Brooks Jensen Arts - Every Picture Is a Compromise

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

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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

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Camera Vision vs Human Vision

Budding fine art photographers are often surprised by the knowledge that cameras don't see the way we humans see. The second phase in becoming a fine art photographer is to learn how to make the picture accurately capture what we think we see. Maturity in fine art photography arrives when the picture expresses in two-dimensions and tones what we feel.

What I saw that I liked:

A burst of fall color in the desert.

What I don't like in the picture:

It's not that I don't like the version above, it's just that it is not eye-catching.

What I learned:

Don't be shy about processing so the viewer knows exactly what you want them to see. After all, by simply looking at your photograph they are telling you they want to see what you want them to see.