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:I think of bamboo as green. Look at all the colors it can be over time! What I don't like in the picture:These bamboo were leaning up against a wall, deep in the shadow of a building. The light was flat and I knew immediately that I would need to "punch it up" a bit. What I learned:I rarely increase color saturation because I generally don't like to over-processed feel from those images. In this case, however, it works for me. I think that is the case because this image is precisely about the various colors of the bamboo. Most of this was done with clarity and brightening, but there was a bit of saturation increase, especially in the blue background of the building wall. 2nd Chances: What I might try nextFor some reason, I want to print this one to 13x19 to see if it might be an image that looks good framed. |
