“Describe heroin, what’s it like?” he asked Wendy.“Oh it’s euphoric, it solves all your problems… Except it kills you. Sometime around 1994, Australian television personality Andrew Denton conducted an interview with Wendy Whiteley, widow of the Australian artist Brett Whiteley. Both Wendy and her late husband had a very well documented addiction to heroin. The analogy stands. Plastic is a convenience that solves a lot of our short-term problems. Except it is starting to choke us....

One does not think during creative work, any more than one thinks when driving a car. But one has a background of years – learning, unlearning, success, failure, dreaming, thinking, experience, all this – then the moment of creation, the focusing of all into the moment. – Edward Weston Creativity is, in some respects, intangible. It does not have a physical form. It cannot be distilled and sold in bottles. It cannot be summoned at will, and if it does happen to show its face, there is no guarantee that it will stick around....

There are many situations where it’s hardly imaginable to take photos without a tripod. But there are several types of them, and you may find it hard to choose the one that best suits your needs. Or you’ve already bought it only to realize it isn’t really ideal for you. This is why photographer Joe Edelman breaks down the types of tripods and their uses, which should make it easier for you to make the decision....

In late 2014 I was given a few pieces of piping. What you might call trash, but I call the ring of fire. It ended up being an incredibly useful tool in my photography. I quickly decided to add it to my (now literal) bag of tricks along with Prisming, Lens Chimping, my Broken Freelens, Anamorphics, etc). These days camera lenses are designed so well that they’ll nearly never create a flare....

“How do I grow my Instagram?” …a question I get probably too much. I’m going to be upfront here – I’m writing this article for my own selfish benefit. It’s a piece that, rather than spend the time repetitively composing a response (and oh boy, it’d be up to many hours by now), I can just link to for tomorrow when the next person asks me how they can grow their Instagram....