Take Your Best Shot

Introduction

In 2006, after publishing a popular series of articles on the website OutbackPhoto.com, I started writing my own photography blog. I discovered that I could explain things clearly, and with more than 40 years of photographing I could contribute some useful ideas to the craft.

I could have written my blog about technical matters, but there was already a lot of that kind of material out there. And so, from the beginning, I leaned towards tackling the more difficult questions in photography; issues such as making great images, finding inspiration, working the scene, and pitfalls to avoid (usually learned from personal experience). This year, I wrote a three-article series on Taking Your Photography To The Next Level, which formed the basis for this book. What follows are a series of essays on specific solutions to common creative problems, followed by that three-part series.

My background is as a family doctor, a profession that can involve a lot of teaching and explaining. It is a part of my career that I especially enjoy. For years I wrote a patient newsletter. I have taught sailboat racing and computers and photography. I seem to have an ability to explain things clearly—something that medical specialists often don’t possess—and patients come to me to translate what ...