Brooks Jensen Arts - Every Picture Is a Compromise

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Every Picture is a Compromise
A Series About Keepers, Also-rans, and Learning from Mistakes

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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

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It's What You Make Week

The theme this week revolves around the idea that it's not what you take, but what you make that counts. All the images this week are ones that required radical processing to pull something interesting out of a blah RAW capture.

What I saw that I liked:

This is from the abstract work I did in Fort Worden — one of 833 paint swatches I photographed. (What was I thinking!)

What I don't like in the RAW capture:

The RAW capture above is bland and lacks contrast. It also seems to lean to the right.

What I made:

Flopped and tilted makes the image at left seem balanced. Increasing contrast in b/w brings the paint to life. Lighted the background of the wall eliminates the dingy feel in the original.