I initially bought the $1,500 Ricoh GRIV so I’d always have an “awesome” camera with me, but now I have no use for the GRIV.

The mood.camera app is so much more fun and produces printable, soulful images!

It won’t replace my professional cameras… but for random walks through the world? The mood.camera app is perfect and probably more powerful thank you think.

I’ve written about it before, but this time I had a chance to ask Alex, the 1-man team behind the app, a few questions:

(All photos below: copyright: Alex Fawks)

What was your inspiration to design this app?

Put simply, it was out of frustration with the direction that mobile photography had taken in the past 5+ years. The sensors had gotten better, the devices more powerful, but the processing had become too fixated on increasing sharpness and dynamic range. I knew the sensors were capable thanks to experimenting with some other camera apps, but nothing quite hit the spot. I had a history with image editing & programming, so I thought why not give it a go myself.

What is your history with photography?

I’ve always been drawn to still photography. There’s something about freezing a moment in time that’s always fascinated me. You can choose how to tell the story, to frame the scene, capture the emotion. It gave me a reason to look more closely at my surroundings, to notice details others might pass by, and to see things from different angles. I also loved editing.

Being able to take an ordinary photo and enhance the feeling behind it felt a bit like a super power.

I dabbled in film, but mostly used DSLRs until phone cameras became good enough. I was always drawn to the form factor, being able to spend a day out in London, take hundreds of photos without carrying extra gear, then edit them on the train home, all on the same device.

Over time, though, I became fatigued by the editing process and found myself taking fewer and fewer photos. That’s when I started looking for apps that had that cinematic look baked in, something more like a point-and-shoot experience.

I said, and I think you said, that this app creates photos with soul. What does that mean to you in context to photographs?

There are lots of interpretations of what a photograph “is”, but for me, it should be able to transport you back to that scene or place. You’re trying to capture the emotion you felt when you took it, not just what your eye saw, it’s the whole experience. Phone camera’s are good at capturing lots of detail, wide dynamic range, high sharpness, strong saturation, but not much feeling.

I think the “soul” comes from the imperfections and obscurity in a photo. If your mind has to do a bit of work to piece together a scene, you become more immersed in it. Maybe that’s because it’s closer to how memory actually works, slightly fuzzy and imperfect.

The grain here feels different and much more refined. It seems very film-like. Probably better than any app or even editing program, especially given they are SOOC jpegs. How did you do it?

Thank you! There are quite a few layers to how the grain is processed, which I can’t really go into. But, to start with I spent a lot of time studying how grain behaves in real film photos and the physical properties behind it. The effect went through many iterations, gradually layering in the visual elements that I thought helped it look authentic. At the same time, I had to be mindful of performance so it would run well on-device.

Random mode is amazing. Was that always part of the plan?

Glad you like it! I came up with Random mode as a way for people to continue using the app for free after their initial trial ended. Turns out some people just really like to use that app that way! It’s great if you like surprises and aren’t too precious about your photos looking “perfect”. It certainly plays into the idea of “letting go” of control. If anyone hasn’t tried it already, I recommend giving it a go!

Mood seems to be a very personal project. Do you have a photo you’ve taken with it that surprised you? Not for marketing or anything - but just one that you love for whatever reason? Could you share it and tell me why?

I’ve always loved this photo of my cat, Talulah, last spring in our garden. It’s been my phone background for quite a while. I think the light and framing just work really well, plus the colours pop but don’t feel over done. I also like that there’s a bit of natural bokeh from the telephoto lens. It also helps that she’s a pretty kitty heh.

You have a buy-it-once and use it forever philosophy that I find refreshing and worthy of support. Why make that decision?

It’s a tough one. From a consumers perspective, subscriptions are annoying. However, from a developers perspective you kind of need to keep a decent level of revenue to justify adding features, support for new iPhones etc. Especially if it’s your primary income. It’s tricky to get the balance and it doesn’t help that people generally don’t value software that highly.

When I first ran my beta I wasn’t really thinking that deeply about pricing but lots of users were asking for a lifetime purchase option and it just felt like the right thing to do. The app was kind of a bit of a hobby in the beginning and so I didn’t think too hard about it.

What’s next for mood.camera? Anything you’re excited about or want to share?

I’ve just released v2.0 of the app, with major improvements to the image processing pipeline. Dynamic Range, Halation, Bloom, and Tone Mapping have all been rebuilt from scratch, with a focus on more filmic, consistent results. You can read more about it, plus see some examples here: https://mood.camera/v2

I don’t have any details on what’s next, but I’ll probably be focussing on stability and small tweaks to the v2.0 release.

What else did I miss?

Big thanks to my community and everyone who’s sent me a message with support for the app. It’s a good feeling to know all the hard work is appreciated!

Here is a video featuring the mood.camera app, and some of the things I’ve learned by using the app:

P.S. - If you’re getting this, you’re probably already subscribed to my newsletter, but please share this with any photography enthusiasts who are looking for inspiration, tips and a positive photo community (no judgement here)!

And as always, send me any questions you have or topics you’d like to see me cover in upcoming newsletters or YouTube videos (you can subscribe here).

More than anything, even if you don’t purchase a print, subscribing to my YouTube channel, watching some videos, and leaving me a comment about what you think is a great, free, way to support me!

Comments? Leave them below or email me: jerredz@gmail.com

Not much, honestly. At least for those, like me, who come to gawk at the detritus.

(Remember: the world ends not with a bang, but a whimper.)

From the outside, we see fascinating glimpses into dead dreams, families scattered, and forgotten city streets… but we will never understand what it’s like to live through the kind of slow decline the people of Corning, Missouri have experienced through the years.

Corning was a railroad AND river town, which sounds great! But flooding was always a serious issue for people in Corning since its founding in 1868. (Population decline is a prevalent story in all these floodplain communities along the Missouri river).

The floods come in. The people rebuild… but some leave.

It was a pattern you can see in the town’s census numbers through the years, with precipitous drops during severe flooding.

The last straw was the disastrous flooding in 2019, which tore through the levees throughout this entire region. Roads became impassable. Living became impossible.

And on December 27, 2022, the town officially disincorporated.

The town of Corning, Missouri no longer exists.

However, it’s a fascinating place to explore:

Main Street

From an article in Farmer’s Publishing:

Corning was a prosperous community that had quite a variety of businesses for the size of town that was available. It had two general stores, flour mill, two drug stores, dram shop, bank, newspaper, furniture and undertaking business, boot and shoe shop, harness shop, two blacksmith and wagon shops, two livery stables, a lumberyard, sawmill, rope and twine factory and brick factory. There were five doctors, a dentist, two cemeteries and a saloon. Corning also had an M.E. church, grain elevators, ice houses, creamery, meat market, barber shop, millinery and dress-making shop, post office, opera house, a string band and hotels.

Corning had the river for activities and entertainment along with Manitoba Lake and Schulte Lake. Manitoba Lake had a very large 4th of July celebration for many years before it was drained. The lake no longer exists.

The Neighborhood

This place was eerily quiet as I walked the streets.

St. JOHN’s Lutheran Church

This church is on the National Historic Register, but its days are numbered.

Corning started as a mostly German-speaking town, and this church held services in German for a while.

The Tiny One-Room Schoolhouse

This little gem of a school held regular German speaking classes from 1912-1917, after which it held various functions for the church and community.

As a former high school teacher, I feel connected to these places.

This photo is NOT from the schoolhouse above, but instead a Corning classroom in 1953 (taken at a school no longer standing). I find it fascinating.

This guy either wound up in jail or a became a politician:

These two have contrasting views of having their photos taken:

Definitely the class clown in the next one. What is on his shirt? Looks like a giant worm destroying the town or something.

The Jail

A local (thank you for your time, Phil Graves!) told me that this was the jail, so I had to get closer to see.

I peaked inside… and saw the distinct sign of a small-town jail. Basically just a metal box for you to hang out in while you (likely) sobered up:

A Giant, Awesome Home

I asked a different local about this home (located just beyond Corning), but they didn’t know much about it, and I couldn’t find much online.

ANOTHER One-Room Schoolhouse:

Just down the road, AGAIN: more artifacts from the past.

I call this one “F SCHOOL!”

Not much left behind except an exceptionally-colored retro stove and the old fridge.

SHELTER:

If this is a house, it’s one of the smallest I’ve ever seen. The midwest is famous for a lot of very small houses (that often housed large families), but this? This is way too small to feel like any traditional home. Maybe a temporary place for the railroad? I’m not sure.

Like many places here, tornadoes are also a factor to consider, making storm shelters like this fairly common.

(At least I hope it’s a storm shelter and not home to a monster of unimaginable Lovecraftian horror.)

This place takes center stage in my half-truth-half-fiction video I made about the town:

Mt. Hope Cemetery

Not far from Corning is the cemetery, built on a hill to avoid the flooding.

Allegedly, Lewis and Clark traveled by the area, but pretty much EVERYWHERE in the midwest makes the same claim.

P.S. - If you’re getting this, you’re probably already subscribed to my newsletter, but please share this with any photography enthusiasts who are looking for inspiration, tips and a positive photo community (no judgement here)!

And as always, send me any questions you have or topics you’d like to see me cover in upcoming newsletters or YouTube videos (you can subscribe here).

More than anything, even if you don’t purchase a print, subscribing to my YouTube channel, watching some videos, and leaving me a comment about what you think is a great, free, way to support me!

Comments? Leave them below or email me: jerredz@gmail.com

www.jerredz.com

It was a cool project, and I wanted to make an impression by sending my best forest photos… but then I freaked out.

I don’t have many traditional “forest” shots like I imagined they might be looking for.

I live in Nebraska, for goodness sake. Forests??

So, I fired up Google Maps in order to plan some possible routes to find some “real” forests I might be able to photograph.

Colorado isn’t far. Minnesota and Wisconsin have some great forests too. But the coasts? I bet the Redwoods would be epic. And the East Coast is full of those idyllic hills and forest views.

As I was mapping out routes and figuring out how I’d pay for the trip (and hoping my 150K plus car would survive a cross-country trek), I took a few cameras and almost subconsciously went for a walk at Fontenelle Forest in Bellevue, Nebraska.

It’s a place I’ve known since I first learned how to walk. My mother would take me there, and the two of us would wander the grown-over paths. She taught me about bird calls, how beavers could literally re-shape the wetlands, and to always love and respect nature.

These forest paths became part of my DNA, but somehow, even after 25 years of being a photographer, I have very few photos from Fontenelle.

There is a valley there just across some train tracks near the Fontenelle wetlands I haven’t walked since I was a kid. For some reason, I just didn’t think it would be “pretty” enough.

What was I thinking?

The valley was… stunning. Early spring revealed tiny wildflowers, and the pathway was full of new growth.

I walked through here with a sense of child-like awe, remembering my mom’s hand in mine, and when I heard this Chickadee song, I almost cried:

The Chickadee (and many others) sang as I walked, and I felt fully present for the first time in years.

This was last week, and I’ve been back almost every day since.

Depression is a brutal thing. It’s a cloud of unrelenting, invisible, indescribable sadness, and I’ve been dealing with it for decades. I’ve watched myself degrade from a hopeful young husband and father to a person I couldn’t even look at in the mirror.

But lately, the cloud has been lifting, and this forest is a reminder of how far I’ve come recently as I’ve gotten REAL (professional) help with my sadness for the first time in my life.

A few days ago I asked my wife to come for a walk with me here, and the smile on her face was more uplifting than anything I’ve seen in a long, long time.

She held my hand as we walked, both of us amazed by spring’s simple beauty. The sound of the water. The creaking of trees. The butterflies fluttering among the tiny flowers.

The forest is always becoming something new.

It’s a reflection of ourselves: Changing. Living, Resilient.

When I got home from our walk through the valley, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

I didn’t look away. I remembered my wife’s hand in mine during early spring, the Chickadee’s song, and my mother’s lessons… and I smiled.

I didn’t hate what I saw.

Hope is a wonderful thing.

(Photographers - these were all taken with a mix of the OM-1 MarkII, OM-3, Fujifilm GFX 100s, and my iPhone 17 Pro. Most are straight-out-of-camera jpegs.)

P.S. - If you’re getting this, you’re probably already subscribed to my newsletter, but please share this with any photography enthusiasts who are looking for inspiration, tips and a positive photo community (no judgement here)!

And as always, send me any questions you have or topics you’d like to see me cover in upcoming newsletters or YouTube videos (you can subscribe here).

More than anything, even if you don’t purchase a print, subscribing to my YouTube channel, watching some videos, and leaving me a comment about what you think is a great, free, way to support me!

Comments? Leave them below or email me: jerredz@gmail.com

www.jerredz.com

He’s photographed hundreds of weddings, countless portraits, celebrities, and much more. You can find his work in the New York Freaking Times (and other big-deal publications).

You might think you’ve seen every way possible to photograph a person… until you see Hunter’s work.

He’s relentlessly creative, and his photos of people are more dynamic and full of life than any other photographer in his field.

He journals through creative ruts. He shoots for the edit before he ever touches the shutter. He ignored every photographer around him when he was starting out, not out of arrogance, but because he figured the only thing worth developing was his own eye.

More than anything, though, he’s an incredible human being who makes an impact on the people he photographs. In every frame, not only do I see a trained artistic eye, but a buoyant human soul full of complexity and unending amounts of love.

You’re going to be better off getting to know him a bit:

What’s your story?

It was not always easy growing up in a small town with an artistic ability that nobody around really understood. I am thankful that I was blessed with great friends and family to push me in the direction of following my dream. So, here I am today.

I picked up a camera at an early age and it kind of went from there. I went to college just to say I went to college so I did not feel like a complete bum and it gave me a sense of direction. Although I never used the degree I have in Computer Networking, I was able to get myself through school with photography.

I used to be a painter ( a very impatient one ), and I found that photography could give me instant gratification and also make people other than myself happy.

Other people’s happiness became my drug of choice.

You will see me at any given day walking around town photographing random people that look interesting to me.

Was there a single moment that made you take photography seriously?

I shot my first wedding for $300 and I do not feel like digging those images up, they are not worth looking at to be honest. But 200+ weddings later, I look back at that first one and really appreciate how welcoming that couple was and how much trust they placed in me. I was cheap as hell, but those images were going to hang on their walls forever and be shown to their kids someday. That kind of permanence hit me early. I love shooting weddings, but I am not passionate about them. Yet that moment still sticks with me more than almost anything else. I think it is because it was never about the work, it was about the weight of responsibility and rising to meet it.

Do you struggle with creative ruts? How do you get out?

Boy do I ever. I feel like I have a split personality and half of it is in a creative rut about 30% of the time. I have found various ways of getting out, and as cliche as it sounds, grounding yourself is the best thing. Personally I need to unplug from the screens, take a walk, and journal. Write about how you are feeling. Since I have journaled for so long I can look back on past entries and find my way through it. A lot of people go out and look for inspiration in other photographers but I find my inspiration internally, after all we are what makes us, us. Looking for it externally through social media or YouTube can actually make you feel worse. Stick to the basics. We aren’t wired for technology, it’s wired for us.

What photo are you most proud of, and what makes it stand out to you?

I had the opportunity to photograph Post Malone and it stands out for obvious reasons, but the story behind it is what makes it special. He is as down to earth as everyone says he is. He looked at me and said “hey man, do you want a really good picture? Let me see your camera” and then pulled me next to him and took a selfie himself. He missed focus, but he is a rockstar not a photographer, so I will give him that. Honestly the story makes the photo a little less cool on paper, but I had a plan going in and I executed it. I am proud of the craft behind it, not just the name attached to it.

Who’s a photographer, famous or not, that changed how you see?

I have gotten this question a lot and the honest answer is going to sound egotistical, so be it. When I started, Instagram and YouTube were just getting off the ground so there was not really anyone to look up to, so I just looked up to myself and kept pushing to be better. I looked at the photographers around me, saw what they were doing, and thought I will just do the exact opposite and bring something different to my hometown. That mentality led to being voted photographer of the year in Starkville three years in a row before I moved. The best way I can put it is that I look internally for inspiration because it is in there, and it is in all of us. Looking at others is a losing game because you will fall into comparison, and the one thing none of us can replicate in each other is ourselves.

What’s the worst photography advice you ever followed?

“You should niche down and specialize.” Fuck that. I am too inspired by too many things in life to niche down. My portfolio has everything in it and I would not be where I am today if I had taken that advice. I can understand and appreciate the reasoning behind it but that is just not for me. I like experimenting too much to be tied down. I want to do it all and I will do it all.

What do you wish someone had told you in your first year?

Stick with one prime lens. Do not try to buy everything at once. Understanding one focal length at a time is one of the most important things you can do early on. Around my third year I shot exclusively on a 35mm Sigma 1.4 and that single year is probably the reason my work looks the way it does today. If you spend real time with a 24, a 35, a 50, and an 85 before you ever touch a zoom, you will develop a genuine understanding of how to use focal length intentionally instead of just making photos that do not make sense. The compositional decisions you are forced to make with a 35 versus an 85 are completely different and that education shapes your eye permanently. Primes first, then graduate to a zoom.

Has photography ever felt like a burden? How did you handle it?

It does during busy season because the edits are daunting. I have a family and photographers never sleep. This is a night owl profession, and I say that writing this at 12:47AM with my editing software open on my other screen. I handle it by reminding myself this is what I have to do to keep the wheels spinning. When you are a freelance photographer there is no fallback. Your slow days are usually filled with figuring out how to get more clients, reaching out, networking, all things I am honestly not great at. It feels like it never ends and to be honest, I hope it doesn’t.

I love this shit.

What’s a photo you didn’t take that still haunts you?

I had just finished hiking to the top of a mountain in Cape Town, South Africa with my camera on me, when I heard a crowd getting louder and louder. I could not believe my eyes. Gerard Butler was up there taking selfies with a ton of people. I did manage to get a photo of him from a distance in a very street photography creepy kind of way, but I really wish I had the guts to walk up and ask him for a proper portrait. Or at the very minimum get kicked off the mountain while he yelled THIS IS SPARTA.

How do you know when a photo is “done”?

It depends on whether I am looking for a great composition and framing or if I am looking for emotion. In the moment, it is more of a feeling than anything. When I get the photo, my face lights up naturally and the person or people I am photographing just knows it is about to be a banger. When I am at my computer it is pretty simple. I already know how the edit will look before it even lands in my software, I already know what images are going to be keepers. There is not much thought on the backend, just a lot of time spent there.

Do you think about the edit while you’re shooting, or keep them separate?

I shoot for my edits. I know exactly what the image will look like before it hits the software and I think getting it right in camera pushes me to become better at my craft. There is no hoping something works out in post. The intention is there before I ever press the shutter.

If you could only shoot one subject for the rest of your life, what is it?

My family. Simple.

Check out Hunter’s work (and be prepared to be blown away even MORE):

Website

YouTube

Substack

Instagram

In some ways, that sounds crazy. Flowers are beautiful. Point a camera at them, and the photos will be beautiful, right?

Well… not always. A lot of times, my photos used to look like this:

That photo is flat, and I’m mostly just trying to “get it all in” the frame. No more!

Isn’t the next one better?

I was reminded of how much I’ve learned a few days ago as I visited one of the most beautiful fields of flowers I’ve ever seen: the stunning tulips at Nelson Produce Farm in Waterloo, Nebraska.

The photos are full of nearly unbelievable vibrancy, and, like springtime, they bring me hope and a touch of awe at the natural world.

I love the images, and I jotted down few tips to share as I looked through the photographs.

1 - Create A Center of Visual Interest

Early in my career I struggled to understand this concept, which is one of the most basic in all of photography.

For each shot, I (usually) make sure there is a clear and direct way for the viewer to engage with my photo, and with my flower photography, I (usually) want viewers to go to ONE spot, very fast.

You can do this in many ways, but for me and my flower photography, I keep it simple: pick out a standout element in the photograph, and find a way to create a path for the viewer’s eye, leading them where YOU want their attention to go.

In most of these examples, the eye goes to one place, and hopefully the viewer likes what they see!

If you do a good job and capture their attention, then they will continue to engage with your photograph and all the other details you bring to them… but they’ll always come back to the center of interest!

2 - Try Laying on the Ground

Laying on the ground, or at least putting your camera on the ground if you have a tilting screen, is amazing.

Many people call it “worm’s eye” view, and that’s about right.

This view absolutely, fundamentally changes your flower photographs because most people never take the time to view flowers like this.

This low perspective allows you to tell the story of these small worlds in a way most people don’t see… which is a great way to create visual interest.

3 - Back Light is Your Friend

When I’m teaching photography, my most important lesson is: “look for the light.” That can mean many things, but often it means paying attention to how the light is hitting the subject. Often, we’ll just shoot toward the direction of the light on our subject, like these:

These are fine!

But you know what? With many flowers, backlighting is a really cool choice not everyone pays attention to:

With these tulips, shooting into the sun reveals the unique ways the light makes the petals glow in stunning ways:

4 - Try a Telephoto!

For this trip, I didn’t even bring a macro lens, which is what I used to do when thinking about”flower” photography.

Instead, I brought just two lenses, one being a 140-560mm equivalent super telephoto. (The OM SYSTEM 50-200mm f/2.8 lens with the 1/4 teleconverter).

With this setup, I’m able to get low and zoom way into the scene, forcing a perspective that allows me to tell the viewer: LOOK AT THIS AWESOME STUFF!

A benefit of some telephoto lenses is that they sometimes allow us to get very close without the constraints of a traditional macro lens:

5 - Try an Ultra-wide!

The other lens I brought is the OM SYSTEM 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO.

Again, I’m down low, pointing my camera up with my OM SYSTEM OM-3 toward the sky.

This isn’t always easy. The ultra wide will often reveal the background… so it’s your job to make sure the background is pretty!

Here, I was working with direct sun and a deep blue sky… and while I do love clouds in my photos… that crazy cool blue goes incredibly well he vibrancy in the photographs.

I use my composition powers to pull people to one spot, even with all the chaos, and the ultra-wide angle lets them explore the rest of the garden with their eyes.

BONUS TIP!

Peeps, I’m going to give you this one FOR FREE!

In the past, I used to try to clear everything in front of the flower so I could make the viewer easily pay attention to one thing, like the next four photos:

But what about letting the other flowers and leaves obfuscate the flower a bit?

This isn’t always easy, but it creates an ethereal, unique look that washes the entire scene with incredibly vibrant color.

A Word About Macro Lenses

For many years I thought flower photography almost HAD to be done with a macro lens.

I’m not saying macro shots aren’t awesome (they are!), but for a long time, I kinda thought you HAD to use a macro lens to get the best out of flowers.

It became a thing: a constant search for a better macro lens, in order to get better photos.

The last few years, though, my photography has gotten a lot better, and I think it’s because I force myself to be uncomfortable sometimes… like bringing a super telephoto and ultra-wide to the garden!

It’s forced me to re-think how I see this type of photography, and that’s pretty awesome!

WRAP UP

There is a LOT more we could talk about… but these five things are what I’m focusing on right now.

What about YOU? What kind of tips do you have for better flower photography?

P.S. - If you’re getting this, you’re probably already subscribed to my newsletter, but please share this with any photography enthusiasts who are looking for inspiration, tips and a positive photo community (no judgement here)!

And as always, send me any questions you have or topics you’d like to see me cover in upcoming newsletters or YouTube videos (you can subscribe here).

More than anything, even if you don’t purchase a print, subscribing to my YouTube channel, watching some videos, and leaving me a comment about what you think is a great, free, way to support me!

Comments? Leave them below or email me: jerredz@gmail.com

www.jerredz.com

“Look at this camera! It’s so pretty. Buy one from my affiliate link.”

It’s all crap.

Me and many others in the camera world devolve into capitalistic animals bent on making money on your fears, hopes and dreams. Look at these great photos, click my Amazon link, and you can be like me.

Buying a camera = buying happiness.

What a joke.

So I don’t want this to be about the Zf… not really. I have no affiliate links for you to click.

The Zf was by far my least-used camera during the time I had it… yet it has some photographs that stand out.

Cameras are like musical instruments. They can be cheap, expensive, big and small, loud and quiet and come in a million variations.

They all make music, but sometimes, one captures a certain frequency in just a sliver of a different way. Call it a vibration, or a connection to the universe that, in the hands of a certain person who’s tuned to that frequency, can make good things happen.

That reminds me of my time with the Nikon Zf. It was tuned exactly for the moment in time I had it.

I barely remember using the camera. More often than not, using the brass manual control dials and retro lenses brought me into a flow state. It wasn’t me using the camera to take a photograph, it was me experiencing the world in a certain state of mind.

Here is a picture I took in late 2024. There’s a longing here, a question: were things better “back then?” This could have been taken in the 70’s and it probably looked exactly the same (maybe without such an emphasis on the WILD RICE sale though).

I came to realize as I spent time looking at more and more photos that I’m not taking photos of the things I see. The Zf isn’t just documenting what’s in front of me.

Instead, the camera is a portal.

Here, I heard the sounds of laughter coming from the trees, and I walked for miles until I found this place.

It felt sad here, like something significant had been lost. (It’s me… I’m the thing that’s lost.)

I kept going, finding slivers of other worlds.

Here, I could imagine a child, wandering through the Nebraska plains until they found this place, tired, but too afraid of the darkness and silence to go inside. (It’s me - I’m afraid of the silence. I’m afraid of the dark.)

I took the Nikon Zf to places that are hard to believe were ever real. This scene reminds me of the slowness of time people used to experience when things were simpler. (How did I let myself become who I’ve become? Were things always going to be like this?)

Maybe none of these places were ever really real. (Am I?)

Maybe photography is just memories of places that never existed.

The Nikon Zf is just a stupid camera.

The real portal is inside of me. (and you)

P.S. - If you’re getting this, you’re probably already subscribed to my newsletter, but please share this with any photography enthusiasts who are looking for inspiration, tips and a positive photo community (no judgement here)!

And as always, send me any questions you have or topics you’d like to see me cover in upcoming newsletters or YouTube videos (you can subscribe here).

More than anything, even if you don’t purchase a print, subscribing to my YouTube channel, watching some videos, and leaving me a comment about what you think is a great, free, way to support me!

Comments? Leave them below or email me: jerredz@gmail.com

www.jerredz.com

Think of the most upbeat, positive, uplifting, soulful, talkative, helpful, giving person you know.

That’s Kurt, but Kurt’s probably taller.

Kurt is many things for me. A mentor. A brother. A shoulder to cry on.

He’s also an inspiration. He’s never really had any other job than photography and proves that hard work, kindness and stubbornness are keys to success. He’s been all over the world, shot film and video for high-end magazines and television shows, and is the most accomplished photographer I know… but he seeks no glory.

More photographers need to know him because his new monochrome work is, in my humble opinion, the best stuff he’s ever done. And that’s nuts because he’s always taken killer photographs!

His 65x24 (X-Pan) monochrome photos are a culmination of all the contrasts in the world: good and the bad, the ugly and beautiful, darkness and light. Kurt revels in the pure mystery the universe, and his photographs are tiny little slivers of truth full of clarity, humor and never-ending bright-eyed wonder.

I asked him some questions in the hope that he might inspire you even a fraction as much as he inspires me.

He changed my life by making me believe.

Introduce Yourself:

My body is 70 years old, but I’m about 20 years old in spirit and mind. I’ve been doing photography professionally for close to 50 years. And I would describe myself as somebody driven to keep moving forward in life, in photography, in my relationships with family and friends. I don’t like sitting still.

I’ve been reflective on all the great things that have happened to me, and that alone has guided me to where I am right now within this plateau of gratitude. I’ve pretty much lived my dream, and I don’t think many people can say that. I never forget how lucky I am.

My photography in its current form is schizophrenic. By day, I’m a paid nature photographer. I provide images for healthcare facilities and hospitals around the country with beautiful nature scenes, macro shots of leaves, flowers, grasses, landscapes… all of these are very indigenous to wherever that facility is being built. I average about 100 to 115 days on the road, which has made me a much more rounded person. I’ve seen a lot of this wonderful country.

The other half of my photography is black and white. I use a single 50mm lens on a Fujifilm GFX camera with the unique 65x24 ratio.

When I started out as a photojournalist a million years ago, black and white was the standard. That’s always been my upbringing… my formative years in photography.

I love the simplicity and complexity of that medium. It defines a lot of things and leaves a lot of questions. It doesn’t tell you everything. You have to want to look, research, and try to understand.

Having two separate channels of expression is pretty unique. Pretty amazing. The nuts and bolts of the business is nature photography and healthcare. But the black and white is special. A very dear brother of mine said: don’t question it, just start doing it. And that’s where we are.

What kind of photographer are you?

Adventurous. Explorative. Free. Unbridled. I think I’ve reverted back to a beautiful, non-judgmental, primitive state. I’m just walking around with a camera I love, in a format I love, in black and white, which is in my blood. Absolute freedom.

I’m making it as simple as possible. No barriers, no obstacles. I just want to go press the button.

I would consider myself a free-rambling man with a camera. If something looks interesting, I’m going to take a picture of it.

What are you trying to accomplish?

I’m trying to tie together all the photographic things I’ve ever seen, learned, done, or been involved with. I don’t really have expectations, but the subtext of that is that I’d like to learn what I’m looking at and why. Why did it make me stop?

It’s a beautiful self-fulfilling prophecy: the more I examine what I do after I’ve taken the images, the more I start learning about what’s interesting to me. Why did that stop me? What was it about it? For the most part, it was something very simple, like a flow, a movement, a shadow, a highlight, a form, some weirdness, some quirkiness. Those are the things I’m letting myself run wild with.

And I think the more I do that, the more it feeds the other side of the business of landscape and nature photography for healthcare. Sometimes those two don’t seem connected, but they work in the same circle of what I see, what I think, what I feel, what makes me get up every day and want to take pictures.

I am what I do. I do what I am. There is no second act. Do it, or don’t.

I want to do this until the day I die and be out shooting a picture when I go. I just can’t separate what my life is from photography.

I’m not competing with anybody but myself.

When Did You Know Photography Was Your Thing?

My dad had an old Argus C3. He’d let me play with it. He was a hobbyist and had a little enlarger in the bathroom, a little darkroom setup. I didn’t always get to see him taking pictures, but I got to see the final outcome on film, and then he’d print some stuff. That was a real big hook.

So he gave me the Argus C3, and I had a roll of black and white film with 20 exposures. I just walked around outside taking pictures. Nothing really outstanding. But I remember there were these old metal garbage cans on the side of the house, and the light was kind of cool. I thought: that’s kind of neat. And I took a picture of it.

Next time my dad developed film, I gave him my roll. He let me develop it. We went into the bathroom/darkroom. And when that picture of the garbage can came up, which is the first black and white picture I ever made, I just was like: holy moly.

I don’t know how to relate it to other aha moments for other people. Maybe someone submits something in high school or college and wins an award. For me, it was: this is it. This is exactly my life. This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

It was like a launching pad. Somebody starting a forest fire. It has consumed me my whole life, and I love every minute of it still, after 50, 60 years.

(The two photos above look as if they were shot to correspond on purpose. Did Kurt pre-visualize this? Listen to how he sees these two photos below:)

How Do You Know When a Photo Is Done?

After 50 years, you get a pretty good grasp of where something can go and where it is. But I had a great friend who was a sculptor who was a Jesuit priest with an MFA and a doctorate in art and literature. One day we were talking, and he told me two things that have always stuck with me. He said: the hardest thing about art is knowing when to quit.

I was 24 or 25 at the time. I filed it away. It didn’t sink in for a couple of years. But I got to a point where I understood that obsession with perfection isn’t good.

There is no perfection. It’s how you see it, how you express it, how you sing it, how you dance it, how you write it. It’s how you feel. The more you try to make it something it’s not, the more it goes out of the realm of art.

Anybody who does anything creative is their own worst enemy. I can look at every photo I’ve ever taken and find something I wish I’d done differently. But if you fixate on making everything perfect, you’re in a straitjacket. You’re a slave to this idea of perfection when you should be doing things that are expressive.

It’s about the emotion of when you took it and when you released it into the wild for people to see. That’s all it is.

I stop when I feel like: this does just about exactly what I was thinking. Boom. Done.

Creative Ruts: Do You Struggle, and How Do You Get Out?

God, yes. Anybody who does anything struggles with creative ruts. It’s so easy to fall back into that comfort zone. It’s so easy to say, “Oh yeah, I can do this. I’ve done this a million times.”

Ruts happen to me sometimes for months. What am I going to shoot? How am I going to say something different? And the more you spiral on that, the more you think: I don’t even want to pick up a camera.

Before, I would try to shoot myself out of it and just go bang, bang, bang at everything. Most of the time, that was an exercise in futility. Later, I’d sit down and think: what is a rut, really? Why are you repeating yourself? Everybody in the creative world has that ice-cold fear: have I used up everything I have to say?

What I’ve found that works is turning to a different form. Listen to music way outside my playlist. Pick up a book I’d never normally read. Go to a ballet, go to the art museum, just absorb. And usually that becomes a nice inspiration to start thinking again.

Sometimes I’ll pick up a different camera or a different lens and just say: this is my tool for today. Do something different. Clear your head. If you’re a nature photographer, go find somebody on the street and say, can I take your portrait?

The Worst Photography Advice You Ever Got?

I know what it was. It was my mom saying: you’ll never make it in photography. Why don’t you go to school and become an architect or a lawyer or a doctor.

And part of me did think that maybe photography would never be something I could do for the rest of my life, let alone make a living. Stay in school. Do something else. Do this on the side.

But I don’t think if you really, truly love photography, you ever want to do it on the side. You want to do it for real, all the time. There are a million people out there who probably don’t make a dime from what they do who are a million times better than I am. But you’ve got to believe.

How many people want to be in a rock and roll band, want to be on Broadway, want to be the next great actor or dancer or writer? Everybody. And in most cases, the advice you get is: do anything but what you love.

I always looked at it like: I’d rather go down swinging. Nobody ever told me to hang on to that feeling. I had to figure it out for myself. And I never, ever followed the advice to stop.

There is no second act, and I want to do this till the day I die.

I want to be out shooting a picture and maybe have an a massive aneurysm or a stroke or a heart attack or get hit by a beer truck with my camera.

What Do You Wish Someone Told You A Long Time Ago?

There’s a Neil Young song called Don’t Be Denied. That’s the spirit of it.

Immerse yourself. Be consumed by it. Do everything, learn everything, push yourself to do something every day to get yourself closer to your true photographic self. What do I like to see? How do I see it? How do I make it work?

Absorb as many influences as you possibly can. And then start developing your own style. That’s what separates all of us. Everybody has a different style. You’ve got to develop your own voice. I wish somebody had told me that earlier.

Has Photography Ever Felt Like a Burden?

Honestly, the further you go along in your photo groove, the more you need people around you to help fulfill it. And every once in a while, I wake up in the middle of the night knowing that there are about four other people who depend on this team making the best decisions we possibly can. Mortgages. Livelihoods. That becomes a financial weight.

But I would never change where I am. I handle it by trying to think of unique things that separate what I do from everyone else doing what I do. And yes, that becomes its own burden: how much creativity can I bring? How far can I take this?

But it doesn’t weigh an ounce. It’s just a thought: I’ve got mouths to feed. Including my own.

When you have more than yourself involved, things can feel paralyzing. Or you can just accept it and say: I couldn’t get here without everybody. I need everybody. And most of the time, the people I get to be around are just inspirational.

Gary Player said: the harder I work, the luckier I get. That really stuck with me. The harder you work at something, the more you put into it, the more that burden of uncertainty gets lifted. Nobody gets anywhere without risking something. Without sweating. Without being a little scared and wondering, oh my God, what am I going to do? It just goes with the territory.

FOLLOW KURT’S JOURNEY!

P.S. - If you’re getting this, you’re probably already subscribed to my newsletter, but please share this with any photography enthusiasts who are looking for inspiration, tips and a positive photo community (no judgement here)!

And as always, send me any questions you have or topics you’d like to see me cover in upcoming newsletters or YouTube videos (you can subscribe here).

More than anything, even if you don’t purchase a print, subscribing to my YouTube channel, watching some videos, and leaving me a comment about what you think is a great, free, way to support me!

Comments? Leave them below or email me: jerredz@gmail.com

www.jerredz.com

Waking up to the news cycle every day is a nightmare, and I don’t know how to live here anymore.

I struggle to face each day with kindness and love, and my photography reflects that lately.

The act of taking photographs has been a lifeline. Outside of my family, it’s what’s keeping my head above water and reminding me to breathe. It’s an expression of my inner turmoil and sadness.

My photographs are prayers.

Not to a god.

…but to the universe, the earth, and the ground I walk on.

These photographs are my testimony of how I feel in this moment in history.

Everything is faded. Missing sound and color.

These creatures know something we only realize when our story has already been written: this moment is all we ever have.

So we have to fight for each one.

Photography his how I’m clawing my way out of the void, desperately fighting to feel something real.

And I have to remember a single true thing:

Nothing lasts forever, but tomorrow is never promised.

So maybe I’ll just stop watching the news completely… ignore the headlines and head out with the family out to seek the light.

(All photos: OM SYSTEM OM-3 and OM-1 MarkII with a bunch of lenses!)

For anyone out there reading this until the end: THANK YOU.

P.S. - If you’re getting this, you’re probably already subscribed to my newsletter, but please share this with any photography enthusiasts who are looking for inspiration, tips and a positive photo community (no judgement here)!

And as always, send me any questions you have or topics you’d like to see me cover in upcoming newsletters or YouTube videos (you can subscribe here).

More than anything, even if you don’t purchase a print, subscribing to my YouTube channel, watching some videos, and leaving me a comment about what you think is a great, free, way to support me!

Comments? Leave them below or email me: jerredz@gmail.com

www.jerredz.com

Laura and I have the same love of abandoned places, dirt roads, and old schools. She’s a teacher, and I’m a former teacher, and we both have a soft spot for this stuff (and complicated feelings about the education system).

Her work is unique and has that special secret sauce that makes it stand out. I see her stuff, and I know it’s hers without seeing the name. She inspires me to get outside my comfort zone, and I hope her photos and words do the same for you.

I asked her where she got her inspiration, and to give us more context to here work:

At the beginning of my photography journey, I was so focused on “likes” and satisfying the beast that is (was?) Instagram. I wanted my images to be as technically perfect as possible and capture things as they really were. I also wanted to get the most love on the internet that was possible by using all those hashtags and following the right accounts.

I have always enjoyed photographing abandoned buildings, especially in rural areas (think barns, one room schoolhouses, farm houses). There is power in seeing an abandoned structure fighting against nature, time and gravity and documenting it as it is, at that moment, capturing it for posterity. As I grew as a photographer and began exploring 35mm film photography and eventually altering my exposed film with a process called “film soup” before having it developed, my philosophy changed.

I don’t know if it was the tactile nature of working with 35mm film, the grain, the delay in taking the photos then seeing the results days, weeks or sometimes in my case months later but I fell in love with the imperfections of that process. The subjects I enjoy photographing the most fit so well with the aesthetic of 35mm film. If I leave the film unaltered, I send it to the amazing Des Moines Film Lab (@dsmfilmlab) for developing and scanning.

Several years ago, an instagram friend (shoutout to my now IRL friend Chelsie @prairiethroughthelens) shared about a process called film soup and it intrigued me. Film soup is where you take all of the exposures on the roll, rewind it and remove it from the camera as you normally would and then drop it into a mason jar. This is where the alchemy and uncertainty begins. Assorted household items (spices, beverages, cleaning supplies, bits of nature, etc) are added into the jar with the film, then the jar is filled with boiling water. The chemicals and the boiling water alter the emulsion of the film in a variety of ways. After the film sits for 24 hours, it’s thoroughly rinsed and dried. I send my souped film to my friend Amy (@itsamyliz) at Film Lab 135 (@filmlab135) for developing and scanning.

95% of the time, the results are trippy and psychedelic and absolutely MAGICAL. Sometimes the roll comes back with the images so obscured you can’t tell what the subject is. This process helps me lean hard into the “happy accidents” philosophy of Bob Ross, one of my inspirations as an elementary art teacher. Even when the frames are non-representational, they are still aesthetically pleasing to my abstract loving brain.

I find that the altered emulsions help me tell the important history of these forgotten structures in a new and intriguing way. It also helps me process the sometimes grueling realities of teaching in the public school setting in 2026. The film can get scratched, warped or discolored while it is souping and makes my dilapidated subjects appear even more broken down, which is a metaphor for how I sometimes feel after a day or season of teaching. The chemical reactions of film soup can also reinvigorate a sometimes bleak and lifeless subject with a variety of interesting colors and textures.

After working with 35mm film and film soup since 2019, my creative focus has changed. The art that I create is no longer perfect. It is not meant to satisfy the ever changing whims of an algorithm or check boxes for the jury of an art exhibit. The art that I create is made for me, to help me move forward as a human and an artist in a world that is ever changing.

All photos: Copyright Laura Snyder:

Find lots more AMAZING photography on her instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lolasblest/

Let me know what you think of this series in the comments. I have more lined up!

P.S. - If you’re getting this, you’re probably already subscribed to my newsletter, but please share this with any photography enthusiasts who are looking for inspiration, tips and a positive photo community (no judgement here)!

And as always, send me any questions you have or topics you’d like to see me cover in upcoming newsletters or YouTube videos (you can subscribe here).

More than anything, even if you don’t purchase a print, subscribing to my YouTube channel, watching some videos, and leaving me a comment about what you think is a great, free, way to support me!

Comments? Leave them below or email me: jerredz@gmail.com

www.jerredz.com

email: jerredz@gmail.com

I hope you still like me after this post (but I get it if you don’t.)

I just wanted to write how wonderful it was to photograph the protest in Omaha, Nebraska’s Gallagher park on March 28, 2026. In all this darkness, standing with others was food for the soul, and I want to start doing more to fight against those who want a perverted, authoritarian government.

Why do I stand against the Trump cult? For me, here’s what it comes down to:

Let’s say I walk into a gymnasium with thousands of other people. Some people are gathering to the Left, some to the Right.

When I see the January 6 people (one of the pardoned criminal traiters went on to molest children), Neo-Nazis, white christian nationalists, Project 25, and organizations like Turning Point USA all standing on the “R” side?

Something’s grossly wrong with that.

And I’ll stand against it, along with millions of other patriots who stand for kindness, respect, and human dignity.