Brooks Jensen Arts - Every Picture Is a Compromise

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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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Sometimes, Just Fix the Obvious

In an ideal world, the image captured in the camera would be perfect and need no processing whatsoever. We do not live in an ideal world. Sometimes, the first step is to fix the obvious.

What I saw that I liked:

The wall of a house in the so-called "Volcano Village" in Hainan, China where all the houses are constructed of cut blocks of volcanic lava flows.

What I don't like in the picture:

I can't tell in the above if I'm supposed to look at the wall or the window.

What I learned:

I much prefer the darkened version of the wall in the image at left. And why do you suppose they filled this window with rocks? Photographs that pose a mystery are always more interesting to me than ones that merely provide a statement of fact.