rescue

 

There’s an image like this in most every client shoot……one I’m drawn to but with problems of some sort. One clearly not worthy of being added to the proof selection. An image that by all accounts should be left behind and not given a second thought. And yet invariably I’ll find myself returning, wondering how I might rescue the flawed image from its demise. Often I’ll waste ridiculous amounts of time on these misfits, knowing full well they likely won’t be chosen by the client. What is up with that?

Typically these are grab shots taken while photographing someone else and then noticing something in the corner of my eye that’s caused me to quickly shift perspective. So exposure may be off, focus not perfect, or composition compromised. But I’ll see something there, something I love despite the imperfections, perhaps something I love more because of the imperfections. Something honest and beautiful and unexpected, at least to me.

Every now and then a client will surprise me and choose the image as one of their favorites, but most of the time they don’t, as was the case with this one. I suppose I’ll go on rescuing though, because I think it’s as important to create for ourselves as it is to create for others. And besides, I always have a home for the rescued but still left behind at light-headed. Ü

~Cynthia