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:Curiously shaped tree bones. What I don't like in the picture:Just to the right of the tree, in the vertical center of the image is some sort of blurry spot. I thought it might be a bird flying through the scene just as I pressed the shutter release, but this was shot at 1/2500th of a second. Maybe a fast UFO? What I learned:Cloned it out, then thought why not clone out the pokies in the lower left edge, too? Deepen the sky blue with the HSL tool to do a targeted increase of the blue saturation. Voilà. Easy peasy. In my film days, this would have been a total reject. 2nd Chances: What I might try nextShould I clone in an owl or a meadow lark? Nah. That would be cheating, I think. And cheesy. |
