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:Admittedly, neither of these are very interesting images, but I wanted to use them to show the differences between "proper exposure" and "exposure for the mood." What I don't like in the picture:The one above is the camera's choice for exposure. the one at left is what I wanted it to be — darker and more secluded. What I learned:How you want a picture to feel is far more important than following the camera's decisions of what is "right." Pay attention to your eye and your heart, not the exposure index the camera defaults to. Remember that a camera always wants to make things average out to middle gray. The image at left is darker than middle gray and the only way to get there is to override the camera's decisions with your emotional wisdom. |
