Smiling faces, candy, and popcorn. And shoot-'em-ups. What more could you want?

Every year or so I'm drawn back again to diptychs. This is from a yacht club in San Francisco that I dropped in on last year. One of the three actually. All great folks.

Been reading 'Garry Winogrand', a book I bought years before his posthumous show came to DC. It was still in the shrinkwrap when i came home from the show, and I just let it sit on the table for a few more days, digesting what I'd just seen, before I let myself unwrap it and dive in. As a young black&white shooter he was one of the icons who I'd see written up in the magazines, but I couldn't have picked him out of a crowd. Bittersweet to get to know him so well, so many years after his death.

I think it's the layout of his book, one horizontal image centered high per page like a gallery mat, that got me thinking of diptychs again today. Huh.

I placed one of my prints in a show this week. First time, well, ever. I also volunteered to help with intake of prints. Interesting experience.

I came away with the realization that we are all our worst editors. What I mean by that is that the first criteria when choosing an image for printing or further consideration is that the image stand on its own regardless of when or where it was taken, or who the subject may be, or what the situation may have been.

Martin Luther King on the Lincoln Memorial steps? Absolutely powerful whether you know who he was or not. Lincoln captured in a snapshot at Gettysburg just before his address? Interesting historical photograph to be sure, but not art.

How many times have you 'promoted' [printed, shown, shared] a photo mainly because [to be honest] it had meaning only for you due to where, when, why it was taken?

Step back and try to look at your work with a totally objective eye. You can't do it. Only a dispassionate viewer can. And if that viewer also has a discerning eye you may have found your editor. Every photographer and writer and filmmaker needs one.

Another approach I've heard about is putting your work away for a year after shooting. Really. Don't look at any images you shoot today for an entire year. By then you'll have lost most of the emotional attachment and should hopefully be able to judge each image completely on its own merit.

Don't think I have that kind of willpower. Or even want to. I learn too much from each day's editing. Guess it worked for Garry Winogrand though.

Summer is winding down here in New England. A few degrees cooler in the morning. Sun is coming up later. Penn State football on the TV. And the new hot tub platform has been built. Yup, fall is in the air.

Terrific week of workshops and meets with local pros, resulting in fundamental changes in my shooting workflow.
1) From a sports photographer: Use of the back focus button. Huge improvement in focus accuracy and shooting speed. [thanks Seth!]
2) From a wedding photographer: Shoot in full manual mode. All the time. Of course this is how I worked for years in black&white with manual cameras, but I'd gotten lazy/complacent/trusting of the camera. No more. [thanks Tara and Ben!]
3) From a sailing photographer: Push the histogram to the right. I had always treated digital files like slide film as opposed to negative film, making sure not to irretrievably blow out the highlights. No more. As he pointed out, I can pull beautiful detail out of a hugely overexposed RAW file, but trying to pull up muddy shadows just results in noise. [thanks @onnevanderwal]
The difference in recent images is astonishing. An my respect for these pros who give so freely of their expertise knows no bounds.

What an amazing weekend!
First was a workshop with the erudite and avuncular Tara and Ben from Hitched Studios @hitched2013.
My goodness.
They are like taking a warm sudsy bath in photographic knowledge, and love. With a bunny.
A smart, funny, engaging bunny who knows off-camera flash ratios and PocketWizards. And the latest trends in Wedding Photography.
What a terrific evening!
Next up: Shooting the Classic Yacht Regatta off Newport with @onnevanderwal. Can't wait to share the results.