Failure
There’s not much that’s more frustrating than a photo where you can clearly remember what motivated you to let the shutter go, and what your hopes were, and then when you actually see what you’ve got, none of that is there and you’re left wondering “What the heck made me think this was going to work?”
This is one of those photos. It is superficially similar to other photos I’ve made recently which I thought worked, but this one just… doesn’t.
I am still surprised enough by the differences between what I see in the viewfinder and what I see on the computer (both for good *and* bad) that I still end up with a lot of pictures where I ask that question.
Yet there are those pictures sometimes that, at the time I make them, I just know are going to work, only to be disappointed and even mystified when I see them on screen.
I’m curious–would you be willing to explain what you saw and tried to capture in this one?
Oh i recognize that picture! sigh i know just what you mean… i think i can even see the picture you were taking, somewhere in there.
It’s nice to know that this is common. For some time, it made me feel quite stupid to be so often surprised by what I saw on my screen. Throwaways that became favorites. Surefire winners that were duds. They totally demoralized me for some time. Eventually, I found the joy in the surprises and often find myself taking photos for what reason I’m not quite certain. Sometimes, the resulting picture pleases me and I’m grateful that I listened because I am learning. On the other hand, I am no longer hopeless discouraged by those photos I was so excited about that end up in the discard pile. Once again, I am learning.