When I was younger, the radio in my car was always on, turned up and tuned to the latest music. I really enjoy music of almost all genres. As I've gotten older, my musical tastes have somewhat narrowed and most of the music listening I do now is at home over Pandora or another service. In my vehicle, over the past 10 or so years, I find myself almost never listening to music. Alternatively, I find myself listening to Siriux/XM talk radio programs—sports, news, science, medicine (I grew up in a medical family and was surrounded by it 24/7 so I have a natural interest in this subject), some public broadcasting-like stories—instead of just playing music. However, much more often, I find myself listening to podcasts with an attached iPod or iPhone. I find that I get interested in the subject I've chosen, inevitably I learn things and time passes more quickly. Primarily the podcasts to which I listen are photography and science podcasts with a few true crime, classic literature, true mysteries and human interest podcasts thrown in on occasion. Audio books are enjoyable as well, but the shorter podcasts can be completed in less time while audio books end up stretching out over a few weeks.
As part of my preparation for this upcoming road trip, I've been saving episodes of several of my podcasts as I will be in our vehicle for much longer stints than if I were at home and traveling locally.
To me, podcasts are learning mechanisms as well as an entertainment source. Podcasts quench the continuing thirst I have for knowledge and understanding. However, you have to be a bit selective in which podcasts you listen. There is a lot of junk out there along with the good stuff.
For example, as long as I've been photographing, I still am very passionate about photography and still like to gather as much information from as many sources as I can mainly because of my passion for the craft. Quite often, I learn something new, but mostly I am reminded of things I've learned long ago and had forgotten about. I also enjoy the entertainment value of the podcasters themselves.
The kind of podcasts I enjoy the most are the ones I'll call "conversational." Gear podcasts are okay, but gear stuff is everywhere, mainly because most people want to know about and hear about gear. Gear related posts on this blog as well as most blogs, get the most views. Not surprising. Conversational podcasts are those where you feel as though you are in a room with friends who share your interest in photography and they are just having a conversation about various photographic topics. They express their thoughts, views, opinions, and experiences during the casual conversation. The conversation is informal by persons who know each other fairly well. The conversation wanders, the hosts often disagree and the subjects jump around and is quite varied. As I said, just as though you and your friends were sitting around and talking photography. I find these types of podcasts the most enjoyable. Doesn’t take a lot of brain power to enjoy these.
Also, I would say that the kind of photography podcasts I like secondary to the kind I just mentioned would be about photographic news. These podcasts keep me informed about new gear that is released, new books or monographs from photographers of whom I may be interested and other general photography information. I am always interested in new developments in photographic technology, new features, etc.
After news podcasts I enjoy lengthy gear reviews. I know you can't see resultant images or other visual things, but a good reviewer can verbally give me a comprehensive summation of a particular camera or lens. The reviews in which the presenter has only used a piece of gear for a week or so don't provide much worth to me. Its really hard to understand a camera or the capabilities of a lens in a week or less. How about the reviewers who have never actually seen or touched the camera? They are especially clairvoyant. Ha!
Which podcasts do I find interesting? In no particular order here is a partial list with a comment about each:
Photo Podcasts Network—they have four monthly podcasts, each with slightly different subject matter. Scott Bourne and Marco Larousse started this network. They have a podcast dedicated to mirrorless, one to questions and answers, one toward inspiration and the fourth toward gear. I find all four enjoyable.
ShutterTime—this is an hour long weekly podcasts by Sid and Mac, two Canadian photographers who engage in conversation, disagree, bring on some interesting guests, etc. Just be aware, on occasion, their language can be salty.
Lenswork—Brooks Jensen, the editor and publisher of Lenswork Magazine has published over 1100 short (usually 5-9 minutes) podcasts of interesting topics. Almost never gear oriented. I've listened to him since the beginning as I used to be a regular buyer of the magazine for years.
reCompose—Juan Pons and Andy Williams are both employees of Muench Photo Workshops and lead many excursions each year but also are both accomplished nature, landscape and wildlife photographers. They often refer to their employer's photo workshops and tours, but more often just engage in commentary about a single photograph subject. They are both knowledgeable and engaging individuals. They also both are now shooting exclusively with Sony cameras so keep that in mind.
The Traveling Image Makers—a weekly podcast hosted by Ugo Cei and Ralph Valasco, both professional photographers. Almost every week they have a guest, who is a travel photographer, conduct interviews and provide some interesting information.
The No Name Photo Show—Hosted by Petapixel Photography Podcast host Sharky James along with Brian Matiash. These guys are friends and each episode they present two to three topics, usually from the news, and discuss their thoughts on them. Like many others, at the end of the show they have some sort of gear pick of the week.
I used to listen to the Petapixel Photography Podcast, also with Sharky James, but I can only take so much of him. Sharky does a few things I don’t like, such as an excessively long introduction, too many advertisements for such a short podcast and he fools you into listening to his sponsors ads. He read the ads as though they are the next story and only after you are 30 seconds in, you realize this is a commercial endorsement. So, I quit listening. His content is good, if you can get through it. But that is just me.
This Week in Photo (TWIP)—I've been listenting to this podcast since its beginning. It has morphed a couple of times, gone away for a year, now come back. Frederick Van Johnson is the host and he usually has one to two guests on the show and they discuss photographic current events. Johnson also has other related shows under the TWIP banner.
B and H Photography Podcast—yes, the company that has probably the largest photographic retail store in the world! I'm a bit hot and cold on this podcast. I'll find several episodes in a row don't interest me, but then they will publish some good ones.
Fujilove—created and originally hosted by Tomash, a Polish photographer and professional musician, this podcast is all about everything Fujifilm related. Mainly, it consists of interviews of Fuji X-Photographers but also presents news and hands-on use of Fujifilm gear. Tomash doesn't host many episodes anymore because he has expanded his "empire" to the FujiLove website, magazine and a brand new endeavor which involves more in-depth interviews with well known photographers. Some of the offerings, such as the magazine and the new endeavor, are subscription based, but the podcast is free.
Camera Position—This is retired college professor and photographer Jeff Curto's site. Similar in nature to Lenswork, Jeff provides short podcasts about a non-gear subject to help inspire you to think more about your photoraphy and become better. If you search his name you can find an older series of podcasts which he published and are of his entire "History of Photography" course at the college where he taught.
The Nature Photography Show and The Landscape Photography Podcast are two others that I will listen to if I can get time. But as you have read, my plate is rather full with the above podcasts. Add in the science podcasts and I don't get through them as I would like but I try to pick and choose which topics interest me the most and listen to those.
If you have others that you find interesting, educational and valuable, please leave a comment so other readers as well as I, can benefit from what you have found.
For those of you who may wonder to which other podcasts I have subscribed, here is a partial list:
Astonishing Legends
Planetary Radio
Ted Talks Science and Medicine
Ted Talks Technology
The Archaeology Channel
Chasing Amelia Earhart
This American Life
Gone
1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories and Mysteries
The Conspirators
Its a wonder I have time to do anything else!
Now onto the road trip so I can listen to these.
Join me over at Instagram @dennisamook or my website, www.dennismook.com.
Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis A. Mook
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