Photographer's Journal (About rick)

Welcome to my online journal, otherwise known as a blog. Here I'll be sharing pertinent information, inspirational stories, trip reports, behind-the-photo stories, photography tips and techniques, and various random thoughts that you might find interesting. If you have any questions or comments regarding the opinions and information shared here, feel free to contact me. Thanks for your interest in my work!

Categories:
The Creative Decision Behind Lens Choice
The Creative Decision Behind Lens Choice
June 25, 2023

When I started taking photos way back when, I thought of lenses the way most people who are new to photography, or who aren't photographers at all, think of them. Specifically that telephoto lenses are used when things are far away, and wide angle lenses are for tight spaces or wide vistas...

Read more ...
Nature's Allure
Nature's Allure
June 18, 2023

I’ve always found myself drawn to the outdoors. When I went away to college at SUNY New Paltz, one of the draws was the small town with close access to the Catskills. I would often venture to Minnewaska State Park on days when I didn’t have afternoon classes, or when I just decided being outdoors was more important than my class...

Read more ...
Fine Art America? What's The Difference?
Fine Art America? What's The Difference?
April 11, 2023

At some point or another, you may have Googled my name to find my website. And there's the chance that one of the results did not lead you here, to my own OFFICIAL website at RickBerk.com. Instead, it's quite possible you were taken to my profile at Fine Art America /Pixels...

Read more ...
What's In My Camera Bag?
What's In My Camera Bag?
February 26, 2023

I get asked quite a bit what gear I use to make my photographs. To be completely honest, it doesn't really matter what camera I use. Throughout this website, there are images captured with cameras from Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Fujifilm...

Read more ...
Personal Journey: Starting Over in Maine
Personal Journey: Starting Over in Maine
August 12, 2022  |  Bath, Maine

It's hard to believe, but I'm coming up on the six year anniversary of my move to Maine. I've often said relocating to Maine was one of the best things I've ever done, but the circumstances that precipitated the move were the most painful of my life...

Read more ...
Developing My Style
Developing My Style
April 20, 2022

It's easy to discover an artist or photographer or writer when they are more advanced in their craft, and feel like they've always been that good at what they do. Often the hard work, the learning, and the growth goes on behind closed doors, and rarely do we get to see evidence of that growth when the work is taken one piece or image at a time, as it so often is when shared on social media...

Read more ...
Burning Questions II: Where, When, & How
Burning Questions II: Where, When, & How
March 17, 2022

Yesterday I asked the people who follow my work on my Facebook page what they would like to ask me if they could ask me anything. Yesterday, I answered a few of the questions in a journal entry. But I got a lot of great questions, so here's another entry to answer some more questions...

Read more ...
Burning Questions: About Creating My Photographs
Burning Questions: About Creating My Photographs
March 16, 2022

Recently I asked the people who follow my Facebook Page to ask me anything they liked about my work. The questions broke down into one of about three groups, so to make it more readable, I'm going to break it down into a few different posts...

Read more ...
My Teaching Style
My Teaching Style
March 3, 2022

I'm often asked if I teach classes, workshops, or 1-on-1 lessons by photographers. Some are experienced in one area of photography but would like to learn more about landscape photography, while others are brand new photographers but aspire to create images similar to my own work...

Read more ...
Why Do I Photograph?
Why Do I Photograph?
February 13, 2022

Every so often, someone will ask me a question. Sometimes it's just a general "Why do you like to photograph?" Other times it's more specific, such as "Why do you like to photograph landscapes?" Or the even more specific "why do you like to photograph (insert specific subject)?" The answer to all of those questions can be somewhat complicated, or it can be pretty simple, depending on how much I think the inquirer really wants to know the answer...

Read more ...
My Influences Part III: Continuing Influences
My Influences Part III: Continuing Influences
February 10, 2022

In my last two blog posts, I discussed some of the major influences on my work, especially the early influences. Part one featured the painters of the Hudson River School. This first American art movement influenced many 19th century Americans, but for me, and many other photographers, those epic landscapes depicted in the paintings became a roadmap of sorts to follow when looking for landscapes to photograph...

Read more ...
My Influences Part II: 20th Century Photographers
My Influences Part II: 20th Century Photographers
February 6, 2022

I don’t know of a photographer out there who doesn’t cite another photographer’s work as inspirational at the very least. While I will discuss contemporary photographers in the next entry in this series, in this entry I’d like to discuss three photographers who influenced me early on...

Read more ...
My Influences Part I: American Landscape Painters
My Influences Part I: American Landscape Painters
February 4, 2022

I’m often asked about the influences on my work. The easy answer is some of the many famous photographers, in addition to contemporary, perhaps less well-known photographers. But in addition to them as the obvious answer, my early influences include painters...

Read more ...