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.
|
Original digital capture
Something from NothingI used to search for the perfect image in nature. I'd walk by subjects that seemed blasé — foolishly and naively ignoring the possibilites in post-processing that might make something from nothing. This week, I'll show examples that demonstrate why we should always shoot compositionally interesting images even if the tones in the image would seem to offer nothing of interest. What I saw that I liked:A fun abstract. It's actually one of those plastic-wrapped hay bales that are so commonly seen in the western landscape. What I learned:Another example of my motto, "Photograph for the composition; process for the tones." The above — with all those yucky gray tones — is tonally boring, but that can be possibly fixed in process. Just shoot it and give yourself a chance of success with processing. Obviously, if you don't shoot it, you can't process it! |
