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.
Previous image | Next image |
Original scan from film
From Negatives Week
The five images this week all started as 6x9cm b/w film negatives. These were scanned using a flatbed scanner and recently processed using Lightroom only. Some convert better than others. Some are indistinguishable from modern digital captures. Mining those old analog images offers more useful results than we might guess.
What I saw that I liked:
Another rock wall abstract.
What I don't like in the picture:
Actually, I like the negative version in this image about as much as I like the positive print at left.
What I learned:
At one point I made an 11x14" print of this one as an inkjet print. Looks great. This was one of the first film scans that really convinced me to spend time reviewing my negative archive for hidden images. There is simply so much we can now do to work and image that goes far beyond whatever I could do in the wet darkroom. It's worth noting that the image at left only required Lightroom to process the scan above into the finished image at left. No Photoshop required. Pretty impressive. |
|
