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 digital capture
Reasons to Crop an Image #7
Clean Up the Edges
There are those who insist that cropping is a cheat for not composing accurately in the camera. I disagree. Never feel guilty about cropping if it makes the picture better. This week will offer examples.
What I saw that I liked:
Beautiful and very old cemetery in Albany, New York.
What I don't like in the picture:
The edges of the image using the native rectangular aspect ratio of my camera cut two of the grave markers vertically.
What I learned:
Sometimes cropping is the simplest way to clean up the edges of an image. Do I care that this image isn't a 4:3 aspect ratio that matches the RAW capture? Not a bit. The only time I might think differently about this would be if and entire project were all the same aspect ratio for a sense of unity. That would be a rare project, but I could see it influencing the crop. In such a case, this image would need to be replaced with one that matches the rest of the project. |
|
