Our generation is facing a very strange conundrum, at least strange compared to previous generations of photographers. They may have left their negatives behind, which likely does not leave behind a possibility of posthumous prints. Our legacy involves the eternal possibility of Ctrl-P.
This RSS feed includes only the most recent seven Here's a Thought episodes. All of them — over 2500 and counting! — are available to members of LensWork Online. Try a 30-day membership for only $10 and discover the literally terabytes of content about photography and the creative process.
HT2602 - Stop Stockpiling Skills and Start Doing
24/04/2026 | 2min
HT2602 - Stop Stockpiling Skills and Start Doing
The problem with learning new tools is that it can be so abstract and intellectual. Sure, it's handy to have some photographic technique in your tool bag, but so much learning is about some nebulous potential that it never becomes deep learning, remaining an idea never brought to fruition. Do you learn so that someday you can do something? Or are you trying to do something and need to learn how in order to complete it? These are two entirely different approaches.
Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!
HT2601 - Where to Spend Your Money
23/04/2026 | 2min
HT2601 - Where to Spend Your Money
Looking back, I cringe when I think how much money I've spent on cameras and assorted accessories. I wish someone had told me, in my youth, to spend my hard-earned cash on the highest quality lenses, rather than cameras. In fact I wish I'd spend more money on darkroom supplies, ink and paper, frames, methods of distribution, and workshops and far less money on cameras and travel. I have no doubt my photographic legacy would be much higher quality had I invested in the right photographic expenditures.
Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!
HT2600 - Photoshop Has Become Too Damn Complicated
22/04/2026 | 2min
HT2600 - Photoshop Has Become Too Damn Complicated
I know many photographers who think that Photoshop is the cat's meow of digital processing. I'm not one of them. For me, the engineers have taken the usability right out of Photoshop by making it so "capable." For me, using Photoshop always feels a bit like driving to the grocery store in a Formula 1 race car. I use 90% of Lightroom's features and capabilities; I use 3% of Photoshop's features and capabilities. The point I'm trying to make is not about Photoshop, but rather about choosing the tools that fit your needs. The purpose of software is to make our tasks easier, not more complicated.
Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!
HT2599 - Consuming With Repetition
21/04/2026 | 2min
HT2599 - Consuming With Repetition
When I view artwork (music, a novel, a painting, a photograph) for the first time, it almost never sticks. That is, I don't find I can remember its details, I don't own it in my mind/memory. That almost always needs repetition. I have no idea if this is something about me, or if it says something about art, or if it says something a bit more universal. With music it's usually necessary to hear it a dozen or so times. With a novel at least twice, sometimes three readings. I find this an interesting observation in the age of Instagram and swipe left.
Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!
Sobre LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process
Random Observations on Art, Photography, and the Creative Process. These talks focus on the creative process in fine art photography. LensWork editor Brooks Jensen side-steps techno-talk and artspeak to offer a stimulating mix of ideas, experience, and observations from his 50 years as a fine art photographer, writer, and publisher. Topics include a wide range of subjects from finding subject matter to presenting your work, and building an audience.
Included in this RSS Feed are the LensWork Podcasts — posted weekly, typically 10-20 minutes exploring a topic a bit more deeply — and our almost daily Here's a thought… audios (extracted from the videos.) Here's a thought… are snippets, fragments, morsels, and tidbits from Brooks' fertile (and sometimes swiss-cheesy) brain. Usually just a minute or two. Always about photography and the art life.
Brooks Jensen is the publisher of LensWork, one of the world's most respected and award-winning photography publications, known for its museum-book quality printing and luxurious design. LensWork has subscribers in over 73 countries. He is the author of 13 books on photography and the creative life -- the latest books are The Best of the LensWork Interviews (2016), Photography, Art, and Media (2016), and the four annual volumes of Seeing in SIXES (2016-2019).
Portugal