The pixels have stacked up this month putting me in the position to critique a ton of images. It’s been a lot of fun exploring our vast and wonderful world through other’s photographs. Photography for me is all about storytelling, it’s just that simple. The photographs being put before me though weren’t simply the sharing of memories, the telling of stories, but seeking advice in improving the storytelling. There is SO much information out there right now, it seems many are overwhelmed about the photographic process and its purpose and this creates a storm within. It often begins with the thought, “I’ve gotta have the best!” That’s such a human response and good thing because we are, human, but that just adds to the storm.
When trying to provide assistance to folks with their photography, I often relate the photograph to the written word (pretty funny when you consider my grammatical skills). But the written word like the photograph are both trying to tell a story to the reader / viewer and the one thing they both have in common is, the subject. This seems to be the first frustration for photographers, identifying the subject. With that major stumbling block, lens selection, exposure choice, f/stop dialed in and so much more is left more to chance than passion. Often the phrase that is in print and quoted WAY TOO much, “fix it in post” comes into the photographic process. But without that subject, the frustration at the camera grows at the computer. The storm grows bigger as sliders and filters are moved and applied randomly (or with the well meaning suggestion of another photographer who no more knows what the subject is) which brings up one of my favorite Jon Stewart quotes, “You can’t polish a turd.”
In helping folks in their quest, there has been a common thread in my answer. Embrace failure! And the most common failure is not knowing what’s the subject and using light to tell its story. The goal is to recognize these two primary story elements in the viewfinder and then in post if finishing is required (and understand no finishing in post is a GOOD thing), the same elements at the point of capture are what you’re finishing, the subject and the light. If you find yourself heading into the digital darkroom not knowing what you should be doing, which slider to move or filter to apply, it could be not your lack of digital darkroom knowledge but more, there is no defined subject, no distinctive light and so, not storytelling. In seeking then that “best” photo, perhaps going back to the moment of the original click is where you might find the answer to improve your photograph. This is how you embrace failure and your grow your photography. You might be able to see the light through the storm by simply asking, “what’s the subject?”