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:Beautiful, hand-crafted glass works in an artist's workshop. What I don't like in the picture:The above was my first attempt, but then I realized it was a picture of "a thing." I'm the one who keeps preaching that photography is about relationships and this image wasn't. Worse, it's out of focus and leaning to the right. How much more of a failure could this be? What I learned:The scene at left is exactly how I found it. Obviously, to create the above shot I had to isolate that one bottle. It was so much easier to capture the group and preserve that sense of relationships I so often harp on. I need to pay more attention to my own advice! 2nd Chances: What I might try nextBTW, I have not punched up the color a bit. |
