Every Picture Is a Compromise
Lessons from the Also-rans
Most photography websites show the photographer's very best work. Wonderful. But that's not the full story of a creative life. If we want to learn, we'd better pay attention to the images that aren't "greatest hits" and see what lessons they have to offer. Every picture is a compromise — the sum of its parts, optical, technical, visual, emotional, and even cosmic – well, maybe not cosmic, but sometimes spiritual. Success on all fronts is rare. It's ok to learn from those that are not our best.
This is a series about my also-rans, some of which I've been able to improve at bit (i.e., "best effort"), none of which I would consider my best. With each there are lessons worth sharing, so I will.
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Original digital capture
What I saw that I liked:I thought I might be able to paint in some light on a few of these leaves to give a "deep in the forst" sort of look. What I don't like in the picture:(Click on the image above to see how bad this idea was.) What I learned:All I needed to do was wait a few minutes for the sun to come out from behind a cloud and the light filtered in an illuminated some leaves exactly as I had envisioned. Sometimes the easy solution is the better solution. 2nd Chances: What I might try nextOnce I saw this image, I found lots of others with different plants and different compostions. I'm working on a project of these images now. |
