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:Cow skull on a fence. What I don't like in the picture:Unfortunately, I was so concerned about the pattern in the fence that the skull is too smal to make much of an visual impact. Instead of "cow skull on a fence" it's a "fence with a . . . what it that, a cow skull?" Too bad, because I was using a 45-200mm zoom and only racked out to 103mm. I could so easily have made the skull more prominent, but simply didn't. What I learned:The image at left is closer to what was in my mind's eye, by simply cropping. But cropping this much leaves too few pixels and magnifies the slight out of focus areas. 2nd Chances: What I might try nextSo simply, just zoom a bit more. |
