See?
Not every picture I take is good. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that of the roughly five-thousand --gadzooks!-- photos I've snapped, maybe one or two hundred of them have been real keepers. Thankfully, one of the perks of going digital is the great luxury of being able to take bad shots without any fear of actually having to pay when it comes time to process it. On a roll of film, for instance, if you've got one or two or three great shots sandwiched between a whole heap of utter crap (which I've done more times than I can count), you've got to pay for those lousy prints to get to the good ones. And, well... I'll throw my money away on strippers and booze, but not on bad photos. That's just silly, ya know?
On digital, all that worry goes right out the window. However, it does come at a price. I don't believe digital cameras will ever be able to achieve the resolution of film (to see this, grab a digital photo and blow it up 200-300% just to see how things start to break down. Film doesn't do that. Film can be cropped and enlarged almost without limit).
Personally, however, I think that convenience is a good trade off since most digital prints can be outstanding so long as you don't intend to crop out little bits and blow them up to a larger size.
Anyway, the reason I'm writing this is to point out all the things wrong with this photo, and I'll save the film-versus-digital codswallop for another day.
Now, the first thing that jumps out in this picture is that big, gruesome filter flare running down my cat's nose. That's terrible. And, don't get me wrong, sometimes, a little filter flare can actually bring a neat effect to a picture. In this picture, however, it looks like DeafCat is blasting some sort of multi-colored death-ray out of her forehead. Of course, this is the result of me shooting into the sun with a cheap-ass budget UV filter, and I have since learned my lesson. I've had some really great shots blown because of that damned filter, and I'm looking forward to my new one working a smidge better when it gets here.
Second: There's just too much crap in the photo. I mean, look at my patio? There are chairs, two grills, there's the side of the house, the neighbor's house, the other neighbor's house, flower pots, lights, a smoker's outpost, etc., etc., etc.. It's like freakin' Grand Central with that crowd, and though I could crop a lot of it out, some of it would inevitably have to stay.
Third: It's all in-focus where DeafCat isn't. Sure, her lethal Pink Brain Beam of Death is clear and in focus, but she's just a blur. And, trust me! She doesn't move that fast, so it's not like a motion blur. This is just my camera (and me) focusing on the wrong things (in my defense, though, I did just set the camera on the ground and pushed the button since I didn't want to be rolling around in the dirt and stuff).
Finally: Aesthetically, the tip of the patio umbrella by her left ear is driving me batty. Use your imagination and picture that point gone. Now she's just got a web of dead sticks growing out of her head, and that would have been the awesome shot. Instead, I get something that looks like the spire off a Russian Orthodox Church sticking out of half her noggin, and that's just not going to work. She's part Siamese (I think), and why in the hell would a Russian church be growing out of a Siamese cat's head? Buddhist temple? Sure. But, definitely not a church.
So, there you have it. A crappy photo and a few of the things I look for when deciding whether or not to actually keep a picture. And, if it wasn't for this blog, this shot, unfortunately, would go straight into the trash (actually, it will go into the trash since I've uploaded this yuck to blogger, and I don't need it on my machine).
Is there anything redeeming in this picture? Well, yes. There are two things, actually.
One: The flower pot on the right looks dandy, and I kind of like how the light and shadows are playing off it and bringing out the colors.
And, B: It's digital, and I don't have to pay to have it developed to get to the cool pictures I took after this.
Aside from that, I'm not a photographer, so you really shouldn't take anything I say too seriously. I'm just a yutz who's good with words who bought a new camera and seems to have gone a little crazy.
-DP
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Posted By Dan to The Wisdom of a Distracted Mind at 4/14/2008 04:05:00 PM
They can't all be masterpieces Dan. That said, I don't think it's as bad as you paint it. The low level helps. Most people don't think about that kind of thing. It is a little busy but since Deafcat takes up much of the pic it's not too distracting.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the trade of for digital. I've spent squillions on rolls of film with just one or two good shots amongst them.
B.
And truely I thought that all cats had death rays coming from their noggins. Not a great pic true but not a horrid one either. Have fun with the new camera.
ReplyDeleteB.
... I am with the first comment ... since this isn't a layout for 'Cat Fancy', the only problem is the nose flare ... I could do a cool narrative for this shot ... a benign, cool, cat taking a spring stroll in her yard ... what is wrong with that ..?
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I think the best thing abou this photo is that there is NO snow, and NO ice, but a blue sky and sunlight on Deafcat who appears happy and warm in the glow, out and about!
ReplyDeleteNow, photographically speaking...........