A Snapshot

Josh Rose

Jul 30, 2019·6 min read

Hi, my name is Josh. I’m a professional photographer, but also a featured writer on Photography, here on Medium. In all likeliness, you’re reading this because you have an interest in photography and I was recommended to you. Nice to meet you!

I have over 100 articles on Medium around the subject of photography. That’s overwhelming even for me. But even though I do write a lot, I have tried to make each and every article thoughtful, heartfelt and unique. That said, a number of my articles have overlapping pieces of advice and a bunch are articles I’ve been commissioned to write by journals that borrow from thoughts I’ve already penned. So, to make things a little easier for the new reader and photography-obsessed, I’ve put together this little key that I’ll update and keep at the top of my profile.

And thank you to each and every photographer and reader out there who has seen fit to come enjoy my writing. It is a pure joy for me to share my learnings on the subject and I plan on continuing on writing as long as I’m allowed.

Just Getting Into It

For people just getting into photography, I have articles that discuss buying a new camera, as well as separate articles on the three different cameras I use pretty regularly through the year (Nikon, Leica or Fujifilm). I’ve also written a much deeper dive into rangefinder photography. I have articles for those who want to focus on specific things, like photographing your vacation, night photography, or your children.

I’ve tackled specialty areas that might interest you if you’re just starting out, too — like portrait photography, how one gets great detail, recognizing which lenses different photographers use and how color influences how people perceive your work.

My most-read stories for the new photographer are:

Switching Careers

One of the subjects that is very near and dear to my heart is the career path one takes to becoming a photographer. I know a lot of people dream about photography but aren’t sure if they can really dedicate to it. If you qualify as someone contemplating the big leap, you might be interested in the mindset of a pro photographer, how to find a sense of purpose in your photography, the stages of becoming a photographer, my story of getting out of the rat race, the hard truths about being a photographer, or my tips for turning pro.

I’ve even outlined the major mistakes I made on my way to become a professional photographer that might interest the photographer just starting out.

My most popular stories about becoming a photographer are:

Advanced Techniques

One of my more popular areas of writing is about the kinds of advanced techniques that help professional photographers do professional-looking images. These articles span a lot of territory, but you might be interested in the concept of getting looser in your work, the meaning of a moment, thinking like an assignment photographer, the bad advice that photographers constantly get, techniques you don’t read very often, the story behind one of my photos that won a fancy award, or any of my articles on epic photography, like this one, this one or this one. Also, some tangible pieces of advice for anyone looking to add some real drama to their imagery.

I have a special passion for black and white photography and have some articles particularly around mastering black and white and a more inward looking ode to the art. I also created a little series on mastering black and white that I update ongoing.

I’ve also interviewed an excellent and successful car photographer.

The top articles for advanced photographer are:

Creativity

Photography is a lot more than knowing the equipment. It takes an inner drive to be original and do something unique and interesting in a crowded field. This kind of striving can sometimes use a little inspiration and for this I’ve written more than a handful of pieces designed to get your noggin moving and go deeper. First, I believe there are a lot untrue myths about the creative person. I’ve also covered the creativity of cameras themselves, and why we love them so much, how to create emotion in photography (parts 1 and 2), more esoteric parts of creativity, like the power of pausing, how to tap into a deeper creativity, pushing past the obvious, demanding creativity from yourself, the difference between photography and storytelling, cultivating originality in your work and life, the difference between physical and intellectual effort in photography, and a deep discussion about the meaning and value of beauty.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t offer 5 Quick Creativity Boosts to Your Photography.

My most popular articles on creativity are:

The Culture of Photography

I like to pride myself on not just knowing the craft and creativity of photography but also the surrounding cultural issues that swirl around us, as shooters. These days, it’s on all photographers to truly come to grips with social media and its influence on our discipline. I tackle it head on in articles like this one that discusses the difference between pro photographers and Instagrammers, the way Instagram has changed for photographers, the addictive and negative emotions it can create in us and the rise of what I call the Hip Hop Photographer.

And yet, despite all that, if you’re ever in LA and need some Instagram-worthy places to go, I’ve got that covered, too. Here, here and a few more here. Oh, here’s some more, from the sky.

Two of my most-read articles on social media are:

My Work, Travel and Life

Lastly, while I don’t pretend my life is the most interesting of subjects, I do go on assignment quite a bit and have had the good fortune to travel all over the world with my camera. A number of my articles simply talk about these assignments or travels and, hopefully, offer a bit inside the camera and mind of a photographer on the road. If it’s of use, there’s my work traveling across the United States for an assignment I did in collaboration with Medium, called America At Work, I also recapped it specifically from a photography perspective. There’s my coverage of the Women’s March, March For Our Lives, Budapest, London, a drive up Pacific Coast Highway, a car show featuring some beautiful Porsches, and my three weeks with a major league baseball team.

And in case you really want to get deep into my life and how I was influenced and drawn to the art of photography, you are more than welcome to read about the year I was born (1968) and the generational issues that came from that, including what it was like growing up with almost no pictures of myself and even some of my greatest influences in photography, like the great Robert Frank and my Grandpa Joe — the man who gave me my first camera and taught me to love it.

To see my most-read articles I’ve written about my own life, try these:

More Links!

Medium graciously put together an anthology of my articles last year, called The Photographer’s Almanac. It has a good collection of articles across all the categories mentioned:

And lastly, my own thoughts on being a good writer:

Again, thank you for taking the time to come visit and check out the writing. I love getting feedback and hearing other photographers’ thoughts and ideas, too. I’ve made some nice friends in this journey of writing and am always around to answer any questions or help in any way. Happy reading and shooting!

— Josh