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
Pictures Come from Pictures WeekAfter recently posting the 1,000th episode in this series, I took the week to scan back — way back — to my beginnings. I looked at a contact sheet (above) from my film archives and compare it to a more recent image of the same visual idea. It was fun, so I'm doing it again this week. There is nothing new under the sun, or as Carl Chiarenza says, "Pictures come from pictures." The Backstory:My first opportunity to photograph a stand of burnt trees came in 1999 near Ukiah, Oregon. I wasn't happy with the results, but it planted a seed — no pun intended. Not crazy about the sky in all the above. Forest fires are devastating, but on returning to Ukiah, Oregon, a dozen years later, I was surprised how much had grown back. The "burnt forest" idea popped up again (left) visiting Mt. Baldy in central Washington in 2009. I left out the sky this time and loved the light colored rock in the background. These images led to my project, Silva Lacrimosa, an 11-image folio. I love this idea that failures plant seeds. I have so many of these images, I might have another project of this subject buried in my Lightroom database. |
