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 Can Be a Distraction Week
Sometimes the color of the subject is the reason we pick up the camera. We should be aware, however, that sometimes color can pull our attention in ways we don't want it to. Converting to b/w as the potential to pull our attention back to the true subject of the image.
What I saw that I liked:
Country road through the fall aspens. What's not to like?
What I don't like in the picture:
If you look carefully at the tree of yellow leaves on the right side of the shot above, you'll notice that they are out of focus. I should have stopped down, but I missed it.
What I learned:
Because the above is all about the color, our eye is drawn directly to the out of focus leaves. Converting this image to b/w moves our attention more to the road. Not as good as getting the focus right, but it does salvage this image a bit.
2nd Chances: What I might try next
I vaguely remember shooting this again, Maybe i need to look more carefully at the images in my Lightroom catalog to see if I have one that is in focus the way it should be. |
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