Brooks Jensen Arts - Every Picture Is a Compromise

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Every Picture is a Compromise
A Series About Keepers, Also-rans, and Learning from Mistakes

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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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The Miracles of Technology Week
Orchestrating the Light

I've said for years that this is the best time in the history of photography to be a photographer. This week, I'll share an additional five "failures" that were rescued/improved by the miracles of software.

What I saw that I liked:

Nice door at Bodie, California . . .

What I don't like in the picture:

. . . but in total shade.

What I learned:

The incredibly powerful — and repeatable! — tools in our software allow more control for "orchestrating the light" that ever dreamed of by earlier generations of photographers. Here I use a simple gradient dodge with a soft edge to create some "fake light" in the image at left. Isn't it interesting how our eyes just assume the lower have of the door is in sunlight?