The Pursuit Of Perfection
I have reached that stage in my photographic journey where i can look back at that burning desire for perfection and have a short laugh. Like all of us who engage in this art of photography I was once consumed with the need for perfection. The image has to be pin sharp. I must catch the perfect exposure. I must catch the light at just the right moment , everything has to be perfect. But does it really have to be perfect to tell a great story? Is the viewer engaged by your feat of technical perfection or does the play of light and shadow and colour and texture engage them? Do they even care if it was shot at ISO 100 to minimize noise or do they even understand what noise means to a photographer?. Probably not. The major thing that they care about is how does it make me feel.
We (artists) are the ones who perpetuate this nonsense of perfection by living in forums with other artist who discuss and critique our work purely on technical standards. Don't get me wrong there is a need for critique, however the act of critiquing a piece of work should not be based primarily on the technical merits but should also provide feedback on the non technical. The soft side of the image, the soul of the image . The video for this week is from one of my favorite YouTube Photographers , Thomas Heaton and in this video he takes a look at the subject of perfection. When you have finished watching please leave some feedback and lets continue this discussion on the subject of perfection.