Guy Tal on September 1st, 2010

It’s hard, sometimes, to be a writer within the boundaries of others, to know things that are not secrets yet cannot be told, to be the guardian of truths that cannot be spoken. The weight of the night seems to magnify the burden and sleep will not be my salvation this time around. Let me [...]

Continue reading about The Meaning of Meaning

Guy Tal on August 8th, 2010

This is the first in a short series of articles prompted by recent interesting email exchanges. Over the past few weeks, several people contacted me for advice on various topics and I felt that some of the discussion may be of interest to a wider audience.
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A talented young photographer recently asked me about ways to [...]

Continue reading about Non-Traditional Answers Part I: Competitions

Guy Tal on May 16th, 2010

My earlier post, The Art of Copying, generated some eloquent and thought-provoking comments both on the site and via email. Though I could not respond individually to each post, I did want to offer my sincere and heartfelt thanks to those who took the time to consider and comment, whether they agreed with my position [...]

Continue reading about Copying Discussion Follow-Up

Guy Tal on May 6th, 2010

I recently read with great interest a Facebook discussion among landscape photographers. The premise was that if a photograph can be closely duplicated by another photographer, then it is not truly an original nor deserving of being considered art.
Though I did not contribute to the exchange, I do feel this is a larger topic than [...]

Continue reading about The Art of Copying

Guy Tal on April 21st, 2010

And his name is: CMYK.
Some of you who follow my posts on Twitter and other forums know I’ve been very skeptical of the iPad. There is, however, one area where I can see tremendous potential for the device: electronic publishing of color photography.
Anyone who ever tried to target color photography to a CMYK process will [...]

Continue reading about I have Seen the Enemy

Guy Tal on April 1st, 2010

Ansel Adams is one of my greatest inspirations. And, though it may amount to sacrilege, I must confess: it is not because of his photographs. Having come to creative photography in my own way and with little reference to other photographers’ work along the path, I was exposed to the color work of modern photographers [...]

Continue reading about I Don’t Want to be Ansel Adams

Guy Tal on March 17th, 2010

I fully acknowledge the vital importance of marketing and self-promotion to the financial success of an artist. Still, as a person, I hold in higher esteem those who engage in it reluctantly than those who do it with fervor.
To me, the penniless desert rat staring silently into the dancing flames of the campfire is a [...]

Continue reading about Small Confession

Guy Tal on March 1st, 2010

Dear applicant,
Our support network is here to see you through the arduous process of becoming assimil… pardon, a successful nature-photo-artist. Our easy-to-follow instructions and friendly staff will answer your questions, guide you through the standard forms, and assist in setting proper boundaries around your powers of creative expression to keep them from getting in your [...]

Continue reading about I’m from the Art Community and I’m Here to Help!

Guy Tal on February 18th, 2010

Art, however you choose to define it, is ultimately a product of the human mind. Photographs, before assuming any other meaning, are essentially products of machines. Natural phenomena are manifestations of forces altogether independent of, and oblivious to, the emotions and meanings ascribed to them by human beings. In order for nature photography to enter [...]

Continue reading about Driving Ms. Camera

Guy Tal on January 19th, 2010

Apparently not much, at least as it pertains to the goal of photographic technology. It seems comical that modern day film aficionados tout the benefits of a product that was really just meant to make life simpler and easier in the days of glass plates. Film ads of the 1800s and early 1900s boasted such [...]

Continue reading about What Have We Learned In 130 Years?