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:This series is supposed to be about my failures. By everyone's opinion, these two (part of a series) easily qualify. No one likes them. I love them. What I don't like in the picture:What I don't like is that somehow I am completely failing to get across what I like so much in these images! What I learned:This is a category of images I refer to as "dead cat" images. The terms originate in a print review I participated in years ago. A photographer put up an image and went on and on about the lovely black-and-white tones he had capture in the gelatin silver print. Eventually when he had exhausted his enthusiasm for the silvery tones, one of the members of the group said, "You do realize — don't you? — that it's a picture of a dead cat." I love my series of dried weeds so beautifully back lit against a dark background — but they are weeds. I'm resigned to the fact that these will be ones for me enjoy in solitude. 2nd Chances: What I might try nextRoundup. |
