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:This is a handheld image shot at 1/4 second at f/10. Handheld! What I don't like in the picture:The blue in the water was removed for the finished version at left using the Color Mixer controls. What I learned:How can a sharp image be made handheld at 1/4 second? Two tricks. First brace the camera on something — in this case, my knee as I sat on a bench. The second trick is to shoot in burst mode with the idea being that you might get one that is perfectly in focus in the cluster of duplicates. In this example, I got lucky because I only shot a burst of 4 captures. Capture #3 was the sharp one that gave me movement in the water but tack sharp plants in the rest of the image. 2nd Chances: What I might try nextNotice I also used AI Remove to get rid of a couple errant ferns at the bottom edge of the image. |
