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
Reasons to Crop an Image #8
Eliminate the Sky
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:
Grass fire burn in the Columbia plateau.
What I don't like in the picture:
In the above, see that tiny wedge of blue sky in the upper right corner? There are at least two ways to eliminate that blue distraction. I could use the clone tool to cover it.
What I learned:
Even simpler, I just cropped to get rid of it. Note however, I didn't crop off the right side because I didn't want to change the distance from the tree to the right edge. Instead, I cropped in from the upper left which preserves the relationship of the tree to the right edge. Using that crop didn't lose anything of importance and maintained the aspect ratio. |
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