Lately I’ve been going through my back catalog of photographs. Specifically I’ve been looking at the “Not Quites”. Let me explain. Sometimes I’ll take a shot that I love it in the camera but when I pull it up on my computer, there is just something about it that doesn’t work. Not something quantifiable like the focus, depth of field, or lighting, but something more abstract. Like the composition is not evoking the emotional response I wanted or things feel contrived and artificial.

The thing about these responses is that they can be transient. Maybe when I come back to view the same photograph a year later my impression is completely different. Obviously what’s changed in this scenario is me, rather than the photo. And maybe what that says is that I shouldn’t be hesitant to post something that feels slightly off to me at a given time because maybe it feels right on for someone else at the same time. Or some other time. I don’t know, it’s not a science and that’s most of the appeal.

Anyway, enough pretension. This is one such photo I never published, taken approx one year ago during a camping trip bachelor’s party for my brother. I guess you can see what I was going for without the none-too-subtle title. If it helps your enjoyment of the picture, this was an unposed, fully candid scene.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 at 3:27 pm and is filed under Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.