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:Without a doubt, my biggest frustration in photography is the difficulty of taming the chaos of nature. But I love to try! What I don't like in the picture:The above has lots of chaos and very little organization. It fails. What I learned:The one I left I like much better because there is a sense of pattern and a hint of order. I've never seen this plant before, but there was a lot of it near Sunset Crater north of Flagstaff, Arizona. 2nd Chances: What I might try nextMaybe the above just needs some aggressive tone pushing around to create a background? |
