How to Enjoy a Vacation
Summer is coming. For creatives who have the good sense to take vacations, this can present a paradox. How do we relax and let go of the work, while retaining our daily creative practices? There are several schools of thought on this: 1. It's a vacation. Don'
Self Awareness is Underrated
Of all the "Letters of Note" I've read, none of have come closer to my world view of than this one from H.L. Menken in 1931 [http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/01/on-meaning-of-life.html]: > "I go on working for the same reason that
The Bayles Exercise
Brooks Jensen, in his 1018th podcast [http://daily.lenswork.com/2017/05/podcast-1018-the-bayles-exercise.html], describes a technique he can't believe he hasn't mentioned yet...in 1018 podcasts. It's a technique he learned from David Bayles in the 1980s for coming up with projects for
Why Relationships Matter More Than Products
I've been listensing to Brad Dowdy's podcast [https://www.relay.fm/penaddict] and reading his blog [https://penaddict.com] for years. So, when he has a product [http://nockco.com/] to sell, I buy it. I like him and I like his product. It's
How to Stop Creative Paralysis
First, realize that you're probably putting unnecessary expectations on the quality of your creative output. Yes, you'd show off a better body of work if you only showed your absolute best. But, then, no one would know you and few would care. Sharing your work is
Book Review: Designing Your Life
Designing Your Life [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1101875321/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1101875321&linkCode=as2&tag=cjchilvers-20&linkId=1687117c342b0e6fef4ac5a36bd113aa] is everywhere right now. It's a course at Stanford, it's a book,
Love for 16mm
A wonderful take on why film is still very useful for motion pictures: I shot one reel of 16mm film in my life. It was Tri-X I believe. I shot it through an antique 16mm camera I bought on Ebay for $75. I developed the film myself. I do not
My Personal Newsletter One-Year Review
It's been over a year since I made my main email newsletter a purely personal newsletter, not tied to any specific product or service. I did this after realizing whenever one of my books was getting attention somewhere, people were searching for more information by author name, not
The Romance of Photojournalism
From Columbia Journalism Review on what freelance photographers face [https://www.cjr.org/b-roll/heres-what-freelance-photographers-face.php]: > “Places that are trying to put up a slideshow that you almost got killed for and worked on for 3 years, for $1,500, which at the end of the day it’s