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:In truth? I like being there more than I liked the photographic opportunity. Never a good starting point for making a photograph. What I don't like in the picture:Bulls-eye composition. And did I mention that it has that damned, ridiculous, soul-killing bulls-eye composition? What I learned:And it's also not sufficient depth-of-field — which I thought I had covered by using f/10. Nope, still too shallow. This was shot using an eq 280mm lens. I know how this stuff works and I still buggered it up. Unfortunately, when I repositioned and made the image at left, it still suffers from being too shallow and the top and bottom are out of focus. Zero for two. 2nd Chances: What I might try nextFocus stacking would have so easily solved the depth-of-field issue. I should know better. |
