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:Rustic, nostalgic old building. Cliche for sure, but why not snap it anyway. What I don't like in the picture:I was set to take the picture and as I pressed the shutter to begin the four-second delay (which I always use on the tripod just to let any camera vibrations calm down), in drove this car, perfectly timed to be the shining star in my magnum opus artwork. After sufficient laughter, I decided to do a massive jigsaw stitch — for reasons that now escape me. Unfortunately, before I completed the sequence of exposures, I was distracted and forgot to get the lower right corner images. What a comedy of errors! What I learned:If you can't laugh at yourself and your foolish mistakes, you are missing something important in the creative process. 2nd Chances: What I might try nextIf only I could draw a pencil sketch to fill in that lower right corner, I could complete this boring photograph. |
