COVID, and hear about his busy schedule of international workshops.

 Guests: Eric Stoner & Joe McNally

For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/lighting-whisperers

Above photograph © Joe McNally

Stay Connected:
Eric Stoner Website: https://www.mystonegallery.net/
Eric Stoner Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericstonerphoto

Joe McNally Website: https://joemcnally.com
Joe McNally Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joemcnallyphoto
Joe McNally Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joemcnallyphoto
Joe McNally YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/joemcnallyphoto
Joe McNally Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoeMcNallyPhoto
Joe McNally Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/joemcnallyphoto

"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." There is no better role model for this Thomas Edison quote than Steve Sasson, the electrical engineer fresh out of grad school who was hired to work in a Kodak research lab, in 1973. With a passion for scavenging parts and a penchant for invention, he developed the world's first self-contained digital camera just two years after his arrival in the lab.

In honor of National Camera Day, we invited Sasson to the podcast for an in-depth discussion about his invention of this revolutionary device. Listen in to hear about the surprising reception Sasson's prototype received from Kodak executives during early demonstrations of its use, the complicated mix of cultural and business factors confronting a company in the throes of innovation, the many years that elapsed before Sasson was allowed to speak publicly about the camera, and much, much more.
 
In addition to being a storyline worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster, our conversation offers rare insight into the inner workings of a long-established, successful company that knows a lot about the problem but doesn't like the answer. Stay to the end to hear Sasson make a comparison to a groundbreaking technological development in the corporate world today.

Guest: Steve Sasson

For more information on our guest and the gear he uses, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/invention-of-digital-camera

Above photograph © Courtesy of the George Eastman MuseumStay Connected

Steve Sasson Profile at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: https://eng.rpi.edu/about/alumni-achievements/steven-j-sasson
Steve Sasson at the National Inventor's Hall of Fame: https://www.invent.org/inductees/steven-sasson
Steve Sasson at the National Science & Technology Medals Foundation: https://nationalmedals.org/laureate/steven-sasson/
The George Eastman Museum: https://www.eastman.org

Family portraits have come a long way since the heyday of department-store setups. In this episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we examine business and creative factors at work in this constantly evolving field, recorded on location at B&H's 2023 Depth of Field Conference. Listen in for fresh insights on family portraiture from two specialists serving very different market segments.

Above photograph © Monica Sigmon, Sigmon Taylor Photography

Our first guest is Michele Celentano, a serial entrepreneur who's shifted from weddings to families to her latest focus on the big business of school and sports portraits. After getting the scoop on her career trajectory, Celentano describes how she's modernizing and redefining this very lucrative market. 

After a break, we chat with Monica Sigmon about the central role that formal family portraits can play in establishing a visual legacy and building self-worth among your clients, while she also elaborates on the complex economic factors involved in pricing your work.

Guests: Michele Celentano & Monica Sigmon

For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see:
https://blogd7.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/business-family-portraits-michele-celentano-monica-sigmon

Top shot © Monica Sigmon, Sigmon Taylor Photography

Episode Timeline:

3:37: Celentano's early mentors, professional groups that helped coach her in business, and early advice she received.

9:55: Reinventing yourself, from weddings to portraits to school and sports photography.

14:25: Adapting a business to the volume market for school sports portraits.

16:52: Differentiating between school sports portraits and senior portrait styles and modernizing the approach to deliver a clean contemporary look.

19:28: Believing in the work you do to manifest a value-based experience for your clients.

24:58: Episode Break

26:14: The power of a family portrait to change the way that children and families see themselves, and the value of formal printed portraits that lock in time as part of family history.

34:14: The shrinking of the family portrait specialty as a full-time career.

36:00: Sigmon's Black Label portrait series as a premium style of formal portrait.

37:42: Explaining a family portrait shoot to kids to get them on board with the concept, while minimizing studio clutter and props to keep the focus on the portrait session.

44:25: The importance of taking control of the shoot and the experience. You are hired for being an expert in what you do.

Guest Bios:

Michele Celentano has enjoyed a professional photography career of more than 30-years, from her start photographing weddings in New York City, through a shift to newborn, children, and family portraiture to her recent focus on the school and sports portrait market. Widely known as the "Queen of Group Posing," Celentano has a passion for teaching and giving back to the photographic community. Her artwork has been published in numerous books and in a wide range of professional photography magazines.  

Monica Sigmon is on a mission to revitalize family portraiture. After opening her Williamsburg, Virginia, photography studio, in 2000, she quickly built a successful business with a reputation for excellence and cutting-edge imagery. The recipient of two prestigious degrees from the Professional Photographers of America, she is a popular speaker, traveling nationwide to offer entertaining programs on marketing, building your brand and running a luxury studio with authenticity. Sigmon is also co-host of The f-Stops Here podcast.

Stay Connected:

Michele Celentano Website: https://www.michelecelentano.com/

Michele Celentano Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michelecelentanophotographer/

Michele Celentano Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MicheleCelentano.photographer/

Michele Celentano Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/michcelentano/

Monica Sigmon Website: https://www.sigmontaylor.com/

Monica Sigmon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sigmontaylor/

Monica Sigmon Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SigmonTaylorPhotography

Monica Sigmon Twitter: https://twitter.com/monicaandmike

Monica Sigmon Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/monica_sigmon/

A photographer's success hinges on access. This is an underlying thread in the tapestry woven in this week's show. Our discussion covers multiple facets and cultural attributes of Indian society, as seen through the eyes of a photographer with a knack for being in the right place at the right time.

In this month's episode of the series, Picturing World Cultures, we speak with Indian photographer Pablo Bartholomew about his long career as a documentarian and photojournalist.

From his early intimate views of 60s-era hippies launching a counterculture invasion from the West to his photojournalistic coverage of historic events, Bartholomew shares insights about dynamics at work behind the scenes. We also discuss changes to the marketplace for pictures over time, and whether an iconic picture is still able to affect a change in the world.

As an antidote to a life chasing the news, Bartholomew embarked on a ten-year documentation of India's remote Naga tribes. In the show's second half, he walks us through his background research and the permissions process involved in photographing tribespeople and their customs with professional lighting gear.

 There's also a personal motivation behind Bartholomew's Naga Project. As a child, he had heard many stories about goodwill the Naga showed his father's family during their flight from Burma to India during World War II.

 "Principally, what I couldn't wrap my head around was that headhunters, they're supposed to be these ferocious people. Why would they let fair game pass through their backyard, to the degree where they would provide food and shelter?" he says. "So, there was in this savage something very kind. And I wanted to find out what the contradiction was."

Tune in today for more on the Naga tribes and other stories from India!

If you haven't already listened, check out all the episodes of our Picturing World Cultures podcast series here.

 Guest: Pablo Bartholomew

Episode Timeline:

2:16: Pablo describes how the caste system functions as a defining aspect of Indian culture.

7:18: The influx of the Western hippy counterculture in India as recorded in Pablo's earliest pictures.

12:27: Capturing life on the streets of Delhi, Bombay, and Calcutta, a photo essay on Calcutta's Chinatown, and Pablo's work with the renowned Indian film director Satyajit Ray.

17:05: The rise of Pablo's photojournalism career, the dynamics of a photographer's access, and his iconic images of the tragic gas leak at Bhopal.

29:09: Pablo discusses how the work of a photojournalist has changed in the past 40 years.

32:53: Go-to camera gear, the various cameras Pablo's used over the years, and his transition from analog to digital.

36:37: Tips for mitigating the heat and humidity of India, plus equipment for image storage and film scanning.

40:10: Episode Break

41:23: Pablo's long-term project documenting the Naga tribes in Northeast India, his preliminary ethnographic research on the tribes, and gaining permission to photograph with full lighting gear. 

51:43: Animist practices within the Naga tribes, and distinctions between tribes within the Naga identity.

1:00:05: Naga rituals it may be too late to photograph, and a memorable festival held by the Konyak tribe.

1:04:09: Pablo's cross-cultural project documenting economic emigres from India who have resettled in the US, France, England, Madagascar, and Portugal.

1:14:38: Pablo Bartholomew answers our PWC Visual Questionnaire.

Guest Bio: Pablo Bartholomew, a self-taught photographer born in New Delhi in 1955. His father Richard was a noted art critic as well as a photographer, allowing Pablo to learn photography at home at a very young age.

In his subsequent career of nearly fifty years, Pablo has documented societies in conflict and transition, while also recording intimate details of his own generation maturing amid a changing India.

From 1983 to 2004, his photojournalistic work was featured in every major international publication, from National Geographic to Paris Match and beyond. Pablo's photographs have been recognized by World Press Photo on three different occasions, including a 1985 'Picture of the Year' award for his riveting image from the Bhopal gas tragedy.

In 2013, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India for his contributions to photography, and in 2014, he was honored with the status of Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.

For more information on our guest and the gear he uses, see:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/picturing-world-cultures-pablo-bartholemew-india

Stay Connected:

Pablo Bartholomew Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pablobartholomew/

Pablo Bartholomew Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/parabart

Pablo Bartholomew Bhopal photo from World Press Photo 1985: https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photocontest/1985

Pablo Bartholomew Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Bartholomew

Pablo Bartholomew Nagaland Project: https://ninefish.in/viewing-room/the-nagas/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBldVr4YIBE

Kishor Parekh: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishor_Parekh

Humans and pets have shared a deep bond for centuries, yet our animal companions are now considered more a part of the family than ever. So, it's no surprise that pet photography is a blossoming niche, and a perfect subject for this week's podcast—especially since it's National Pet Month!

Above photograph © Nancy Borowick

We start by chatting with pet photographer Karen Hoglund, who alerted us to her work in response to Allan's musing about using the hashtag "kittens" to generate traffic on social media. After noting that #kittens only yields a 20 percent bump over #photographer, Hoglund offers advice on the dos and don'ts of posing pets, and picking up on their non-verbal signs of anxiety or stress.

After a break, we switch gears from posed pet portraits to learn about Sony Artisan Nancy Borowick's candid editorial-style coverage of the Westminster Dog Show, and her long-term project, "Part of the Pack." Primarily known for telling intimate stories about people, Nancy explains how an invitation to photograph the dog show helped her process the loss of both her parents to cancer. She talks about the challenges of covering the show's frenetic atmosphere, describing how she maintains focus by seeking out telling details. 

As we all agree, pets are truly a gift in our daily lives, and learning how to capture their unique personalities in pictures can only deepen this bond and enrich our experience.

Guests: Karen Hoglund & Nancy Borowick

For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see:
https://blogd7.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/kittens-picturing-pets-karen-hoglund-nancy-borowick

Top shot © Nancy Borowick

Episode Timeline:

 2:06: Does #Kittens or pictures of cute pets help to drive traffic on social media? 

4:28: How to recognize signs of stress and anxiety in pets, and tips for posing pets during a photo session.

7:48: Giving treats to a pet so they'll behave during a photo shoot and behavior differences to keep in mind when photographing dogs or cats.

16:06: Tips for photographing groups of pets and people, plus advice for photographing darker-colored pets.

21:32: Hoglund's pet photography gear bag and her thoughts on using mirrorless cameras and lenses.

25:57: Episode Break

27:04: Nancy Borowick's love of the Westminster Dog show and the challenges of working in such a fast-paced, frenetic environment.

36:11: Difficult breeds to photograph, the benefits of real-time eye autofocus for animals in Sony lenses, and Borowick's favorite dog breed.

39:25: Borowick's love for close-up details as storytelling tools, and her favorite lens: a Sony G series 85mm f/1.4.

42:30: Evolution from photographing at the dog show to Borowick's long-term project "Part of the Pack," and the differences between dogs and owners at a top competition setting and in a home environment

54:30: Final thoughts from Borowick and Hoglund about owning pets today.

Guest Bios:

Karen Hoglund started out as a graphic designer, art-directing photo shoots for ad agencies and commercial clients. After honing her camera skills by photographing children and families, she shifted focus to her true love—dogs and cats. After starting a pet photography business in 2012, she hasn't looked back, working from her home base in Denver, Colorado with a squeaky toy in one hand, a camera in the other, and fur all over her clothes.

Nancy Borowick is an internationally renowned photographer, author, teacher, and speaker. A graduate of the International Center of Photography, she is a Sony Artisan of Imagery and a Kickstarter Thought Leader. Working regularly with the New York Times since 2013, Borowick has told intimate stories of people, places, and pets from every corner of the globe. Her break-out project about her two parents in parallel treatment for stage-four cancer has received major accolades and awards such as The Arnold Newman Prize and the Humanitarian Award from the organization Women That Soar. This project was published in 2018 as the monograph The Family Imprint. Borowick currently resides on the island of St. John, USVI with her husband, two sons, and her dog, Einstein.

Stay Connected:

Karen Hoglund Website: https://karenhoglundphotography.com

Karen Hoglund Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenhoglundphoto

Karen Hoglund Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenHoglundPhotography

Karen Hoglund Twitter: https://twitter.com/khoglund_photo

Karen Hoglund Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/khoglund/

Karen Hoglund YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@karenhoglundphotography/

Karen Hoglund TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@karenhoglundphoto

Nancy Borowick Website: https://www.nancyborowick.com

Nancy Borowick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nancyborowick/

Nancy Borowick Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nancy.borowick/

Nancy Borowick Twitter: https://twitter.com/nancyborowick

Tati Bruening and Anya Anti are two rising stars at the confluence of photography, digital assets, and social influence. In this week's episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we get the lowdown on their burgeoning careers in fashion / beauty and conceptual / fine art portraits in part two of our chats from B&H's 2023 Depth of Field Conference.

Above photograph © Tati Bruening

We start with Tati Bruening, who shares how her plea to "Make Instagram Instagram Again" became a global meme, ultimately prompting a response from the platform's head. Learn how she spent the pandemic focused on daily DIY shoots with friends, allowing her to quickly master her Canon 5D Mark IV inside and out. Today, Bruening is supported by a powerhouse management team. Hear how she made these essential connections, get tips on working with a manager, and learn which pitfalls to avoid.

After a break, we shift gears to Anya Anti, who fills us in on the intricate set design and attentive compositing work behind her whimsical portraits, which seamlessly bridge fantasy and real life. She distinguishes between shooting self-portraits for a more personal approach and posing models as alter egos for more control behind the camera. We also tackle the elephant in the room—artificial intelligence in photographic creation—with Anti weighing in on both the significant ethical issues posed by AI and its positive aspects as incorporated in Adobe's smart selection tools.

Guests: Tati Bruening and Anya Anti

For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/confronting-algorithms-and-ai-tati-bruening-anya-anti-at-depth-of-field-2023

Top shot © Tati Bruening

Episode Timeline:

2:38: Tati Bruening's offhand Instagram post that turned into an international viral movement, emphasizing the value of stills over video. 

6:13: Bruening's preferences for lighting tools, modifiers, and lenses.

11:52: Making an initial connection to a manager and assembling a wider team.

14:04: Bruening's 5-year plan to stop being controlled by social media algorithms.

15:33: Bruening's tips for seeking and working with a manager and pitfalls to avoid.

18:50: Episode Break

20:44: Anya Anti's approach to self-portraits vs. photographing other people to use as alter egos in her pictures.

25:20: Concept development and preproduction process for Anti's portraits.

28:27: Concerns about AI technology and its related ethical issues.

32:31: The beneficial aspects of AI and using Adobe smart selection tools.

34:22: Upcoming projects, a series of editing tutorials, and animation pieces.

Guest Bios:

Tati Bruening rose to fame by making personal portraits of some of TikTok's most recognizable stars, celebrating the individuality of her subjects. She made headlines in 2021 by posting a simple request to 'Make Instagram, Instagram Again' and the rest of the world echoed her sentiment by adding over 300,000 signatures on her Change.org petition. She consults on Gen Z with various companies and has been a featured speaker on photography and social media at events such as VidCon 2022, among many other conferences.

Anya Anti specializes in on-location fine art and conceptual portraiture. An internationally published, award-winning photo artist, Anti strives to go beyond traditional portraiture to tell imaginative stories through her art and share her passion for beauty and a craving for everyday enchantment. An international speaker and workshop instructor for companies such as Broncolor, Adobe, and Nikon, Anti has been a featured presenter at events like Adobe MAX, Adobe Live, PPE, WPPI, CES, among others.

Stay Connected:

Tati Bruening Website: https://www.illumitati.com/

Tati Bruening Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/illumitati/

Tati Bruening Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tati.tutu.5/

Tati Bruening Twitter: https://twitter.com/illumitatiana

Tati Bruening TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/discover/tati-bruening

Anya Anti Website: https://anya-anti.com/

Anya Anti Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anya_anti_art/

Anya Anti Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnyaAntiArt

Anya Anti YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AnitaAnti

Anya Anti Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnyaAnti

Anya Anti Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/anya_anti/

Anya Anti TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@anya_anti

Sam Hurd and Dixie Dixon may target different photo markets, yet they both prioritize craft and emphasize a human connection to their subjects. In this week's episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we get the lowdown on their respective careers in wedding photography and fashion/lifestyle assignment work as part of our coverage of B&H's 2023 Depth of Field Conference.

Above photograph © Dixie Dixon

We start with Sam Hurd, who shares the story behind his decision to shift from photographic storyteller to craftsman. He also describes how switching to mirrorless cameras has changed his process. Sam's superpower is his inventive Ring of Fire technique for creative flare, and we discuss this in depth, while also touching on everything from image quality and lens design to the promise of AI-generating tools and the elements that get lost in the exchange.

After a break, we chat with Nikon Ambassador Dixie Dixon, who describes how making a connection with your subjects begins with detailed research well before the shoot day. She regales us with tales from major advertising projects, including how her efforts to get a release for a Ford Mustang led her to the company's CEO. Get a first alert on her next book project and hear how her recent forays into video and directing tv commercials earned her a coveted advertising award.

For more information on our guests and their photos, see:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/photographic-craft-connections-sam-hurd-dixie-dixon

"Do I really replace lenses or just buy more of them? That's the major question," says Kevin Rickert, B&H Photo's Senior Sales Trainer for cameras and lighting, in the heat of discussion for our Notable Lens Releases of 2022 and 2023 episode.

Listen in as we assess the latest crop of optics from Canon, FUJIFILM, Hasselblad, Nikon, OM SYSTEM, Sigma, Sony, and Tamron. The full list makes for a lot of glass, so we've narrowed things down to a focused selection of primes and zooms spanning medium format, full frame, cropped sensor, and Micro Four Thirds formats.

As in our annual Cameras of the Year show from December, we mix up the tech talk with practical anecdotes to help match lenses and customers based on user experience. Among the many threads of our chat, we commend the release of some new and different focal lengths—from Nikon's 26mm pancake to Sony's 20-70mm f/4 G-series zoom to Tamron's 50-400mm f/4.5-6.3 telephoto. "Maybe the 26mm will be the new 28, which is great," says Rickert. "We like choices, and a lot of brands are going this route with their lens offerings."

Guest: Kevin Rickert

• 1:45: Canon RF 135mm f/1.8L IS USM lens and its unique cat-eye bokeh.
• 6:32: Four new Canon RF-S lenses for APS-C cameras, plus RF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM and RF 1200mm f/8L IS USM super-telephotos for wildlife and sports.
• 9:20: FUJIFILM XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR for portraits, XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR for wildlife and sports, XF 18-120mm f/4 LM PZ WR for everyday use, XF 30mm f/2.8 R LM WR, and FUJIFILM GF 20-35mm f/4 R WR lens for medium format.
• 12:42: Hasselblad XCD 38mm f/2.5 V, XCD 55mm f/2.5 V, and XCD 90mm f/2.5 V lenses.
• 18:49: Nikon Z 26mm f/2.8 pancake lens, Z 85mm f/1.2 S for portraits, 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S, and Z 600mm f/4 TC VR SZ super telephotos for wildlife and sports.
• 25:06: Episode break
• 25:58: OM SYSTEM 90mm f/3.5 Macro IS Pro lens, and the benefit of IP53 weather sealing.
• 31:43: Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG DN Art for L-mount and E-mount systems, plus rerelease of lenses for X-mount and Z-mount systems.
• 36:06: Sony FE 50mm f/1.4 GM, FE PZ 16-35mm F4 G, FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II, FE 20-70mm f/4 G lenses.
• 43:58: Tamron 20-40mm f/2.8 Di III VXD, 50-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD lenses.

Kevin Rickert is B&H Photo's Senior Sales Trainer for Cameras and Lighting. It's Rickert's job to collaborate with camera and lens manufacturers to create curriculum for training B&H's world-renowned sales staff. He knows his stuff! Born and raised in New York and self-described as a ballpark journeyman, Rickert has traveled to—and photographed—all Major League baseball stadiums in the United States since 2008. Earlier this year, he helped to represent the B&H Sales Team, in Nashville, at Imaging USA 2023―where he discovered how hot Nashville hot chicken, really is!

B&H Photo Video Website: https://www.bhphotovideo.com
B&H Photo Video Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhphoto
B& Photo Video Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhphoto
B&H Photo Video YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BandH
B&H Event Space YouTube: https://bhpho.to/BHEventSpaceYT
B&H Photo Video Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bhphoto
B&H Photography Podcast Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1001107823418353

No matter how you slice it, wedding photography is a fancy business. On this week's podcast, we take that fancy up a notch in a conversation about luxury wedding photography with James Christianson and Otto Schulze. These former competitors took a giant leap to reinvent themselves as the collaborative partnership James x Schulze, while also adapting their sales strategy to a marketplace where the driving force is want rather than means.

Listen in as they describe how they balanced economic risk with the creative freedom to chase small moments and beautiful light. You'll also gain insight into how a luxury client's buying psychology differs from the norm, and the essential importance of taking a client-first approach to projects.

"Confidence is the currency of the successful," explains Christianson about the necessary shift in mindset. "If you can bring confidence in who you are and what your skills are—whether that's with a camera, or skills with people, or both—that will take you a long way in being able to move through any room."

Guests: James Christianson and Otto Schulze

Top shot © James x Schulze

Episode Timeline

2:55: The logistics of and locations for the luxury wedding photography market.

6:38: Balancing the economics of a collaborative business with the creative freedom and flow of chasing small moments and beautiful light.

10:42: Shaking the middle-class sales mentality and adapting to the buying psychology of luxury clients.

14:45: Put your client first by asking open-ended questions and taking a genuine interest in connecting to best identify their wants.

17:56: The logistics of working with wedding planners in the high-end photography market.

21:40: Destination weddings in a post-COVID world, and the luxury client as a recession proof market for wedding photography.

26:10: James X Shulze's go-to camera gear—from the medium format FUJIFILM GFX to the Leica Q—yet always being mindful of the special atmosphere of the venue.

31:27: Episode break

32:32: Introducing James X Schulze's education brand Sage. Tap into the mindset and confidence needed to cultivate luxury wedding photography clients.

37:14: Distinguishing between premium and luxury wedding clients, and the relative budgets for each

40:10: Develop the story the client wants to tell with their wedding, rather than approaching the wedding as just a photo shoot. 

45:14: James and Otto's approach to education involves more than great photographs. Equally important is being a better business owner, and consistency in putting in the work.

Guest Bios:

James Christianson started his career as an educator and entrepreneur. He has more than 20 years of photography experience under his belt combined with a business and education background that brings a distinctively clear voice to his work.

Otto Schulze traveled the globe as a documentary photographer, spending the past 20 years in pursuit of the "decisive moment." His ability to see outside the box makes him an inspirational and visionary imagemaker and educator.

Working together, James x Schulze have achieved world-class brand recognition as luxury wedding photographers, combining editorial, documentary, and fine-art styles. Named as one of the world's top 50 wedding photographers by Harpers Bazaar, they are hyper-focused on communicating each client's unique story through a final portfolio of unparalleled images. Most recently, they launched the online education platform Sage, and the online course "The Business of Luxury Weddings" to inspire other wedding professionals seeking to take their business to the next level.

Stay Connected:

James x Schulze's Wedding Website: https://www.jamesandschulze.com

James x Schulze's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesandschulze

James x Schulze's Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamesandschulze

James x Schulze's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamesandschulze

James x Schulze's Education Website: https://www.sagejourney.co

Business of Luxury Weddings Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebusinessofluxuryweddings

Sage Journey Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sagejourney.co

Women photographers take center stage in this week's show, in celebration of International Women's Day and Women's History Month. We reveal the blind spot of photo history in a chat about the book A World History of Women Photographers, with photo historian and co-author Luce Lebart and contributing writer Pauline Vermare.

Gracing the pages of this book's 500-page heft are images and stories behind 300 women photographers, spanning both photo history and geographic reach. Listen in to learn about the exhaustive process Lebart and co-author Marie Robert undertook to find this range of talent and then commission essays from 160 women writers and curators. We also discuss how the position of women within photography has changed over time and across cultures. There are fresh discoveries to be made by even the most ardent photography devotees, as illustrated by the many photographer names and related resources we mention during the episode, also listed below in our show notes. 

Guests: Luce Lebart and Pauline Vermare

Top shot © The National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik

Episode Timeline

4:17: Luce Lebart describes the editorial statement behind the book A World History of Women Photographers as a manifesto to complete a history that already exists.

10:14: Back stories about women working as picture editors, art directors, designers, and art buyers in photo industry trenches, with male photographers as hunter gathers in the field. 

13:32: The international network behind the research for this book. Which came first—the contributing writers or featured photographers?

21:21: The matter of women photographers who stayed in the shadow of a master or did not receive equal recognition as her spouse.

26:45: Avoiding the pitfall of a western centered approach in the geographical representation of photographers selected for the book

30:56: Additional book projects and databases of women photographers.

33:44: Episode break

34:38: Pauline Vermare describes differences between France and America in their respective approaches to photography.

38:36: Pauline discusses the Japanese women photographers she wrote about for the book.

45:00: American photographer Nancy Burson's stature as a forerunner of current trends for AI generated photographs.

49:40: How A World History of Women Photographers encourages questions of readers, inspiring Pauline to create a forthcoming book on Japanese women photographers.

Guest Bios:

Luce Lebart is co-author, with Marie Robert, of A World History of Women Photographers. A photography historian and curator currently based in Paris, she is a researcher for the Archive of Modern Conflict, a collection and publishing house based between London and Toronto. Luce served as director of the Canadian Institute of Photography from 2016 to 2018, after spending five years directing the collections of the French Society of Photography in Paris.

Pauline Vermare is a French photography curator and historian based in New York. A contributing writer to A World History of Women Photographers, she was formerly the cultural director of Magnum Photos in New York, a curator at the International Center of Photography and the Museum of Modern Art. From 2002 to 2009, she worked at the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, in Paris. 

Stay Connected:

A World History of Women Photographers English language edition: https://www.thamesandhudsonusa.com/books/a-world-history-of-women-photographers-hardcover

A World History of Women Photographers French edition: https://www.editionstextuel.com/livre/une-histoire-mondiale-des-femmes-photographes

Luce Lebart Website: https://lucelebart.org/

Luce Lebart Facebook: ?

Luce Lebart Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucelebart

Luce Lebart Twitter: https://twitter.com/lucelebart?lang=en

Mauvaises Herbes (Weeds) exhibit: https://www.cpif.net/

Photo Europea Photo Festival: https://www.fotografiaeuropea.it/fe2023/en/concept-2023/

Pauline Vermare curated Kunie Sugiura Exhibit at Alison Bradley Projects: https://www.alisonbradleyprojects.com/kunie-sugiura-show/

Recently curated exhibition of Northern Ireland photos by women photographers: https://photomuseumireland.ie/pauline-vermare-protest

Co-curated exhibition of 10 contemporary Japanese women photographers: https://matterport.com/discover/space/LQT8wCUrWuE

Recent interview on Pauline's Japanese women photographers project: https://www.truthinphotography.org/japanese-women-photographers.html

Women Photographers mentioned in the podcast:

Anna Atkins - United Kingdom, 1799 - 1871

Amilie Guillot-Saguez -1810, France – 1864, Algeria

Constance Talbot - United Kingdom, 1811 - 1880

Julia Margaret Cameron - 1815, India – 1879, Sri Lanka

Alice Seeley Harris – United Kingdom, 1870 - 1970

Clara Sipprell - 1885, Canada – 1975, United States

Tsuneko Sasamoto – Japan, b. 1914

Tokyo Tokiwa – Japan, b. 1930

Claudia Andujar - Switzerland, b. 1931

Yildiz Moran - Turkey, 1932 - 1995

Sara Facio - Argentina, b. 1932

Hilla Becher - Germany, 1934 - 2015

Abigail Heyman - United States, 1942 – 2013

Nancy Burson - United States, b. 1948

Lesley Lawson – South Africa, b. 1952

Marilyn Nance - United States, b. 1953

Pushpamela N. - India, b. 1956

Pior Arke - Greenland, 1958 - 2007

Angele Etourdi Essamba - Cameroon, b. 1962

Dina Templeton - United States, b. 1969

Zanele Muholi – South Africa, b. 1972 

Databases featuring Women Photographers:

WOPHA, Women Photographers International Archive: https://wopha.org/

Women Photograph database (and new book): https://www.womenphotograph.com/

10x10 Photobooks: https://10x10photobooks.org/

Fast Forward: https://fastforward.photography/

When was the last time you updated your website? Despite the popularity and traction of social media sites, having a stand-alone website to promote your work and build your brand is key to connecting with your given audience. In this week's podcast, we explore the dynamics of building and maintaining a professional caliber website with insights from both sides of the coin. 

We start by chatting with website designer Alex Vita, who shares pet peeves as well as the best practices he's honed over more than 13 years of work with photo industry clients. All will benefit from Alex's insights on building a client-focused website as a way to build trust. After a break we get the artist's perspective from the illustrious photographer, environmental activist, and creative whirlwind Benjamin Von Wong, who also happens to be one of Alex's clients. Listen in as Ben and Alex discuss his web strategy and take a deep dive into the challenges of staying relevant and getting noticed in an oversaturated creative climate. We also dip into thoughts about how the evolution of AI is likely to change the future of the visual world, to make photographs the starting point for a conversation rather than its final purpose.

Guests: Alex Vita and Benjamin Von Wong

Top shot © Benjamin Von Wong

For more information on our guests and the gear they use, click here.

Episode Timeline

3:55: What role do stand-alone photography websites play in a world of viral social media sites?

12:16: Alex's pet peeves in photography websites. Two general categories: poor content and poor user experience.

20:55: Bounce rates, Google analytics reports, and how to determine the success of your website.

26:17: What are the most important considerations for good SEO and how have best practices for SEO changed over time?

31:59: Alex's recommendations for image size and compression for fast performance and readability on a wide range of devices—from mobile to retina screens.

35:55: Episode break

36:56: The varied roles that Ben Von Wong's websites and web presence play in communicating his environmental message.

41:40: How Ben's various microsites and social media presence helps with virality in marketing his work.

47:25: Ben's position as an environmentalist in a world full of advertising and boosted content—Ethics and principals come first.

52:30: How the evolution of AI and integration with Chat GPT is about to change the future of the visual world.

1:02:33: Ben's recommendations for what to look for when seeking to work with a web designer.

Guest Bios:

Alex Vita is a professional website designer, specialized in crafting sites for photographers and photo agencies. Working from his home base in Bucharest, Romania, Alex's super-power is thinking outside the box to grasp the big picture, helping photographers to structure their web presence by prioritizing maximum impact.

Ben Von Wong is a Canadian artist, photographer, social influencer, and activist, best known for his hyper-realistic style, bridging photography and fantasy. His storytelling targets environmental issues such as ocean plastics, fashion pollution, and electronic waste, fueled by an extensive viral component that has generated more than 100 million views to date.  

Stay Connected:

Alex Vita's Website: https://www.foregroundweb.com/

Alex Vita's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foregroundweb

Alex Vita's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foregroundweb/

Alex Vita's Twitter: https://twitter.com/foregroundweb

Alex Vita's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@foregroundweb

Benjamin Von Wong's Website: https://www.vonwong.com

Benjamin Von Wong's Blog: https://blog.vonwong.com

Benjamin Von Wong's Case Studies: https://unforgettablelabs.com

Benjamin Von Wong's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thevonwong

Benjamin Von Wong's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vonwong

Benjamin Von Wong's Twitter: https://twitter.com/thevonwong

Alex Vita's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Vonwong%20

We're all about flower power on this week's podcast, in celebration of Valentine's Day. Joining us in discussion are photography curator Danae Panchaud, co-author of the recent book Flora Photographica, along with contributing photographer and audience favorite Abelardo Morell.

After describing the book's genesis and scope, Danae delves into the extensive research process she and co-author William Ewing employed to sift through many thousands of photographs celebrating this wide-ranging subject. From sumptuous floral still lives to delicate blooms photographed in service of an activist cause to conceptual treatments depicting flowers as imposters of real life and beyond—this magnificent book offers fertile ground for consideration and debate.

After a break we continue the conversation with photographer Abelardo Morell, whose featured images from the series Flowers for Lisa evolved from a single photograph created as a gift for his wife to encompass a wide-ranging exploration of and homage to great artists of the past. 

As an alternative to a floral bouquet, we invite you to consider the enduring value in the gift of a photograph—or better yet an entire book of floral photography—to make a photoholic's heart flutter.

Guests: Danae Panchaud and Abelardo Morell

Top shot © Abelardo Morell

For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see:

www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts

Episode Timeline

4:52: Danae Panchaud explains the research process for Flora Photographica and describes the joy in discovering the innovative methods photographers have used to explore this wide-ranging subject.

10:16: Distinctions between the new edition of Flora Photographica and an earlier volume by William Ewing sharing the same title, published in the 1990s.

13:53: The effects of digital tools and technologies on both the images themselves, and the research methods used to source images for the book.

16:31: Insights about Flora Photographica's nine intriguing chapter titles: Roots, In Situ, Enquiry, Arrangement, Essence, Imposters, Hybrids, Fugue, and Reverie.

21:00: Incorporating floral pictures with political themes and conceptual work on floral subjects, and the use of captions to help convey these messages.

23:55: Using the element of surprise in picture selection and sequencing to highlight unexpected images and allow readers to discover new artists.

32:50: Episode break

34:20: Abe Morell's first flower photograph was a double gift: A birthday gift for his wife and a gift for Abe to embark on a new challenge.

38:19: The benefits of working at home in the studio to use as a breeding ground for new ideas.

39:55: The incorporation of painting with photography, and Abe's efforts to reinterpret and transform past works from art history.

42:34: How work on this photo series enhanced Abe's perception of flowers as a common object.

Guest Bios:

Danae Panchaud is a photography curator, lecturer, and museum professional based in Switzerland. After studying photography at the widely acclaimed Vevey School of the Arts, she turned to curatorial practices at Geneva University of Art and Design. She has since held positions in the fields of contemporary art, design, and science at several Swiss institutions. From 2018 to 2021, she served as director and curator of Photoforum Pasquart in Biel. She was appointed director of the Centre de la Photographie Genève in 2021, where she explores the medium as a tool for constructing knowledge through both contemporary and historical photographs. Danae is actively involved in a number of Swiss associations for photography and the arts, currently serving as president of Spectrum – Photography in Switzerland.

Abelardo Morell is a repeat visitor to the podcast, having previously appeared in the show Abelardo Morell: Alchemist of Photography in 2022. Born in Havana, Cuba, Morell immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of 14. After earning a BFA from Bowdoin College and an MFA from Yale, he had a distinguished career as a photography professor at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design from 1983 to 2010. Morell has received many awards and accolades for his work, including a Guggenheim fellowship in 1994, an ICP Infinity Award in 2011, and a Lucie Award for achievement in fine art in 2017. He is the author of 8 books, including Flowers for Lisa, the subject of today's discussion, and his photographs have been exhibited and collected by galleries, institutions, and museums worldwide.

Stay Connected:

Flora Photographica book: https://thamesandhudson.com/flora-photographica-the-flower-in-contemporary-photography-9780500024584

Danae Panchaud Website: https://danaepanchaud.net/

Danae Panchaud Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danae.panchaud/

Danae Panchaud Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danaepanchaud/

Danae Panchaud Medium: https://medium.com/@danaep

Centre de la Photographie Genève Website: https://www.centrephotogeneve.ch/

Abelardo Morell Website: https://www.abelardomorell.net/

Abe Morell's Flowers for Lisa book: https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/flowers-for-lisa_9781419732331/

Abe Morell's Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/abelardomorell/

Abe Morell's Twitter: https://twitter.com/abelardomorell

"Selecting photos is a different skill than making them," explains renowned picture editor Mike Davis in this week's podcast. This essential understanding forms the core of Davis's new book Creating Visual Narratives Through Photography: A Fresh Approach to Making a Living as a Photographer.

Davis approaches this topic with a mix of clarity and candor, to offer deeply engaged yet highly accessible insights about making photos—and making sense of those photos—while also discussing the elusive art of selecting and sequencing pictures and other ways to create visual narratives.

Some of the key points covered in our chat include the visual vocabulary Davis assigns to photographs, his ideas about elevating pictures beyond simply informational content, how making multiple passes through a photo edit can help a photographer remove themselves from the experience of making the work, and his three different approaches to image sequencing.

Listeners will also gain a fresh understanding of ways in which both the art of creating visual narratives and the photo industry itself have evolved over time, to raise the bar on creative expression. In presenting this book, Davis's goal echoes the response he has received from hundreds of photographers he's helped to tell stories with their pictures, "I never would have thought of things that way, had we not had this engagement."

Guests: Mike Davis

Photos © Mike Davis

Episode Timeline

3:26: Photography as a visual vocabulary, and distinctions between, nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.

6:25: What are informational photographs and how to make photos that rise above this basic level.

9:08: Davis's definition of composition: the full realization of light, and color, and distance in conveying a 3-dimensional space.

18:33: How the photo industry and relationships between photographers and photo editors have changed over time.

30:42: Davis discusses his photos published in the book and shares thoughts about photographing with intention.

39:34: Episode break

44:18: Three approaches to image sequencing and how they work within the full spectrum ofrafting a narrative

46:17: Mike Davis's most visually successful book project and a general timeframe for image sequencing.

48:06: Davis's approach to working with photographers on sequencing a book.  

51:46: Davis describes his picture editing process using multiple passes through a set of photographs.

56:40: The primary audience and Davis's ultimate goal in writing Creating Visual Narratives Through Photography: A Fresh Approach to Making a Living as a Photographer.

Guest Bio:

Mike Davis is a visual consultant, editor, author, photographer, and professor emeritus.

He has worked independently with hundreds of photographers as well as in staff positions for organizations as diverse as National Geographic, The White House, and several of America's visually powerful newspapers.

Mike was twice named newspaper picture editor of the year, and he received The Sprague Award from The National Press Photographers Association, its highest honor.

He has edited more than 40 books as an independent consultant, judged a wide range of photography competitions and grant programs, lectured widely, and served as a member of various workshop and review faculty.

Most recently, Mike spent eight years as an endowed faculty member at Syracuse University's Newhouse School, where he taught visual storytelling courses and directed The Alexia Grants.

Stay Connected:

Mike Davis website: https://www.michaelddavis.com/

Mike Davis Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedavis_mnpls/

Creating Visual Narratives Book: https://www.routledge.com/Creating-Visual-Narratives-Through-Photography-A-Fresh-Approach-to-Making/Davis/p/book/9781032262857

Creating and sustaining a successful photo career is no easy feat. To help aspiring young imagemakers acquire the needed creative concepts and business skills, two New York-based organizations—ASMP NY and BKC—have teamed up to offer the innovative mentorship, education, and industry immersion program The Bridge. Open to individuals from 18- to 26-years-old, The Bridge embraces diversity and offers opportunity to underserved communities, regardless of formal photography experience. Best of all, this four-month, real world program is free to accepted students.

We first learned about The Bridge during a chat with program co-founder Liam Alexander for the show ASMP-NY and the Future of Photo Trade Organizations in February 2022. Since the program's second year recently wrapped with a gallery exhibition in Brooklyn, and plans are in the works to expand The Bridge to other ASMP chapters in 2023, we wanted to learn more about this valuable initiative in advance of the next application window this spring.

For this week's podcast, we're joined by Alexander, who sheds light on The Bridge program's inner workings and educational goals during the first half of the show. After a break, we speak with 2022 Bridge graduate Eli Edwards, who describes what he learned through the program, and the resulting shift in the pictures he makes, as well as in his creative point of view. To discover how to futureproof your career and learn how to apply for this free program, make sure to listen in!

Guests: Liam Alexander and Eli Edwards

ASMP Bridge Program photo © Saad El Amin

For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/celebrating-asmp-nys-mentorship-program-the-bridge

Episode Timeline

3:50: Application and selection process for The Bridge Mentorship, a program designed to fill the gap in existing educational models.

9:27: Introduction to The Bridge program partner BKC, and program co-founder Justin Lin.

17:13: The Bridge Program coursework: Developing Your Creative Point of View.

20:52: Bridge Mentorship Program Core Supporters: The ASMP Foundation, Sony, and Freelancers Union, and a widening network of additional supporters.

25:17: A five-year vision for the program: Producing the future of the photo industry every summer.

26:50: Episode break

27:24: 2022 Bridge Program participant Eli Edwards and his easy application through Instagram.

32:42: Effects of the program on Eli's pictures and his new confidence in making project-based work.

36:40: Is YouTube University an effective tool for learning the ropes of photography?

40:56: How Eli's shift from social media to photography changed his creative point of view, and some social media tips.

46:38: Ways to support The Bridge program and application window for the 2023 Bridge program mentorship.

Guest Bios:

Liam Alexander is a fine artist and creative director who seeks to catalyze social change through artistic expression. As the current president of ASMP New York, he co-founded the ASMP NY Bridge program in 2020 with Justin Lin of BKC. He has also been instrumental in building other community focused creative projects designed to educate and inspire, such as IThou at NYU's Kimmel Galleries, The Exchange at Rush Arts, and #StrokeofGenius. Liam's own work has been featured in gallery exhibitions and art fairs throughout the US, and at the second annual Toolkit Festival in Venice, Italy. His work has been published in magazines including Nylon and Rolling Stone, and he creates projects with major brands like Wix.com, Samsung, SAP, Renaissance Hotels, and the city of New York.

Eli Edwards is a photographer, videographer, writer, producer, and director. Born in Los Angeles, Eli currently resides in New York City, where he works as a freelance videographer and photographer for brands, events, and musical artists. He was a 2022 participant in the ASMP Bridge program, where he produced the photo series 'A Community of Hoops', which is about the dedicated group that frequents New York's iconic West 4th Street basketball court. Eli is a 2019 graduate of NYU's Steinhart School, receiving a bachelor of arts degree in Media, Culture, and Communication. After college, he worked as a social media editor for Turner Sports in Atlanta as part of the Emmy-Award winning NBA on TNT team, doing content creation work with the NBA.

Stay Connected:

The Bridge Program: https://www.wearebkc.com/bridge

Donate to the Bridge: https://asmpfoundation.betterworld.org/campaigns/bridge-program

ASMP National website: https://www.asmp.org/

ASMP New York website: https://www.asmp.org/newyork/

ASMP New York Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asmpny

ASMP New York Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asmpny/

ASMP New York Twitter: https://twitter.com/asmpny

Bridge Program partner BKC website: https://www.wearebkc.com/

BKC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearebkc/

BKC Twitter: https://twitter.com/wearebkc

Eli Edwards Website: https://www.eliedwardscreative.com/

Eli Edwards Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwards_eli/

Eli Edwards Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZenGeeks

Eli Edwards TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nbathoughtseli

Liam Alexander Website: https://www.liam-alexander.com/

Liam Alexander Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liam.alexander.rules

Liam Alexander Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leeumrulez/

Liam Alexander Twitter: https://twitter.com/LiamAlexander0

Most people's perception of prison life revolves around sensationalized news stories and Hollywood movies depicting drab, inhospitable environments far outside our reach.

In today's show, we're challenging that view in a chat with two educators who use photography as a framework for teaching visual literacy and the art of storytelling to incarcerated men.

Cameras, computers, and sometimes even books, are prohibited from classrooms inside lock up, which forced our guests to come up with creative workarounds, using the generosity of the photographic medium as a path to engage in dialog with their students.

As one of our guests, Nigel Poor, puts it: "With a little bit of ingenuity, there's always a work around to come out with something really beautiful and emotional. And that's one of the pleasures of working in a prison, is that you've got to really rely on your imagination and your ability to hit a road bump and find a way around it."

Don't miss this inspiring discussion with two artists and educators who successfully adapted their teaching to the prison workaround, then connected with students on a human level, ultimately triggering their capability to "see fascination everywhere." 

Guests: Chantal Zakari & Nigel Poor

For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/pictures-from-the-inside-seeing-fascination-everywhere-with-chantal-zakari

Top shot courtesy of Nigel Poor and the San Quentin State Prison Museum, with thanks to former Warden Ron Davis and retired Lieutenant Sam Robinson

Stay Connected:

Chantal Zakari Website: https://www.thecorner.net/chantal-zakari

Chantal Zakari Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/show.n.tll/

Chantal Zakari's Pictures from the Outside book: https://www.thecorner.net/picturesfromtheoutside

Tufts University Prison Initiative (TUPIT): https://sites.tufts.edu/tupit/overview/

Nigel Poor Website: https://nigelpoor.com/

Nigel Poor Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nigelpoor/

Nigel Poor's San Quentin Prison Project: https://nigelpoor.com/project/san-quentin/

Nigel Poor's San Quentin Prison Project book: https://aperture.org/books/the-san-quentin-project/

Ear Hustle Podcast website: https://www.earhustlesq.com/

This is Ear Hustle book: https://sites.prh.com/thisisearhustle

Mount Tamalpais College: https://www.mttamcollege.edu/

In some locales, the period between Christmas and the New Year is known as the Wild Nights, where mischief reigns in the darkest days of the northern hemisphere. We're digging into this theme for our last show of 2022, in a chat with photographer and producer of this very podcast, Jill Waterman, who has been documenting New Year's Eve traditions and exploits around the globe for the past 38 years. We first spoke with Jill about this project in the two-part show Legacy and Commitment in January 2022. Since she's now a full-fledged member of the podcast team, we thought we'd investigate some of her more memorable experiences a bit further.

Jill is still shooting this series primarily with film, so our conversation ranges from the whys and wherefores of making that choice, to how the growth of the Internet became an essential research tool in the lead up to the Millennium and beyond. We also shed light on the elusive Austrian Perchten and Bulgarian Kukeri, and discuss parading Philadelphia Mummers, Bahamian Junkanoo figures, and Cape Town, South Africa's legendary Minstrel Parade. To learn about the most rewarding aspect of Jill's project and find out where she'll be ringing in New Year's Eve 2023, pull up a seat, pop some bubbly and listen in!

Guest: Jill Waterman

Photos © Jill Waterman

Episode Timeline

2:35: The beginnings of the New Year's Eve Project

4:28: Evolution of the project and approach over time

5:34: Shooting black and white film instead of monochrome digital captures

8:12: Opportunities of the Millennium

9:04: The growth of the Internet as a research tool and discovering locations for New Year's Eve rituals

10:00: Documenting "Perchtenlaufs" in Austria during the Wild Nights

10:59: Common themes in different cultures: Mummer's Parade in Philadelphia; Junkanoo in Nassau, Bahamas; and the Minstrel Parade in Cape Town, South Africa

14:48: The spread of oral New Year's traditions and rituals: Burning Effigies and New Year's Widows in Quito, Ecuador

16:32: Bulgarian Kukeri and New Year's parade to scare away evil spirits in Razlog

17:28: Advance planning before arrival and proceeding with boots on the ground

18:46: The value of spontaneity and capturing action in the moment

19:58: Working through anxiety, emotional spikes, and physical challenges

21:09: Assessing coverage and reviewing images after the fact

22:12: Underwhelming celebrations, and New Year's Eve during COVID lockdown

25:50: Episode break

26:35: Jill's analog camera kit: Nikon F3 HP, a 35-70 mm f/2.8 zoom and 24 mm f/2.8 prime lenses

27:45: Black and white films used—Ilford HP5, Delta 400, FP4, Delta 100—and diluted development to minimize contrast

29:23: The most rewarding aspect of the New Year's Eve Project

30:41: Working through language differences and being open to communication

32:15: Experiencing the Pied Piper syndrome

32:45: Big crowds and safety issues on New Year's Eve

35:36: This year's destination, recent New York Foundation for the Arts award, and project links

Guest Bio: Born and raised in Massachusetts, Jill Waterman has been based in New York since 1985. Her personal work is centered in long-term photo projects, such as the ongoing New Year's Eve Project and other aspects of her focus on night photography. Her photographs have been exhibited internationally and widely featured in press and media. Highlights include a 1997 arts documentary for Deutsche Welle TV in Berlin, Germany; a 2003 Today Show interview with Katie Couric; and a 2015 documentary for the web TV show Culture Connect. Waterman's first book, the technical volume Night and Low Light Photography, was released by Amphoto books in August 2008. Her professional background includes a past career in image licensing, editorial positions in custom publishing, and her current role as creative producer for the B&H Photography Podcast.

Stay Connected:

New Year's Eve Project Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLqZ_PIEugA

New Year's Project Silvester Stories NFT: https://opensea.io/collection/silvester-stories

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nightpix/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jill.waterman

For anyone seeking a new camera to gift or to hold this holiday season, we present the eighth annual installment of our Cameras of the Year episode! Featured in our discussion are 16 new cameras from Canon, FUJIFILM, Hasselblad, Leica, Nikon, OM SYSTEM, Panasonic, and Sony—presented in alphabetical order.

In addition to a detailed review of each camera on our list, we also discuss trends such as the shift from separate cameras for photo and video to a single camera geared to content creation, recent advances in high resolution EVFs, the benefits to cameras with internal memory, an increasing prevalence of AI technologies, the continued relevance of Micro 4/3rds and APS-C models when full frame cameras are shrinking in size and weight, and much more. Along the way, we even come up with some new terminology—Exit Level Cameras! Tune in for yourself and find out what it means.

Guest: Kevin Rickert

Episode Timeline

3:30: Canon EOS R6 Mark II Mirrorless Camera

4:29: From separate cameras for photo and video to one camera for content creation

5:30: Canon EOS R7 Mirrorless Camera

6:42: A question about image stabilization

7:58: The increasing use of dual card slots

8:50: Newer Canon cameras have a different hotshoe

11:18: Canon EOS R10 Mirrorless Camera

12:25: The legacy of the Canon Rebel series name

14:25: Canon R5 C Mirrorless Cinema Camera

15:43: What constitutes a Netflix-approved cinema camera

17:08: FUJIFILM X-H2S Mirrorless Camera

18:12: FUJIFILM X-H2 Mirrorless Camera

18:20: FUJIFILM X-T5 Mirrorless Camera

19:43: Recent advances in high resolution EVFs

20:55: New FUJIFILM lenses mean faster full-time autofocus

22:15: Hasselblad X2D 100C Medium Format Mirrorless Camera

2400: The benefits to cameras with internal memory

24:38: Medium format 16-bit color gives you more crayons to play with in the box

26:02: Episode break

27:13: Leica M 11 Rangefinder Camera

30:24: US-B Type C connection allows downloading pictures to a phone

30:59: What is pixel binning and why is it useful?

32:12: Nikon Z 30 Mirrorless Camera

35:44: OM SYSTEM OM-1 Mirrorless Camera

37:08: The continued relevance of Micro 4/3rds and APS-C sensors when full frame cameras are shrinking in size and weight

39:54: OM SYSTEM OM-5 Mirrorless Camera

41:29: Panasonic Lumix GH6 Mirrorless Camera

43:15: The value of dual image stabilization

44:14: Sony ZV-1F Vlogging Camera

46:51: Sony FX30 Digital Cinema Camera

48:42: What is a BSI sensor?

49:08: Sony a7R V Mirrorless Camera

49:52: The higher the resolution, the better your lenses need to be

50:52: The increasing prevalence of AI technologies in the photo world

54:40: Sony a7R V updated screen design and menu tweaks

Guest Bio:

Kevin Rickert is B&H Photo's Senior Sales Trainer for Cameras and Lighting. It's Kevin's job to collaborate with camera and lens manufacturers to create curriculum for training B&H's world-renowned sales staff. He knows his stuff! Born & raised in New York and self-described as a ball-park journeyman, Kevin has traveled to—and photographed—all* Major League Baseball Stadiums in the United States since 2008. He also recently travelled to South Korea for food, drink, and photography in October.

Stay Connected:

B&H Photo Video Website: https://www.bhphotovideo.com

B&H Photo Video Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhphoto

B& Photo Video Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhphoto

B&H Photo Video YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BandH

B&H Event Space YouTube: https://bhpho.to/BHEventSpaceYT

B&H Photo Video Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bhphoto

B&H Photography Podcast Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1001107823418353

In an era brimming with instant gratification, some things are worth the wait. This is an apt takeaway from our chat with photographer Charles Daniels about his long-outdated film from the legendary Boston Tea Party and other 60s-era music venues, rarely processed until recently. Joining Daniels in conversation is his long-time partner Susan Berstler, and Gerald Freyer from Film Rescue International, the unique image processing and digitization specialists entrusted with his mother lode of 4,000 plus rolls.

Listen in as Daniels tells of his rise from club denizen to emcee to cultural ambassador, introducing 60s-era British invasion rockers to America, with a Leica, two Nikons and a mic in hand. Berstler describes how the unprocessed rolls stockpiled in their home became a COVID project, which then went viral after the launch of a Go-Fund-Me campaign.

After a break, Freyer explains how Film Rescue International's unique processing and scanning technologies can breathe new life into lost and found film, saving untold stories from oblivion. Freyer also recounts his epic drive from Saskatchewan to Somerville (and back!) to safely collect the film for processing, without risking x-rays or other shipping hazards.

As Daniels notes during the show, "For years, I never really developed any film, but I was shooting all the time. It was just there, and then at some point I realized that I needed to bring some of this older stuff to light."

With a nod to Daniels's 80th birthday on November 30th, the pictures may have been a long time coming—but what a fabulous gift to photographers and music aficionados alike!

Guests: Charles Daniels, Susan Berstler, Gerald Freyer

Photographs © Charles Daniels

For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/master-blaster-charles-daniels-reveals-his-unseen-60s-era-photo-archive

Guest Bios:

Charles Daniels was born in segregated Alabama, where his parents ran a late-night speakeasy after farming cotton all day; maybe that's how outlaw music got into his blood. After moving to Boston's Roxbury neighborhood with his family in the 1950s and teaching himself photography with a camera he found in his parent's closet, Charles began capturing whatever caught his eye on city streets and in the era's legendary music venues. Soon he was serving as emcee for the bands, which provided unique access and strong friendships. This led to Lear Jets and tours with the likes of Rod Stewart, Ron Wood, and the Rolling Stones. Since his start in rock-and-roll, Charles has expanded his photography to embrace a wide range of subjects from music and fashion to dance, performance, and everything in between.

Susan Berstler has a long history as a visual artist, curator, and arts producer, deeply immersed in the vibrant arts scene of Somerville, Massachusetts. One of her primary interests is transformative events and media, especially within public art. Her passion for this medium is further enhanced by her work as an Emerging Technology Specialist for Creative Technologies at Harvard University's Cabot Science Library. After a small grant from the Somerville Arts Council allowed her to begin developing Charles's treasure trove of film, the Go-Fund-Me campaign set up by a friend quickly went viral, raising more than $70,000 to date. Susan was referred to the company Film Rescue International, which became an ideal solution for film processing and creating high-resolution archival files from the negatives. At present, she is also in discussions with publishers and university archives to identify a final home for this unique image collection.

Gerald Freyer is a technically trained photographer who also studied folklore, monument preservation and cultural history at the University of Bamberg in Germany. After working as a research assistant in museums, he became a consultant for digital imaging pioneer Phase One. Since 2007, Gerald has trained museum and archive staff in the use of high-end digitization systems, completing both archival and 360-degree photography projects for international museums and cultural institutions. In 2021, he joined Film Rescue International to work on digitization projects for its clients.

Stay Connected:

Charles Daniels Go-Fund-Me Website: https://www.gofundme.com/f/2500-rolls-Charles-Daniels

Charles Daniels Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088252000625

Film Rescue International Website: https://www.filmrescue.com

Film Rescue International Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/filmrescueinternational/

Episode Timeline

4:15: Charles Daniels's start as a music emcee and his most productive years for photography: 1967 – 1969

6:36: A friendship with J. Geils Band front man Peter Wolf and coming up with his Woofa Goofa nickname

8:20: Hanging out with the bands during the day provided easy access and authentic pictures

10:07: Daniels's most enjoyable Rock & Roll subject and co-photographer mate: Alvin Lee from 10 Years After

13:26: How far to push black and white film for best results with concert pictures in low light  

14:32: Using a handheld light meter, and shooting with Nikons and Leicas for best results

15:10: Daniels's go-to lens: a 21 mm wide-angle for a different look

15:41: The challenge of pushing black and white film and not labeling it with the ISO

18:34: Daniels's shooting strategy as emcee: a microphone in one hand and a camera in the other

20:53: Finding Charles's undeveloped film became a COVID project  

21:55: Unprocessed color film includes several rolls of Kodachrome, which was developed as black and white

22:16: Juggling an active Go Fund Me campaign with Charles's recent health issues

24:30: Connecting with the lab Film Rescue International after developing initial rolls locally

25:35: Episode break

26:43: The back story to Canadian lab Film Rescue International in processing lost and found film

27:45: Effects to undeveloped film over time is based on cold storage and other environmental factors

28:46: A two-step process for developing old color film, including Kodachrome

30:35: The first step in Film Rescue's development process with lost and found film

33:34: Proprietary chemistry for film development, plus years of experience

34:22: Processing and scanning movie film, 16mm, and Kodachrome Super-8 with high end laser graphic film scanner

35:10: Do certain types of film hold up better over time than others?

36:05: The importance of scanning old transparencies to maintain color integrity and save the image

37:46: Digital scanning of slides and negatives can offer more detail and better quality than the original photo

39:50: Film Rescue International's workflow and time distribution between film development and scanning

41:14: Gerald Freyer's epic 7-day trip from Saskatchewan and Somerville to pick up Charles's film

43:08: Safety issues when shipping film and the risk of x-rays

45:59: Gerald's favorite picture from Charles's film: Joe Cocker

46:36: An update on Charles's project and the potential for a book and documentary

48:04: Susan's favorite roll of Charles's film: Jeff Beck Group on the tarmac

49:09: The thousands of stories Film Rescue discovers in its work, and how to reach them

50:54: Contact details for Charles Daniels and the project's Go-Fund-Me page

Food, glorious food—there's no better time than the holiday season for a bountiful exploration of food photography—a fan favorite. For this episode of the podcast, we're delighted to connect with food blogger, educator, and content creator extraordinaire Joanie Simon. Listen in as she discusses the magic behind her aspirational, achievable shooting style. Besides examining the limits to reality when shooting fake food, Simon describes her collaborations with a dedicated crew, offers advice about a photographer's responsibilities when working remotely, and describes her personal evolution through camera brands and models to arrive at the Nikon Z mirrorless system she shoots with today. Discover all these things and much, much more—including a secret recipe for fake ice cream!

Guests: Joanie Simon

Photograph © Joanie Simon

Guest Bio: Instead of an apron, Joanie Simon wears many hats. She's a food photographer, published author, educator, and content queen, and her daily life is a bouillabaisse of camera gear and culinary delights. In just a baker's dozen year—that's 13 for the inexperienced cooks—Simon has built her brand into a powerhouse of creative content and learning.

In addition to shooting commercial and editorial assignments, Joanie teaches food photography through her online platform, The Bite Shot. Her food photo adventures on YouTube and Instagram can be found at @thebiteshot and on Tik Tok @joaniesimonsays, and you learn tons more from the many tutorials in her 2021 book, Picture Perfect Food.

For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/festive-food-photography-with-joanie-simon

Stay Connected:

Website: https://joaniesimon.com

Education Website: https://thebiteshot.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebiteshot

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/joaniesimonmedia

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joaniesimonsays

Episode Timeline

3:56: Joanie Simon's favorite holiday and seasonal foods to photograph

4:34: Cultivating aspirational, achievable food content

6:11: Images created with high quality gear requires exact timing

6:58: How far can you push reality and tricks to making food look good.

8:38: Editorial shooting - an opportunity to run wild, get creative, and shoot conceptually

9:48: A secret recipe for fake ice cream.

12:18: The hero of the shot vs the crash test dummy

13:12: The ratio between single shot pictures and food items that need a test run

15:18: How many team members are on set during a food shoot?

17:37: The evolution of Joanie Simon's food photography career

19:16: Discovery of remote work and creating digital content from home

21:26: The need to take responsibility for communications when working remotely

23:10: What's Joanie's preference: mouth-watering stills or toe tapping videos and stop motion content?

27:18: Software for stills, video, and animation content: Capture One, Dragonframe, and Premiere Pro

29:44: The benefits to and workflow behind shooting tethered

31:09: Joanie Simon's art background and her hesitation about studying art in school  

33:10: Episode break

33:58: Thoughts on using gear in a controlled environment:

35:38: Joanie's personal evolution through camera brands: from Nikon to Sony mirrorless to Canon and back to Nikon

40:04: The benefits to working in manual mode, and when to use auto focus

42:14: Joanie's go-to lighting tool: the Godox AD 600 Pro strobe

43:52:  Advantages to flash over working with continuous light LEDs

45:44: Drag your shutter when shooting with flash to control the ambient light

46:33: Joanie's primary light modelling tool: Westcott 4'x4' Scrim Jim Cineframe

48:36: Lens preferences: Primes or zooms and Joanie's go-to lenses: 24 – 70 f/2.8 for flexibility and 105 macro lens for background compression

51:02: Food photography with a phone: wipe off the lenses and it all comes down to the light

52:30: Key elements to a food photograph: Texture, highlights, and getting close up to the food

53:36: Tips for transitioning from a phone to a more formalized camera: Look to the mirrorless world and get a camera in your hands to test

54:50: When photographing people around a holiday table: Stage the magic and direct your subjects.

56:54: Joanie's free workshop about building a food photography business

57:34: Connect with Joanie at thebiteshot.com for links to TicToc, Instagram, YouTube, and blog