Almost any time that you see me I can be found with my camera in my hand. If I don’t have my camera, I have a book. If not a book, then I’m walking my dog, or perhaps playing with him. Where you’ll most likely not find me is in the company of the television. 
With regards to books, I love a good fiction book. Unfortunately, so many of them are crime dramas, or perhaps horror, etc. I need a break from that sometimes. One of my favorite, daily breaks, is the Tao Te Ching.
I, like a lot of people, own an iPod; however, I rarely use it. It sits idle for very long periods of time, on the order of months. I think that I’d like to have it with me when I take Hobbs on one of our longish, 4 or 5 mile, walks, but I want to have something interesting/inspiring to listen to.
I would like to know which podcasts or books that you’ve found particularly interesting or perhaps inspiring. I would prefer that they be photography related. Not necessarily a how-to , but it can be a work of fiction where, perhaps, a photographer is on a journey of discovery, etc. I like books about journeys. It can be a book or podcast about a famous photographer. The sky is the limit.
Thomas shared a couple of Ansel Adams videos that he found on You Tube. I found them inspiring. I’m open for videos, too, but would prefer podcasts or books on CD when I’m walking the dog. It’s kind of hard to watch a video at that time without stepping in a hole or out in front of a car. Safety first!
Well, off to take that pooch for his morning walk.
Thanks for your input!
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7 Responses to “Your favorite photography podcasts or books?”
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Glad that you like those Ansel Adams clips
I completely agree with you, vidcasts about photography are not really something for the road. Besides the distraction, I prefer a bigger screen when it comes to photography. Radiant Vists Daily critique on a minature screen? Naah.
I guess you already know Craigs podcasts from Radiant Vista. Besides those, I listen from time to time to “tips from the top floor” and to the Lenswork podcast from Brooks Jensen. Tips from the top floor is a bit more technical, while the Lenswork podcast… well, it’s entitled “Podcast on photography and the creative process”
There might be many, many more good ones out there, but I simply don’t find the time for them. The one at Photonetcast seems extremly promising. Maybe something for the next rainy day.
I typically catch all of Brooks Jensen’s podcasts. Even though they are short, they are usually packed with a very strong message to think about.
Ibarionex Perello of “The Candid Frame” has some good interviews with photographers. Some are quite inspiring.
Radiant Vista podcasts are probably my favorite, but are not done on a regular basis, understandable for those busy folks. But if you haven’t heard any of them – there are enough to keep you listening for awhile.
There is one called Inside Digital Photo which had some nice conversations with Vincent Versace from awhile back.
Jim Goldstein also has some good ones called EXIF and Beyond.
and lastly George Jardine hosts the Lightroom podcast which features a variety of things – some of the group discussions he recorded can be entertaining.
As you can see, I listen to a few of them. Passes the time on the way to/from work when I need a different topic from NPR. Some of the audio quality in the interview ones is annoying at times. Host very loud, interviewee very soft.
I second Brooks Jensen’s podcasts at lenswork.com
I’m lucky(!) enough to get to spend a couple of hours a day in the car. I hooked up my iPod to my stereo and wrote a few custom scripts to control iTunes and end up with a great daily digest of photography and creativity related stuff to listen to.
One thing that I haven’t seen mentioned yet is Jeff Curto’s photography history lectures which I really enjoyed – goes a bit deeper than the other things mentioned so far. Also from Jeff is his camera position podcast.
The Candid Frame interviews are great, well worth the time to hear about the process that goes into the shots. The LightSource podcast from studiolighting.net often has a lot of interesting guests and interviews if you like that sort of thing.
I have an audible.com subscription too – plenty of great books in audio format on there.
Paul, my favorite podcasts are WBGH Morning Stories…Unforgettable Stories from Everyday People. I became hooked early last year when I listened to one titled, “We See You, Dad”. Here’s the podcast description for it:
Photographer Joel Meyerowitz takes a final family picture of his Dad.
The WGBH Morning Stories website is
http://www.wgbh.org/morningstories
If you want to go straight to “We See You, Dad,” I located it for you on the archives page:
http://www.wgbh.org/article?item_id=2975629&parent_id=345023
Oops…that was the entire archive page URL I gave you. Here’s the download page for the story about the photographer:
http://streams.wgbh.org/online/morn/MSPC052606.mp3
Seems like the decent podcasts have already been covered, so I’ll toss in some traditional reading and books that I have enjoyed…
“On Photography” by Susan Sontag
“How to look at Photographs” by David Finn
“Camera Lucida” by Roland Barthes
I also have a myriad of coffee table photo books that I never get bored with…
“Aftermath” by Joel Meyerowitz
“A Photographer’s Life – 1990-2005″ by Annie Leibovitz
“The Great LIFE Photographers” – Bulfinch Press
You should also subscribe to “LensWork” if you haven’t already. JPG Magazine is also becoming a favorite of mine as well…