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:Lovely sky and pastoral scene in The Palouse in Washington state. What I don't like in the picture:How did I miss that peak of the roof on the left horizon in the above? This illustrates how powerful the draw of the main subject (winter trees) can be and how easy it is to miss an obvious mistake in the composition. What I learned:On the other hand, once I saw that little bit of the roof sticking above the horizon, it was easy to pull the car ahead a few feet and get an even better composition that you see at left. As the old saying goes, "there are no mistakes; there are only ways to improve." 2nd Chances: What I might try nextNotice the shift in color balance between the above and the image at left. I don't know why, but skies often lean just a bit too far to the magenta. I pulled the color balance a tad more toward the yellow to get the version at left. |
