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
Yellow Plus
Fall colors are a favorite for many photographers, myself included. Eventually, however, splashes of yellow after splashes of yellow can get a little repetitious. That's when to start looking for some additional element that goes beyond more or more intense yellows. One of my favorite plus elements is atmosphere — clouds, mist, fog, haze — anything that makes the air visible. As Jay Maisel said, "Never trust air you can't see."
What I saw that I liked:
Look at all that color in the above! What's not to love?
What I don't like in the picture:
Would you like to see the other couple hundred shots I have that are not very different that this one?
What I learned:
Again, I turn to fog as the "plus" element in the image at left. The element that attracted me was the fir tree (or is it a pine?) mixed into all the fall colors. This is a great example of what I've called, "Brooks' rule of threes" — not thirds, but threes. Three elements in a composition magnify the number of possible relationships. This one has yellow, fir, fog and I suppose I could add the leafless branches of some of the trees. Pictures that have three compositional elements tend to be more interesting than just one or two. |
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