I said on this trip I was going to attempt an experiment to see in sixes as often as I could. My first opportunity was at Niagara Falls. I started with a simple question: What is the essence of this experience? Surprisingly, it wasn't the rushing waters that plunge off the cliff. Instead, the overriding experience was the mist that rose from the chaos.
Aug 27
2 min
Here on the first day of my 2-month travel adventure, I had a chance to stop at the Fenimore Museum in Cooperstown, New York for a second look at the Peter Federman show, The Power of Photography. I couldn't put my finger on what made some of these images so special, but they definitely are. The thought I kept circling back to was James Bond in a tuxedo.
Aug 26
2 min
Because of my early training and the generation into which I was born, I'm still a print guy and think of my prints as the most desirable format for my work. That said, every time I look at my boxes of finished prints, sitting on the shelf, gathering dust, I come face to face with the reality of the advantages of the digital world in which we live.
Aug 25
12 min
Tomorrow (Monday, August 25, 2025) I'm head out for two months on the road. I'll be traveling across the country from New York to my old stomping grounds in Oregon and back. Along the way I'll be giving a talk in Portland to the Photographic Society of America and then participating in the Horizons workshop in Durango Colorado. The trip will involve some 12,000 miles and lots of road time.
Aug 24
2 min
My early experiences in business and marketing taught me the importance of branding and logos. I could easily assume that a personal logo for my artwork is a bit pretentious, but then again it can grow into something meaningful. Here's the history of my Brooks Jensen Arts logo.
Aug 23
2 min
In the back of my brain is an ever present nagging desire to go shopping for more gear. It's irrational, it's reflexive, it's ridiculous. Trying to think about this more deeply, I realize I already have everything I could possibly need for any picture I can imagine I might want to make. I find this ever so slightly intimidating.
Aug 22
2 min
I wouldn't be surprised to learn that you have all heard the joke, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? " Answer: practice, practice, practice. Is this true for photography, too? And if so, how do we practice photography? Perhaps Yoda had the best answer, "There is no try, there is only do."
Aug 21
2 min
One of the worst things you can be accused of is copying a master's photograph. Have you ever tried to copy a master's photograph? It's impossible to do! Instead, we're supposed to find our own voice. But what if our response to the world is the same as others?
Aug 20
2 min
I rarely find success when I plan a picture idea, especially when I do so to a fine degree of control. More often than not, it's the unexpected that produces the best opportunities. I remember once pulling the car over on a long dirt road to photograph a juniper tree and some foreground sagebrush. As I approached, however, it was the perfectly preserved and thoroughly unexpected coyote skeleton that became the photograph I treasured.
Aug 19
2 min
Being a photographer means learning things that will help us grow as an artist. During my first decades, that learning was narrowly focused on the technical aspects of image making. Looking back on those years, I can't help but thinking that I missed so much of the truly important aspects of being an artist. I now wonder how my photography would have progressed if someone has shared with me some of the deeper aspects of being an artist. Then again, maybe they did and I just wasn’t listening.
Aug 18
12 min