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
Choosing Between Variants
So often, the measure of an artist is the sum total of the decisions made along the way to the final production. In essence, choosing between the variants is the core of doing artwork. A or B, color or b/w, vertical or horizontal, X or Y. This week will be an exploration of these choices.
Thoughts on these two variants:
"Background" is an interesting term in photography. Background can be in contrast to the foreground, meaning that part that lies further away. Or, background can mean what is behind the subject that provides a context. The example above illustrates how a background can be the further away part of the subject. In the image at left, the background is a backdrop for the subject which is clearly not the background.
An important difference between these two implementations has to do with depth of field. In the above, I did a focus stack to make sure the entire image was in sharp focus. In the version at left, I used a shallow depth of field to put more emphasis on the blade of grass.
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