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
Ventfort WeekVentfort is a Gilded Age mansion in upstate New York that is in the process of being restored. My inclinations were to do some pretty straight photography and just let the place tells its own story. That doesn't mean that it didn't require some intense processing to get the photographic images to look right. What I saw that I liked:I look for these kinds of artifacts that humanize a scene — like hand-written letters. What I don't like in the picture:This needed to be a near/far composition, so I used a wide angle lens. What I learned:Normally, a wide angle lens has enough inherent depth of field that everything will be in sharp focus. Because I was so close to the papers nearest me, even with the wide angle lens the objects in the background were out of focus. This necessitated an 8-imge focus stack that was merged in Photoshop. 2nd Chances: What I might try nextI wish the candle in the upper center had been lit — or turned on. Could I create that with some fancy processing steps? |
