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
What I saw that I liked:Stormy clouds and the Yaquina Lighthouse. Cool. What I don't like in the picture:Dark, muddy, underexposed. Where is the life? What I learned:Processing can often save an awful image from the trash heap. I played around with this image on and off for years. Never did get a version I liked. It wasn't until I asked myself why I didn't like it that and progress was made. It was the purple in the sky in the original capture above that was the stumbling block. Once I realized that, I simply desaturated the color out of the sky completely and that gave me a foundation to make other tweaks — lightening the lighthouse and the grass, building a few highlights in the clouds, etc. The image at left certainly isn't an award winner, but it's a far cry better than the original mess above! 2nd Chances: What I might try nextI could pop the red at the top of the lighthouse up a bit. |
