Reflecting on a few of my own failures

Inspired by a post from Alexandre Kreisman, I wanted to present some misses to the community to look for ideas and opportunities for growth.  Below, you’ll find 8 images that I was intentional with, but which just didn’t pan out the way I’d envisioned.  I am hopeful some of you readers will offer your feedback and input with these frames.  I find that, in addition to being fun and engaging, these discussions move my work forward in ways that simply viewing images never has.

Near misses

Here, the subject is the lady in the hat, but she doesn’t stand out.  I didn’t want to use narrow depth of focus, and I wanted the scale of distant buildings, but somehow, this just falls entirely flat.  Uninteresting subject, too many irrelevant elements? Tri-x 35mm at box speed.

I so badly want this image to be great.  I like the geometry, the scale, the various human, natural, and architectural elements.  It doesn’t feel busy, but it just doesn’t have the “it” factor I was hoping for at the moment of exposure.  Also Tri-x box speed.

Ok, let’s ignore the missed focus and tune in to the fuzzy concept.  The first thing that jumps out is the lack of clear subject; was it supposed to be the building?  While I like the curve of the curb, the bright green stands out and carries far too much visual weight for its roll in the composition.

Cool light, decent colors, but what’s the story?  I’m fine with words sometimes, but I don’t want it to be the subject, and it feels like it is here.  These words bear no connection to the rest of the image.

Tri-X exposed at 3200 and pushed 4 stops (6400) at the lab in development.  I think this frame had potential- which is why I shot it- and there are some aspects that work.  The contrast from the scene and the chemical push, the silhouette in the doorway, and the prominence of the concrete beam are strengths to me.  Some hang-ups are the warped lines thanks to my 28-85mm 3.5 Nikkor zoom at its widest focal length, the distracting exit sign, and the shooting angle, which I think is not angled enough.  I didn’t want it straight on, but this angle just feels like I tried to hit straight on but missed.

I considered this image in my post about Phoenix I.  I like the pink against the cool green/gray and fog, but there is something about the placement against that background that I feel could be better.  I was working around a chain link fence so I couldn’t get lower like I wanted, but I do wish I could have put those thistles more against the fog so they rose up above the backing greenery.  This is another one I really want to like, but despite being satisfied with colors, focus, sharpness, and texture, it simply isn’t what it could have been.  I did also struggle with aperture.  In this lighting, I had the choice to go f8 on my 50mm 1.4, but I think I opted for f4 to throw the background into bokeh to a greater degree.  In retrospect, I think I failed to consider how effectively this lens can get that nice blur even at smaller apertures when the lens is at its close focus distance.  The separation is what I wanted, but not all of the flower is in focus, which I was aiming for.

I like the subject and the scene here, as well as the colors and grain of the Lomo ‘92.  I’ve played with cropping off upper sections more and less drastically, but can’t find a good ratio.  I like that there are essentially two colors, and I enjoy the line created by the hose, but I just couldn’t fine an angle that put every element just where I wanted it.  As a side conversation, I’m curious what people’s thoughts are regarding moving things in a scene: against the rules or simple “building” the scene you want?

Starting with the obvious: not enough of the subject is in focus.  I wanted to blur the background, and I actually like how that part turned out, but I really did not get even 20 percent of the car sharp enough.  I should have stopped down 1 or 2, and focused on the license plate.

In advance, I really appreciate the time you’ve taken to look through and read.  I know time is precious and any amount we give to an endeavor is time we lose for other things.

Eagerly awaiting insights from this wonderful community,

-Michael

Share this post: