Sometimes we get focused on the things we think will make us better and ignore the simple things that will indeed make us better. Recently I wrote about not taking enough photographs, now I will take on the idea of the ‘perfect’ image… or exposure or composition. Whatever we talk about in photo groups.
Let’s get one thing straight; there is NO such thing as the perfect photograph.
Or the perfect exposure.
Or the perfect composition.
Perfect is a universal term.
It is derived from the group, the collective. They see what is popular, what the mass narrative is, and they codify it.
Our individual style, aesthetic, and narrative are all our own.
What may be perfect to you, may not be perfect to me. What I may see as imperfection, you may say is just the look you were looking for.
All we can do is do our own shot the best we can. As commercial photographers, we do indeed have to meet certain criteria, but how we arrive is on our own path.
I see and hear too many people saying that “this is the way to do it” instead of saying, “this is the way I do it”. Or, even better, “here is what is required, how would YOU do it?” Allowing and encouraging each photographer to find their place is better than choosing it for them. Showing them “the way” is counterproductive to creativity.
And that sort of means there is a “right” way to photograph a beer, or a landscape, or a portrait. In fact, there are limitless ways to make those images. None of them are wrong.
And none of them are “right”.
Searching for the right way instead of engaging in creative ways will always lead to mediocrity.
One person’s terrible photo is another person’s gem. What you see as bad composition, the maker felt it was just what they wanted to convey. What I love about one of my photos may be exactly the thing you hate about it.
That is at it should be.
Something that everyone likes is usually pretty bad, or at least extremely mediocre.
The most popular music is certainly not interesting to me. It may be “right”, but it sucks as far as I am concerned.
Am I wrong?
Am I right?
Am I within my rights to not like it?
I don’t want it banned.
I don’t want it regulated.
I just ignore it.
Wrong?
Right?
Photography — the same thing.
Great photography is not about likes or follows, it is about the photographer expressing something through a visual representation.
(OK, before we go on and get angry letters, I am not talking about snapshots, commercial shots of garage door openers, baby photographs, weddings, or the road trip landscape from the rest area on I10. I am discussing the work we feel is important to ourselves. Personal work. Our — uh… art — as it were.)
However, there are times in commercial photography when we can spend too much time trying to make something ‘perfect’ without making something extraordinary.
Finding the great photos within us means we have to make a lot of bad photos. We need an internal guide, a set of core principles that guide our visual minds (visual literacy) to see something that may be more exciting, more engaging, more interesting, and more unique than the outside influence of what the ‘right’ shot should be.
What is Visual Literacy and What Does It Mean For Photographers?
When you see great artists, you are only seeing their chosen works, we do not see what came before.
We do want engagement though. That means we have to connect to others on some level. If our work is so far above the ground that no one can see it, we may not get much engagement. Finding our way means we also must ask for directions now and then.
But make sure the help you seek understands your reasons, your aesthetic, and your goals. Be specific, and be focused on getting critique that makes sense as to the work you are doing.
And even then, watch out for the ‘right answers’.
This is the tricky part.
We do not want to be right, necessarily. We want to be true. We want to be true to ourselves, and our art.
And that may mean we are not doing it right according to someone else. OK… that’s cool.
— — — — — — –
I once had a composition teacher in school. He hated all of my work, I mean really really hated it. He complained about it to all the other students in class. He pointed out that my harmonies “made no sense” according to the rules of tonality he had accepted. My melodies were disjunctive and uninteresting. And apparently, I did not know how to use rhythm correctly.
In other words, my work was bad.
But I never stopped writing my music my way.
When the first annual Arizona Composition Contest was announced, I entered two works. He entered two as well.
I was awarded first place for my string quartet “Metaplasia” AND second place for my double sonata, Sonata for French Horn and Piano”.
He did not place at all.
He was instrumental in creating and running this event, and it never happened again. That is unfortunate because it was an amazing weekend of new music.
His music was absolutely right — PERFECT — according to the rules of tonality he extolled and expected us to all follow.
Mine was, well, not.
— — — — — —
In order to get that perfect shot, we must understand that there may not be a perfect shot. Or at least recognize that some the perfect shot may not be the most appropriate shot. Or even an interesting shot.
“Perfect” is a set of criteria made from the choices of the masses.
My shot is made from the gut and heart and visual literacy I possess.
Composition is a choice based on your visual experience, aesthetics, and visual literacy values.
There is no perfect composition tool.
“To consult the rules of composition before making a picture is a little like consulting the law of gravitation before going for a walk.”
– Edward Weston
Likewise, exposure, focus, and color pallet are literally ideas for you to examine, mix, choose, or ignore.
Many of Richard Gere’s celebrated images of Tibetan monks deep in their habitats are out of focus. It adds rather than detracts from his story.
So make a lot of photos on your journey to making your great photos. Fail a whole bunch. Print images you will cringe from in a few years. Print images that you think you MIGHT like better when printed.
If an image stays with you, and you are just not sure because it is not ‘perfect’ when measured by anyone but yourself, you may have something there.
Not guaranteed, but maybe.
And, BTW, those are the images I love to see.
The messy ones. The nearly amazing ones that you love.
I like messy images that photographers love.
All of the photographs were taken in Silver City, New Mexico in February 2022. I used a Lumix P7S camera and kept the preview in black and white. Images were additionally processed in NIK.
Stop Fearing Failure: Be Terrified of Regret.
Stop Fearing Failure - Be Terrified of Regret.Failure Sucks Less Than Regret. There’s a quote I heard recently that nailed a truth I’ve been preaching for years:"Stop fearing failure, but be terrified of regret." Many of the photographers I work with—especially those...
CREATE A “DREAM FIFTY” FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT
DO YOU HAVE A DREAM 50?Create a “Dream Fifty” for maximum clarity and impact. Dream-50 If your marketing plan is sorta like “post some stuff and hope for the best”, well… You’re not alone. But you’re also not in control. Drumroll please! Enter the Dream 50 List — a...
IF CLIENTS CAN’T FIND YOU, IT’S NOT THEIR FAULT
IF CLIENTS CAN'T FIND YOU, IT'S NOT THEIR FAULTSEO is no longer enough.AI search has changed that game forever. We're entering a new stage of AI-driven search, and having a well-crafted landing page is no longer optional—it’s essential. Tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity,...
BUSINESS: SEO IN THE AGE OF AI
SEO IN THE AGE OF AI: CHANGES ARE COMINGWhy SEO Is So Tough for Photographers (And What to Do About It) If you’re a photographer trying to get your website to rank on Google, you’ve probably noticed it’s a lot harder than it sounds. Your site might look gorgeous—full...
PITCHING EDITORIAL CLIENTS
Pitching Editorial ClientsIdeas and strategies for today's photographers.Summary This document explains how to pitch a photo story to a magazine or publication. The author, Don Giannatti, advises photographers to research the publication, understand their style, and...
14 TRAITS OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PHOTOGRAPHERS: SELINA MAITREYA
14 TRAITS OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PHOTOGRAPHERS SELINA MAITREYA AND DON GIANNATTIWe had a wonderful meeting with Selina Maitreya today. She gave us her list of qualities that all of the successful photographers she knows posess. They Show Up and : / Are talented /...