Podcasts by The Stop Down Photography Podcast

The Role Of Endurance In Your Photography f/78 from 2021-07-07T00:00

I took a hike in the mountains local to San Diego last weekend. I wanted to take in the sunrise in the mountains, and that meant a very early rise, an hour-plus drive to the trailhead, and then ...

Your Mid-Year Photo Goal Checkpoint f/77 from 2021-06-30T00:00

I can’t believe 2021 is already half behind us! “The days go slow and the years go fast” … as the saying goes. For us photographers, the mid-year mark is a natural point to assess our progress f...

4 Reasons I Use Multiple Photo Apps f/76 from 2021-06-23T00:00

In today’s digital age, post-processing is an important part of creating our images. I’ve used many different apps over the years to create my images, and I still use several software packages t...

How Do You See Your Photo Subjects? f/75 from 2021-06-16T00:00

I tend to see the world in large sweeps. I see foreground, midground, and background as parts of a whole. That’s my natural way of seeing the world, and that influences how I see the subjects of...

The Compromise In Every Frame f/74 from 2021-06-09T00:00

Photographers are constantly managing tradeoffs. One creative choice for an image invariably comes at the cost of something else. Every frame we capture contains a compromise. Photographers lear...

Signs That It’s Time To Stretch Creatively f/73 from 2021-06-02T00:00

For the past decade, I have exerted a lot of energy into improving my seascape photography. I’ve certainly improved, my workflow is more refined, and I am more consistently producing solid photo...

Learning With The Losers f/72 from 2021-05-26T00:00

It’s a fair statement that we photographers take more bad photos than good ones. Over time, our keeper rate will improve as we practice our craft and grow our photographic eye. But … a keeper ra...

Give Yourself Permission To Slow Down f/71 from 2021-05-19T00:00

While working through some photos taken a few years ago at Long Pond on Mount Desert Island in Maine, I realized how little I explored that area. The photos I have are nice, they are of good qua...

Your Viewer Doesn’t Care About Your Process f/70 from 2021-05-12T00:00

In art forms like music, live performance, or motion pictures, the artist can take the audience on a bit of a journey. It could be a few seconds to a few minutes or longer. And at the pivotal mo...

The Subconscious Bubbles To The Surface... And Workshops! f/69 from 2021-05-05T00:00

In today’s podcast, I share a story of how our subconscious mind affects our photography. And can do so in curious and interesting ways. After a recent visit to the San Diego beach, I noticed a ...

5 Tips For Seascape Photography f/68 from 2021-04-28T00:00

I have been stepping out more with the camera of late. And, as you might have guessed, I made several visits to the San Diego coastline. Gotta get my fill of sand, surf, and sky! As summer appro...

What The Magical Mystery Tour Taught Me About Photography f/67 from 2021-04-21T00:00

It is no secret to the Stop Down Photography Podcast audience that I am a Beatles fan. The Fab Four entered my photographic orbit again this past week. I was driving, iTunes on shuffle, and (as ...

Know The Story Of Your Photo f/66 from 2021-04-14T00:00

Photographers are visual storytellers. It is paramount that when you capture a photo, you know the story you are telling in that frame. Today’s podcast is a discussion about knowing the story of...

The Cycle Of Artistic Improvement f/65 from 2021-04-07T00:00

Our paths as artists, as visual storytellers, is not a straight path. There are switchbacks, detours, pauses, and backtracking as we forge ahead on our quest to become stronger photographers. Ye...

5 Types of Contrast That Make Your Photos Strong f/64 from 2021-03-31T00:00

The contrast in a photo makes it powerful. Good contrast enhances the photo of a subject and lets our photos tell a stronger story. When we think of contrast, our first thought is usually highli...

The Story Revealed By Changes The To Your Photo Kit f/63 from 2021-03-24T00:00

The contents of our camera bag are rarely static. The gear we carry evolves as we continue our pursuit of photography. And therein lies a story. The camera bodies, lenses, filters, and tripod we...

Why Are The Great Photographers Great? f/62 from 2021-03-17T00:00

A few weeks ago, I had a great exchange with Joel, a friend of the show. We were talking about a set of original Ansel Adams prints on sale. Some of the photos are amazing and stop me dead in my...

Small Changes That Have Big Payoffs f/61 from 2021-03-10T00:00

Working on a post-processing course about localized adjustments, those little changes to tone and color we do after basic processing, put me in a reflective mood. My post-processing style is cer...

Will Photo Workshops Return In 2021? f/60 from 2021-03-03T00:00

I think it's fair to say that we all have a pent-up desire to meet up with our fellow photographers. To say the past 12 months have curtailed our engagement with landscape and nature photog...

5 Tips For The Beginning Photographer f/59 from 2021-02-24T00:00

I meet and talk with a lot of photographers. Those just starting their photo journey have so many questions it sometimes boils down to a very open-ended question: “Where do I start?” In this epi...

3 Lessons To Stay True To Your Photographic Vision f/58 from 2021-02-17T00:00

Every time we pick up a camera, or go on location for a shoot, or work on our photos in the digital darkroom, it’s a learning opportunity. The lessons can be large or small, or just reminders of...

Take Stock Of Your “Then&Now” f/57 from 2021-02-10T00:00

Whenever I dive back into my photo library, I tend to get lost. Not lost in the sense of being unable to navigate my library. Lost in time. Lost in thought. Lost in the photos. On my most recent...

Sometimes Gear Is The Answer f/56 from 2021-02-03T00:00

I am not what you would describe as a gear-head. However, I do like the gear I have and I am willing to pay for quality gear. Why? That’s the topic of today’s podcast. 

I recently added a ...

Variations On A Theme f/55 from 2021-01-27T00:00

It’s January 2021 and the COVID-19 pandemic still has a strong grip on the planet. It has certainly curtailed my travels and photo expeditions. Yet that got me thinking… what is my photo library...

Are Plug-Ins And Filters Bad? f/54 from 2021-01-20T00:00

I was listening to another photography podcast and the host was answering a listener question. A listener asked if this photographer used plug-ins in their post-processing workflow. The reply wa...

If You’re Not Failing, You’re Not Growing f/53 from 2021-01-13T00:00

Failure was on my mind this week because I failed to get out into the landscape with my camera this week. That got me thinking about failure in general with our photography, and how it is a norm...

Personal Photo Projects For 2021 f/52 from 2021-01-06T00:00

It’s a new year, a time for resolutions, and a great time to define some personal photo projects to grow your artistic eye in 2021. In today’s episode, I’ll share a template for how you can crea...

Reflect On Your 2020 Photography f/51 from 2020-12-23T00:00

As the year comes to a close, it is a natural point to reflect on our photography. It’s an important step to see where you’ve grown as an artist and find opportunities to stretch creatively. Now...

The 50/50 Landscape Photographer f/50 from 2020-12-16T00:00

We made it to Episode 50! That’s a nice milestone to reach and thank you very much for being part of the podcast!!

One of my outings to the coast from about a month ago has been on my mind...

Think Like A Painter f/49 from 2020-12-09T00:00

When I host my photo workshops, during the workshop kickoff I talk about the similarities and differences between painting and photography. The two mediums aren’t exact parallels, yet there are ...

Photography Is A State Of Mind f/48 from 2020-12-02T00:00

Each week when I sit down to write notes for the podcast, I look at my “idea board" where I keep everything from solid show ideas to half-baked ideas to random thoughts of hastily strewn-to...

Missing The Photo f/47 from 2020-11-25T00:00

In today’s podcast, I share an experience I just had this week. I missed a photo … in kind of a big way. I completely failed to capture an incredible sunrise. And what prompts me to share this s...

What Marcus Aurelius Taught Me About Photography f/46 from 2020-11-18T00:00

Marcus Aurelius walked the earth millennia before the invention of photography. Yet his way of thinking and perceiving the world holds lessons for photographers and artists, I think. His persona...

Is My Photo Kit Obsolete? f/45 from 2020-11-11T00:00

I received a question through email that was very thought-provoking. The theme of the question was the rate of change in the photo industry, and how the pace of change - and sometimes a change i...

The Power Ballad, The Medley, And Photo Presentation f/44 from 2020-11-04T00:00

I think many of us are the types of photographers that seek the single image. Most of my photo outings are with a single frame mindset - capture the shot. That one perfect frame that ca...

Does A Photographer Need To Specialize? f/43 from 2020-10-28T00:00

Every few months or so, the question “Do I need to specialize?” makes the rounds in the photo industry. Back in Episode #24 of this podcast, I talked about the artistic benefits of cross-trainin...

Flipping An Image f/42 from 2020-10-21T00:00

In the past several weeks, I had two different conversations with my fellow photographers in which flipping an image, either horizontally or vertically, came up. The factors and considerations f...

Learning To See f/41 from 2020-10-14T00:00

Today’s episode, Learning To See, grew from a listener question about how to improve one’s eye for photography. If you have a question or an idea for an episode, please send me a note using the ...

Artists Make Great Photos, Gear Solves Problems f/40 from 2020-10-07T00:00

As a photo educator, I field a lot of photography questions. And I love questions - keep 'em coming! Many of these questions are of the form “What is the best … ?”. Most of the time, these ...

The Pursuit Of Photography f/39 from 2020-09-30T00:00

To say that 2020 has been a tough year for creatives is putting it mildly. I have certainly struggled throughout the year to keep active with my camera, keep moving forward with my photography. ...

3 Less Common Composition Tips For Landscape Photos f/38 from 2020-09-23T00:00

Learning composition did not come easy for me. It took a lot of studies, measured practice, and repeated effort to improve my skills. When I review my work, I pay extra attention to composition....

What Vincent Van Gogh Taught Me About Photography f/37 from 2020-09-16T00:00

Vincent Van Gogh wrote, “For the great doesn’t happen through impulse alone, and is a succession of little things that are brought together.” That beautifully describes the photographer’s journe...

The Role Of AI In Photography f/36 from 2020-09-09T00:00

I received many, many questions about artificial intelligence, or AI, last week after Sklum’s announcement of Luminar AI. Today’s episode is inspired by those questions. Rather than discuss this...

The Hidden Gems In Your Photo Library f/35 from 2020-09-02T00:00

Show Notes

In the summer of 2019, I took a drive on California’s Route 1 from San Diego to Big Sur. I recently revisited my photo library looking at all of the captures from that tr...

Making The Best Of Bad Weather f/34 from 2020-08-26T00:00

Show Notes

I’ve enjoyed some very interesting conversations with listeners of the show over the past few weeks. Some have been about camera technique, others about post processing, ...

Growing With An Aspirational Mindset f/33 from 2020-08-19T00:00

Show Notes

I think there are two things that are true for every photographer. Number one, we want to improve our photography. Number two, we consume the work of other photographers....

Irons In The Fire f/32 from 2020-08-12T00:00

Show Notes

Photo projects are beneficial in and of themselves. A group of photos tells a very different story than a single image. Photo projects don’t need to be weighty either. If...

The Photo Feedback Loop f/31 from 2020-08-05T00:00

Show Notes

Feedback is very important to growth as a photographer. We need feedback. We need to know how we can improve our art. There are two pieces of feedback. The first piece is...

Negative Space Vs. Dead Space f/30 from 2020-07-29T00:00

Show Notes

What is the most challenging aspect of your photography? Share your thoughts using the contact form on stopdownpodcast.com Listen

Living With A Photo f/29 from 2020-07-22T00:00

Show Notes

Our relationship with most of our photography is transitory. Yes, there is time spent capturing the photo and time spent in post-processing. After that, most of our photo...

Randomness And The Creative Process f/28 from 2020-07-15T00:00

Show Notes

When the creative groove grows too deep it becomes a rut. Today is a discussion of one of the ways to keep your creative mind engaged. Inject a little randomness into you...

Shaking Up Your Post Processing Workflow f/27 from 2020-07-08T00:00

Show Notes

It is July 2020 and it is feeling like a “lost year” already. I’ve felt somewhat aimless at times, drifting about. The phrase “lost year” reminded me of John Lennon’s “Lo...

Pause And Admire f/26 from 2020-07-01T00:00

Show Notes

I have noticed - maybe realized is a better term - that my default mindset when I look at photos is that of a critic. I’m immediately dissecting the photo. Is the composi...

What George Harrison Taught Me About A Signature Style f/25 from 2020-06-24T00:00

Show Notes

Every photographer has a signature style - whether you know it or not. Join me for a talk about George Harrison’s musical style and what it has to teach us photographers ...

The Creative Benefits Of Cross-Training f/24 from 2020-06-17T04:00

Show Notes

Joel, a friend of the show, sent me an article about creativity and expertise. A passage in the article on cross-training reminded me of a story about the mathemetician P...

4 Mistakes I Try To Avoid f/23 from 2020-06-10T04:00

Show Notes

I make plenty of mistakes in my photography. And I know I’ll do so again. Yet there are 4 mistakes I make an extra effort to avoid. Why? These mistakes impact my creativi...

Back Into The Landscape f/22 from 2020-06-03T04:00

Show Notes

After nearly 3 months in quarantine, I stepped back out into the landscape for some photography. In the first half of the podcast, I talk about three different photoshoot...

Photography Is So Much More Than Just Photos f/21 from 2020-05-27T04:00

Show Notes

Today we collective answer a question. What has photography given you beyond just photographs? I asked this question a few episodes ago and thanks to everyone that wrote ...

Why Do We Make A Photo? f/20 from 2020-05-20T04:00

Show Notes

The COVID-19 pandemic has kept many of us from making the type of photos we want. My camera has been essentially untouched for 9+ weeks. Thoughts about the future of my p...

Our Photographic Influences f/19 from 2020-05-13T04:00

Show Notes

Opening question - What has photography given you beyond just the images? Leave your thoughts in the comments below or send a private message using the