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
New Tools Week
How are we not continually amazed at the new processing tools that make possible images that were impossible to earlier technologies? This week will feature five digital tools that salvage what otherwise would be a total loss: Focus Stacking, Super Resolution, DeNoise, Color Mixer, and Stitching
The Tool:
In my film days, I extensively used colored filters and wratten gels to alter the rendition of colors in my b/w negatives. This technique was a bit unpredictable, but laid a foundation for the Color Mix tool in Lightroom which I now use extensively.
What I don't like in the capture:
I like the fog created by the fire smoke, but I'm not crazy about the way it renders as an intense blue in the above RAW capture.
What I used:
I used the targeted adjustment tool in the Color Mix panel in Lightroom to desaturate the distant background. I then used the same tool to both intensify the orange a bit and to lighten it. Pretty simple process to create the image at left, but this would have been impossible to do in my film days.
Comments:
This was a controlled burn in the Columbia Gorge in Oregon. I just happened to stumble across this scene while navigating down a dirt road.
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