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
Choosing Between Variants
So often, the measure of an artist is the sum total of the decisions made along the way to the final production. In essence, choosing between the variants is the core of doing artwork. A or B, color or b/w, vertical or horizontal, X or Y. This week will be an exploration of these choices.
Thoughts on these two variants:
Do two images get any closer than these two that force a decision as to which is used and which is abandoned? If you look carefully at the image at left, just above the center is a patch of bark peeling away from the left edge of the tree. That detail motivated me to choose this one for a project. In all honesty, either would likely suffice, but sometimes a decision just has to be made. Clearly, I can't use both of these in the same project. I might, however, be able to use both in different projects?
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