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:Nice curved road. What I don't like in the picture:This image just screams to be a square composition to eliminate the unnecessary trees at top and the empty grass at the bottom. What I learned:Even though one processing step might help (cropping) that doesn't mean that the results will make a great shot. There is something that is just wrong with this image. I'm not sure what, but I think it's the road or the excessive processing in the grass. Whatever it is, this one at left just fails overall even though the cropping helps a lot. 2nd Chances: What I might try nextIncrease the contrast in the road? B/W? I don't know. |
