Sometimes they’re just not good enough. Own it.

When I’m taking photographs, more often than not, the picture is going to end up as a black and white image. I normally have a good idea what I want it to look like when I take the picture and sometimes the scene even gives the title too at that stage
All that is left is for me to then post-process the image to how I saw it through the viewfinder. I say “all” as if it is easy – it obviously isn’t – well I don’t find it so anyway.

A lot of the time the photograph does not turn out how I visualized it and it doesn’t get any further than a file on my hard drives. No exhibiting and no printing. This failure to bring a processed image to fruition is down to me not being a brilliant photographer. It may be that I have actually done the processing satisfactorily but the image, in this instance, still didn’t work. Still wasn’t good enough. So, I have spent valuable time working on an image I should have left alone. Where then was the problem? In this case, we have to go back to the split second that the shutter was pressed. Something was wrong at the time. It could have been the light, the composition or a faulty visualization. But whatever it was the photograph was not there. I had misjudged the situation. Perhaps I should never have taken the image. But, this is not the old days of film. Digital images do not cost you anything to take and so taking chances on an getting a good photograph is worth it. But always remember, you can’t polish a turd, yes you can sprinkle glitter on it, but it’s still a turd.

The following photographs were all visualized and planned at the time of the shutter release and in this instance, I think they turned out alright.

Another thing, as I was loading the photographs on to the page, I noticed that they were all in the square format and I have just realised that I am actually doing less in that format at the moment. Mmmm, that’s interesting. I wonder why?

FACADE
Fujifilm X-T1, XF18-135mm F/3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR

PARASOL
Fujifilm X-T1, XF18-135mm F/3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR

RHINO
Fujifilm X-T1, XF18-135mm F/3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR

SEGMENTS
Fujifilm X-E2, XF18-55mm F/2.8-4R LM OIS

The first shot was taken at home and I liked the way that the sunlight streaming through the half-opened blinds lay over everything and made it difficult to discern their true shapes – hence the title.
The second photograph was treated to a faux infra-red treatment in Lightroom, to emphasise the shape of the bush.

The third was a tree stump in which due to an instance of pareidolia I saw the head of a rhinoceros.

The final shot is of a wall of bamboo shoots in which the way the plant grows gave me the title.

In all of these shots, the title came to me right at the beginning as I was preparing to take the photographs. Serendipity is good.