Twice now in the last few months, I've received a kind-hearted compliment about one of my pictures — in both cases, however, from images I made more than 25 years ago. I'm always grateful when someone compliments my work, but it does leave me wondering about my more recent efforts. I suppose it makes sense for us to receive compliments about our ancient work with grace and humility. There is a part of me, however, that wants to bring out a few hundred examples recent work and bring them up to date.

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I have 200,000 digital captures in my Lightroom catalog. Does that mean I have 200,000 pieces of artwork? Of course not. So I ask you, precisely, at what point in the process does the digital capture transmogrify into artwork? When you finish processing the image? When you make a print? When you use the image in a PDF? When you say, Quod Erat Faciendum (It is finished)?

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I think I'm remembering this correctly that it was Pablo Picasso who said the trick and painting is knowing when to stop. Obviously, the same sentiment applies equally well to photography. The question I'm still trying to answer is not about knowing when to stop with a given image, but knowing when to stop with a given project.

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LW1481 - Every Picture Is a Compromise

I think I'm remembering this correctly that it was Pablo Picasso who said the trick and painting is knowing when to stop. Obviously, the same sentiment applies equally well to photography. The question I'm still trying to answer is not about knowing when to stop with a given image, but knowing when to stop with a given project.

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Every Picture Is a Compromise, a series at www.brooksjensenarts.com.

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Edward Weston's famous photograph, Pepper #30, has always intrigued me. It's a beautiful image, but to be honest I'm less fascinated with the image itself than I am with the idea that there were 29 antecedents that he, for one reason or another, rejected. And is there a pepper number 31?

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I'll bet that most of you, from time to time, watch the bonus features after you've finished watching the movie. Or perhaps you watch the director's cut with commentary from behind the scenes. Is there any reason why we still photographers couldn't use this idea with our projects? After the last image in a PDF, for example, why not have bonus images for people who want more?

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How many different genres of music are there? Beyond that, each song has its own mood. Beyond that, the same song can be performed in different ways. Aren't we just as creative as the musicians? Why, then, do so many photos look the same, that is have the same aesthetic? Perhaps we need to let go of what an image should look like and think more about what it could look like.

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A couple of days ago, I received three "zines" in the mail that came from a LensWork reader. They were lovely and I enjoyed her photography a great deal. They were very close in physical dimensions to my 6R chapbooks. This got me thinking about what's the difference between commercially printed zine and a handmade chapbook. Is it as simple as one is disposable and the other is collectible? I'm not sure about this.

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Caravaggio, the Italian painter from the 16th century, is well known for his use of a technique called "foreshortening." Today we would call it " focus stacking." It's curious to me that this view of the world is impossible for the human eye. Essentially, Caravaggio had to ignore his eyes and what he saw in order to paint using this technique that seems so real.

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Yes, lens sharpness, stabilization techniques, and resolution all add to build a sharp image. As a pragmatic photographer, however, I can't help but observe and admit that the most important way to increase apparent sharpness is to use the angle of incidence between the light source and the subject that maximizes visible contrast and detail. Light that strikes the subject at an extremely low angle does more to increase detail than buying a sharper lens.

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