Every so often, a novice photographer tags along with me in the field.  At the end of the shoot, they almost invariably say the same thing to me—you move around a lot!  Yes I do.  I think the biggest shortcoming for photographic newbies is the tendency to settle for the first shot they see.  Part of that “settling” is the propensity to shoot every scene at eye level.  Much of the time, this inclination leads to ho-hum imagery, and it’s a habit I think every photographer should break, immediately.

I’ve discussed this elsewhere, but years ago I attended a John Shaw photo seminar, and one of the things that stuck with me was his description of how, as a workshop leader, he noticed that the vast majority of his participants would approach a scene and immediately set up their tripods at full height.  I made a point of keeping…

In 59 B.C. the first newspaper — called Acta Diurna (latin for  Daily Acts or Daily Public Records), was published in Rome. Carved into wood or stone, verdicts and outcomes of legal issues were publicly posted to inform the city’s citizens. Soon the “Acta” was a source for news including announcements of births, marriages and other happenings. Etched at the end of each text was the saying,  “publicare et propagare” or “make public and propagate“. It wasn’t until later that this new means to propagate was used for propaganda.

For a long time our media has not been what it should be. Words like “reputable”, “fair”, and “honest” are not words to describe current day media. We have given corporations and governments the power to manipulate through information. It’s unfortunate that there are still some people who believe news outlets are their friends and a great public service.

Many people…