Brooks Jensen Arts - Every Picture Is a Compromise

Site Table of Contents
Complete List of Projects

Kokoro
Bi-monthly PDF Image Journal

Every Picture is a Compromise
A Series About Keepers, Also-rans, and Learning from Mistakes

On Creativity
Books, articles, podcast

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.

Click on the image to see it larger

Previous image | Next image

Original digital capture

Click on the image to see it larger

When Processing Is the Key

Being out in the world with our camera is fun, but processing is what makes an image rise to the level of personal expression. This week will concentrate on processed images — some subtly, some radically.

What I saw that I liked:

This image has the most processing of any in this week's series.

What I don't like in the picture:

Too dark, too dark, too dark.

What I learned:

Increasing the exposure in processing helped, but the image really came to life when I jacked up the Whites and the Highlights to make the grass stalks shine. I'd always rather lift the whites in processing than have to attempt to recover blown out whites. Sometimes you have to pick your poison and hope for the best. This time, it all worked out great.