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
Extreme Salvage Week Images where something was made from practically nothing. What I saw that I liked:This feels like dolphins or something, jumping in an alien ocean. (Forgive me if I've buggered up your Rorschach projection.) What I don't like in the picture:This was deep under a massive ship in the Dakota Creek shipyard. Just a welding line. The photograph is awful. Flat, underexposed, lifeless. Other than that… What I learned:Doing this kind of extreme processing is always easier when the subject is an abstract. I think this is part of the reason I'm so drawn to abstracts — it's a natural playground for our imagination. |
