Rookie Photo Mistake (D284)

Tasra Dawson —  June 11, 2010 — 5 Comments

I’m not sure what defines a rookie, but I certainly can still make a rookie mistake now and again. Don’t you?

My rookie mistake is missing the detail in this shot… the small piece of stray grass that found its way into my frame. I loved the way the green leaves were so well defined and such crisp colors… in contrast to the pinecone, which offset the framing of the shot. What I didn’t see was that tiny little stray grass that stands out and steals the show (at least for me).

My first inclination was to just Photoshop it out. If I had CS5, it’s probably as simple as using the new content aware fill feature. But is that really the best option? My husband didn’t think so… he suggested I use it to make a point. What’s the point?

Don’t forget the details… or maybe the point is that mistakes can become lessons, so make sure you learn from them.

Maybe there is another point entirely. What would you take away from this image?

tasra365 green leaves Rookie Photo Mistake (D284) Technical Knowledge and Images: An ear and eyeful from Zack Arias on Creative Live. If you’re not scheduled to watch the free online lighting workshop this weekend, you need to change your plans. It will be the best two days you invested in improving your photography.

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Tasra Dawson

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Author, designer, photographer, teacher... just an artistic curious girl learning to live insanely great and sharing what I learn along the way.
  • http://twitter.com/NikoleHahn Nikole Hahn

    Seeing that small blade of grass almost, but not quite, lost in the bigger picture makes me feel small and invisible. It's a beautiful shot. Something that would look great framed.

    • http://tasra365.com tasra

      Very insightful… love your take on it.

  • http://twitter.com/CrysGriffin Crystal Griffin

    To me….I see a beautiful photo…not quite perfect…but perfect in it's own right..not everything needs to be prestine to be beautiful! Like us! – Crystal Griffin

    • http://tasra365.com tasra

      So true!

  • http://edbookphoto.com Ed Book

    Howdy Tasra, my opinion: looking at the image my eye is immediately taken by the piece of grass and it's abrupt contrast against the softer green gives a first impression that it's something on the 'film' or lying on a print. This is ok if that was a point but in this image it seems unrelated to the subject. After my eye leaves the grass blade, it visits the foliage and it's pattern but is led down the branch to the (I assume pine cone). All the elements in the background that are not green seem to 'advance' in the frame due to their 'warmth' compared to the green so if it were my image, I would darken/remove detail and cool them slightly so the eye is not distracted by them (unless the maker wants them to be part of the story (which don't seem part to me) One more think I notice is that most objects seem to have a front and back, like in this image the branch seems to be pointing to the right and like a person looking out of the frame, it does too. Cropping a little off the left side (not so much as to center the main subject which would make it look 'static') would place the subject not looking out…

    What I like about this image is the repeating pattern of leaflets led by the eye up the leaves by increasing brightness value up to the newest growth. Without the distracting surrounding elements, a very striking image. Thank You for sharing this image.

    Peace,
    Ed