Photo Philosophy

November 15, 2019

I’ve taken lots of pictures that didn’t look nearly as pretty or impressive as the subject I was trying to get. The camera recorded flaws that I didn’t even know were there, until I saw the 2D version of the scene.

Lately, though, I’ve had just the opposite experience. I’ve taken pictures of things that seemed drab: a tree that had gorgeous colors last year, and was a sort of indifferent yellow this year; or a landscape that seemed brown and ugly after the first snowfall.

When I looked at the “drab” photos, though, it seemed like the light was better in them than it had been in real life, and things actually looked brighter and less dreary thanks to the camera lens.

I’m not sure if the moral of the story is, “Things often aren’t as bleak as they seem,” or if it’s, “Pictures never turn out the way you want them to.”

I’ll let you work it out.