Brooks Jensen Arts - Every Picture Is a Compromise

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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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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:

Rock walls are a constant source for abstract images.

What I don't like in the picture:

The color version above looks too much like what it is. I can't let go of the rock wall to see a pattern that is abstract.

What I learned:

I inverted the tone curve on this one to turn it into a "negative" image, then converted it to a b/w and played around with contrast and tones until I had an unidentifiable abstract as seen at left. The sense of it's "rock wallness" disappears as does the direction of the sunlight.