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:Snow in the fog seemed like a good idea. What I don't like in the picture:The problem here is that the fog doesn't look like fog. It looks like there was fog on my lens, not in the atmosphere. What I learned:I thought maybe I could rescue this with the Dehaze slider, but it completely removes any sense of fog. What's left is uninteresting. 2nd Chances: What I might try nextSo then I tried using a graduated application of the Dehaze filter. Now it just looks fake. I'm tempted to fool around with this image some more, but the more I look at it, I think it's just going to end up a boring photograph no matter what I do. Sometimes, you just need to move on. |
