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 #10
Unusual Frame Shapes
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:
I love the version of this image above. A beautiful temple in Matsushima, Japan.
What I learned:
I like this as a straight shot, but also used it in a project you can see in the version at left. This was a project of 60 images that were modified to fit a Japanese fan shape. This image was used in the set titled, "Momiji" which is Japanese for red maple leaves of the fall season. In this project, I used the shape tool in the layout software InDesign to create the odd frame border, applied a slight drop shadow and added the text. You can see this project in its entirety in this PDF. I include this image to illustrate the idea that cropping does not need to be limited to straight cuts that are perfectly parallel to the edge of the RAW capture. This is, after all, ART and we can be more creative than the quadrilateral without violating some cosmic rule of rectangles. |
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