My commute to work includes about 45 minutes of driving through some pretty spectacular mountains. And while I appreciate the splendor of the view, I generally have to keep my eyes on the road. And while I keep my eyes generally on the road, I like to have a little information flowing into my brain. So, I've become quite a fan of podcasts and lucky for us photographers, there are a pretty good variety of podcasts to choose from.
I've explored most of the non-photoshop related photography podcasts that I can find in iTunes and have listened to several of them for a couple of years now. So while the list and comments below are not exhaustive, hopefully you'll find them helpful.
This Week in Photography (TWIP): This revolving group of pros/enthusiasts are fun to listen to and spend about 75% of the time actually talking photography, 25% bantering. They pepper some very useful insights into these good, but long episodes (~1 – 1.5 hours each). Recommended if you have a long commute.
Shutter's Inc.: Hosted by Bruce Williams (photo enthusiast) and Shelton Muller (Pro--weddings and workshops) from Australia. One of my favorites because they have fun conversations (they're Australian, after all), convey useful technical information, and talk about photo experiences. Recommended.
Camera Position: Jeff Curto, a photo professor at a community college in Illinois focuses on the creative elements of photography. Much more academic than most of the others but concise and insightful.
History of Photography: Jeff Curto's History of Photography class sessions from the College of Dupage. Great lectures on the history of photography. Much more academic than most of the others but he is a great lecturer and these are well worth your time if you have a longish commute.
Tack Sharp: Dan Benjamin (enthusiast) and James Duncan Davidson (pro--event photographer) talk about one photo related topic each week. Good focused discussion packed into shorter episodes. Recommended.
Photography Tips From the Top Floor: Chris Marquardt heads up the photocast network to which many photography podcasts belong and he is a better podcast network head guy than podcaster. His tips from the top floor tend to be exceptionally well produced but almost entirely content-free. Not recommended.
Digital Photography Life (Formerly called The Digital Photography Show until they had a "difference of opinion" with their network that wanted to start having subscriber donation drives): Probably one of the photo podcasts with the largest subscriber base. Hosted by photo enthusiasts Scott Sherman and Michael Stein, this podcast is fun to listen to, usually includes interesting topics and has some of the better interviews I’ve heard of some of the bigger names in photography. Recommended.
Photonetcast: Hosted by a group of enthusiasts and pros Antonio Marques, Martin Gommel, Jim Goldstein, and Brian Auer. Lately they've covered legal and ethical topics related to photography (e.g., copyright, stock photography and photographer's rights) which are generally informative. The main host sometimes comes across as aggressive in interviews but that may be a language barrier issue (listen to the episode where they interview Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Product Manager Tom Hogarty). Recommended for those particularly interested in considerations surrounding photography, not so much the technical aspects of photography.
Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips: Video podcast hosted by Matt Klozkowski, Scott Kelby's second in command at the National Association for Photoshop Professionals. Matt is a very enthusiastic and capable instructor on how to get the most out of Lightroom. He also has a similar video podcast with Photoshop tips. Recommended if you're a Lightroom user or wondering whether you should be a Lightroom user.
Lightroom for Digital Photographers: Hosted by Michael Rather (not sure whether he's closely related to Dan). Very good weekly video tutorial for Lightroom users. Recommended if you're a Lightroom user or wondering whether you should be a Lightroom user.
The Art of Photography: Ted Forbes (pro) hosts this informative, if basic, video podcast. Great review for those that think they know a lot, and for those that are just learning or rely on "program" or "fully automatic" mode. He covers a practical topic each week, explaining the theory behind each to help you improve your skills. Each episode is only about 10 minutes long. Recommended.
If I could choose only three, and given my long commute, I'd go for Digital Photography Life, Shutter's Inc, and This Week in Photography (TWIP). No, wait, History of Photography needs to be in the top three--at least to make it through one semester worth of episodes. And I'd hate to give up Tack Sharp--it's newer on the scene but very good. And The Art of Photography is great review.
I guess I'm not much of a "only three podcasts" kind of guy.
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