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
Color or B/W? WeekOne of the fundamental decisions in process our image is the question whether or not each image should be color or b/w. This week will be an exploration of that fundamental decision. What I saw that I liked:Early morning light in the Deschutes River canyon in Oregon. What I don't like in the picture:In the color version above, the shadow on the right side slope is blue-cast because it receives its light from the blue sky. I could have created a mask and removed the blue cast. So much easier to just convert it to b/w and use a warm-tone. What I learned:When I made this image, I thought the yellow/orange of the dried grasses would be an important element in the photograph. Once I started processing it, I realized everything was about the light, not the color. That thought gave me the project title, A Breath of Light from Kokoro, Vol. 5, No. 6 December 2019. |
