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:The way those yellow leaves jumped out of the background. What I don't like in the picture:Unless they are modified, digital cameras capture color. when I import them into my software, they are color. My first look at them is in color. But with this image, color is not what caught my eye. What I learned:Sometimes we need to examine our reactions to be sure the image aligns with our response to the scene. My interest in the image was the contrast in luminosity between the leaves and the background, not the difference between the yellow and the green. Because my response was about luminous differences rather than hue differences, it was an easy choice to convert the RAW capture to a b/w in processing. You may disagree, but that's why we call this personally expressive photography. |
