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:Relentless cold and barren dispair. Fun! Let's make a photograph! What I don't like in the picture:What should make this photograph work is the relentless part. The horizon at the top is not relentless and has to go. The grasses in the foreground are distracting. What I learned:I cropped, I cloned out the weeds, I converted this to a blue duotone and I think it's better. To really work well, however, it needs to be a large print. Who wants such desolation hanging on their wall? 2nd Chances: What I might try nextI have no idea what to do with this image. It's a loner in my Lightroom catalog without any brothers or sisters. So why did I photograph it? Is it a seed I need to nurture to see if it leads me anywhere? More photography of this kind of thing? |
