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.
|
Original digital capture
What I saw that I liked:Time and media. This image was captured in May of 2024. What I learned:The version at left feels old, maybe 1930s old. Partly that is due to the content (photographed at a Shaker Village museum). Isn't it interesting how the color version above doesn't feel like it is from the 1930s, but the version at left does. Color versus b/w can shift time in an image by decades. This is regardless of the subject, by the way. Even a b/w landscape image feels like it comes from an earlier era of photography — not always, but often. |
