I have been doing photography as a hobby off and on for over 50 years. I even briefly attempted to make a living at it. But it wasn’t until the last year that I’ve started to get more serious about it as a form of self expression and an avenue for exploring my creative urges and sharing my work with people outside my immediate circle. Something that is becoming more evident to me as I delve deeper into this art form, is that images which are technically correct are not always the most interesting ones. Sometimes an image that is slightly out of focus or not exposed perfectly or the composition is a bit messy can be much more pleasing to look at and may do a better job of telling the story or conveying the feeling I want to get across.
The two images below help to illustrate this. For me, the first image has a feeling of softness and there is a mysterious, almost other-worldly quality to it. I get the sense I am glimpsing something not commonly seen. The most important element in this image is that one drop of water which catches the reflection of the surrounding trees. Without that, the scene is just not as interesting. When I was first reviewing the images from that day I was very glad I had managed to capture that moment, even though I was a little disappointed that this was not as sharply focused as I would have liked.
The next day I went out to the same spot to try again now that the light was better and I had made some adjustments to my settings that would help me to focus more precisely. The image below is from that set. I like it okay, and I’m happier with it from a technical standpoint, but it doesn’t have the same impact as the first one. The more I looked at the two images, the less I was concerned about the lack of sharpness in the first one. To my eye, it is overall the better of the two.
My first inclination was just to move on and not post either of them, but the more I stared into that droplet of water, the more I wanted others to have the opportunity to see what I saw there. To experience the magic of that brief glimpse of a world that exists all around us yet we rarely take the time to appreciate. Part of what I want to do here on this site is share my journey of discovery and the lessons I learn along the way. To me, this example is a reminder that perfection is a myth, and that chasing after it robs us of the joy that creativity can bring to us and those around us.
Sure, I would have liked the focus of that first image to be at least as clean and sharp as the second one, but that is not what happened. Who knows, I may not have felt the same way about it if it had. I am not suggesting that I’m going to make creating “bad” photos my goal. Understanding the guidelines for composition and the implications of the exposure triangle is great, but occasionally circumstances will force me to set them aside and do what feels right or what is necessary to get the shot. Sometimes I’ll get lucky, most times I won’t, but if I don’t press that shutter release I’ll never know.