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
What I saw that I liked:Someone built this spiral of stones in a shallow creek in the woods. Very curious and photographable. What I don't like in the picture:I have no idea why the above RAW capture is such an odd color, but obviously I didn't have the camera set correctly for the light that was captured. Funny thing is, because this color is so off-putting, I never bothered to process the image. What I learned:Never judge the potential of an image from the RAW capture. Well, maybe that's a bit to dictatorial. At least never reject an image because the colors or tones aren't right. Those can always be processed and fixed. The image at left is the finished, processed image that basically only required a color balance shift and a little tonal work here and there. Much better than the green version above, don't you think? |
