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
Never Give Up! Week
It is so easy to be disappointed and give up on an image when it doesn't look like we wished. That doesn't mean there isn't a good image buried in those pixels. Sometimes it just needs for you to coax it out! This week includes 5 examples that took considerable processing, but eventually emerged as a keeper. Never give up! (All of these are from a morning photographing in a Buddhist temple in Lishui, China in 2019.)
What I saw that I liked:
Even in the midst of photographing a temple, there is always room for an abstract or two.
What I don't like in the picture:
I assume this is a birdbath, but I'm not sure. I wasn't interested in photographing a birdbath, but I thought I might be able to create a moon-like abstract from this.
What I learned:
After a tone-reversal and then adding contrast, I came up with this. I would hope that Minor White is smiling down at me from that great darkroom in the sky. Another example of "It's not what you take, but what you make that counts." |
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