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:A quintessential wabi-sabi moment in the Portland Japanese Garden. What I don't like in the picture:This image is all about the lone leaf. The RAW capture above suppresses the leaf by overwhelming it by the wooded post and the very light walkway outside. Also, there is something in the lower right that has to go. What I learned:Pushing tones in an image like this is so easy with the digital workflow. I would never have attempted such processing in the wet darkroom. This type of image makes me appreciate the stunning wet darkroom print even more — precisely because I know how difficult it is to get a glowing result like this with dodging, burning, and bleaching. |
