One day I was teaching a class and I came up with a saying, standardization and simplification. To be quite honest, I don’t know if I heard it from someone else, or I actually made it up. What do I mean by standardization and simplification? By this I mean, know your equipment, keep it to an absolute minimum, make your insurance photographs, and once you’ve nailed that then you can experiment. Less is more. Simple, straightforward, composition: it will never fail you. When I visited Japan I was initially very surprised when I visited a Japanese garden. There was nothing there. The anthropologist I was with, took me by the hand and showed me what was there. Very simple, basic, and to the point. Once you see it, you’ll never forget it. It’s all about visual literacy. So, go out and make some great photos.

Signing off,

Joe D.