On selecting, sequencing, and killing your darlings to find your strongest images. You’ve shot hundreds, maybe thousands, of photos. Your hard drive is full. Your Lightroom catalog is organized (or… not). And yet when someone asks to see your portfolio, you freeze. Because deep down, you know the truth: Your best work isn’t what you’veContinue reading "Your Hard Drive Is Not Your Portfolio: The Art of Curating Your Work"
The Photographer’s Blind Spot: What Are You Not Seeing?
How habits, expectations, and identity can quietly limit your creative vision. Every photographer has a blind spot. Not the technical kind, but the psychological one. It’s the angle you never explore. The subject you always avoid. The moment you overlook because you’ve decided, maybe unconsciously, that it’s not interesting, not beautiful, or not yours toContinue reading "The Photographer’s Blind Spot: What Are You Not Seeing?"
How to Find Photos in Places That Don’t Inspire You
A guide to shooting creatively in your own backyard or mundane environments. When most photographers think about creativity, their minds often wander to far-flung destinations. Misty mountains, winding desert roads, or golden-hour beaches. But what if you’re stuck in your hometown? Or in a city that feels like it has nothing left to offer? Here’sContinue reading "How to Find Photos in Places That Don’t Inspire You"
From Memory to Image: How to Translate Feelings into Photos
When you think of your favorite photograph—one you’ve taken or one you've seen—what do you remember first? The composition? The technical specs? Probably not. More likely, you remember the feeling. That deep tug of emotion. That quiet pause it created inside you. In an age dominated by polished presets and copycat compositions, what sets aContinue reading "From Memory to Image: How to Translate Feelings into Photos"
Can AI Teach Us Something About Our Own Craft as Photographers?
Artificial intelligence sees the world very differently from you and me. It doesn’t feel awe when it sees mountains. It doesn’t recognize poetry in someone’s tired eyes on the subway. But it does see — just not like we do. So what happens when we ask a machine to look at the world through aContinue reading "Can AI Teach Us Something About Our Own Craft as Photographers?"
MELISSA MARTINSEN 