Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Do I need, in my kit, a Nifty Fifty?

    Do I need, in my kit, a Nifty Fifty?

    I never understood the hype around the “Nifty Fifty.” On a full frame (35mm) camera it used to be one of the ‘must have’ prime lenses in your kit. This was back in the day when Zoom Lenses just could not match the image quality of a Prime. Other ‘must have,’ Prime lenses were 28mm…

  • A Personal Retrospective in Progress.

    A Personal Retrospective in Progress.

    Soon to come, some new work: a retrospective look at 40 years of personal work, as a survey of Twentieth Century Photography. Exploring representative samples of Twentieth Century Photography as shown in the Encyclopedia of the same name, I will collate examples of my own work that have either a similar direct subject, treatment or…

  • 20th Century Photography

    20th Century Photography

    Recently, I forced myself to look at a book. Some encyclopedia of 20th Century Photography, or something like that and I got to thinking as I looked at the sample images, “Hey, I’ve got something like that in my archive of shots…” So, then the idea pops into my head, why not review all my…

  • A tolerance for Artistic Critique

    A tolerance for Artistic Critique

    It seems we have lost the knowledge, understanding and tolerance for Artistic Critique. I’ve been a poet, publisher, editor, an artist photographer, a commercial photographer, a brewer of beer, and maker of things; and never have I thought nothing more than, “Oooo, that’s nice,” as a valid and informative critique. Yet it seems these days,…

  • 25 Years…

    25 Years…

    Recently, I was backing up my hard disk, upgrading from 500 Gb to 1 Tb, and was marveling at the 34,000+ photos (which is not that much, and not so many are that good either, really) I had on there. Yet, it just hit me this morning, that it represents 12 years of continuous digital…

  • Mussing on comments by Dean Collins

    Mussing on comments by Dean Collins

    So, I’m watching DC@Brooks – again; and I pick up just a little bit more. Blowthrough on the background. i.e. in essence you don’t want your background to be brighter than 2 stops above 18% Grey, reflective… or in other words, no brighter tan 2 stops above the diffused value of your subject… I think…

  • Develop your own style.

    Develop your own style.

    Watching https://www.creativelive.com/courses/crazy-stupid-light-scott-robert-lim Core take home message from today, Let emotion into your photography as that is what will give you your signature style. i.e. your photography reflects the emotions YOU bring to the shoot. If you are emotionless, your photography will also be emotionless. This is the first time I’ve heard someone relate something tangible,…

  • Today’s Sandwich – Toasted Cheese with Corned Beef and Horseradish

    Today’s Sandwich – Toasted Cheese with Corned Beef and Horseradish

  • Today’s Sandwich – Tomato and Mozarrella

    Today’s Sandwich – Tomato and Mozarrella

  • Today’s Sandwich – Chicken and Salad Roll

    Today’s Sandwich – Chicken and Salad Roll

Got any book recommendations?