Tone
When he retired from the Law, my father returned to the Clarinet, and found a master teacher. His teacher emphasized the attainment of good tone: "People will listen to just about anything you play" he said, "as long as the tone is beautiful."

Novelty and Beauty
Novelty fades. Beauty is eternal.

Greatness, Fame, and Wealth
They're loosely connected at best.

Where's the Subject ?
In Documentary Photography, the subject of the photograph is important. In Fine Art Photography, the photograph is the subject.

Take Fewer Photographs
Using a View Camera, we take fewer photos, but better photos. We develop our eye instead of wasting effort. Taking too many photographs is like watering the leaves of a plant. Why not water the root ? The root, is you.

How to Give a Critique
According to photographer Merg Ross, "Edward Weston... would shuffle through a group of prints separating them into two piles. All of this was in silence. At the conclusion, he would point to one pile and utter, 'These I like'."

Forget Your Photographs
It's best if we can put our work away until we've had time to forget it entirely. Only after we've forgotten it, can we see it as others do. Then we can bring it to completion.

Time of Day
Every time of day has a feeling. Your photographs convey that feeling. If the time of day isn't beautiful, it's hard to make a beautiful photograph.

Chroma
It's hard to make beautiful photographs in color. They are inherently more objective, more factual. Monochrome photographs can never be entirely factual. They are inherently more abstract, more poetic.

The Best of the Best
Find your best work. Find the best part of that work. All of your new work should be that good, or better.

No Understanding
In Fine Art photography, a photograph is not there to be understood. It's there to be appreciated.

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