Every workshop I teach I am asked about ‘secrets’ of being a professional photographer. I have my standard responses – work locally/regionally, know when not to photograph, spend time looking, write – that people seem

Publishing Unplugged — The Inside Story There are many things I don’t know. Anybody who knows me knows that this is the height of understatement. The list is too long for an issue let alone

Observations:   1. Here is the difference between John Shaw and me: he is John Shaw.   Now that that is out of the way lets get to some serious photography stuff.   2. When

On a plane, once again, heading home after another workshop. This time though, I am surrounded by adults- the only screaming toddler is twelve rows back and well out of my mind. I have just

Skimming the cream, skimming the cream, photographers are always skimming the cream. But are they happiest photographing only cliches at the peak times of year? Cream is wonderful stuff but too much of it will

As I write this I am sitting in my favorite leather chair in my favorite living room in my favorite house in my favorite state of slight inebriation. While all that is certainly more fascinating

Picture this for me and then file it in the “Glamorous Life of a Professional Photographer” file. Right now, I am flying back from Colorado where I was intending to photograph wildflowers and enjoy the

It’s July, I’m home in Vermont and I am desperate for landscapes. This seems a bit silly, after all, how desperate can a fella be for a landscape shot. All you have to do is

I had spotted him at the Crooked River overlook, a fellow photographer chasing a sunset. He had caught my eye as he cranked through shots, not at all paying attention to what he was doing.