What to do with photos for the trash can?

There are situations where you just can’t take a really convincing photo. The picture of the little boy at a Pow Wow in Canada is such case. We had a fixed seat and could not move freely. The background is far too colorful, too bright and too distracting (despite using maximum aperture!) and completely distracts from the main subject. So it’s a documentary photo at best, but definitely not an eye-catcher. So what are the possibilities?

Option 1: Do not take a photo at all

Sure. That’s obvious. But the little one is so serious about it and the facial expression so intense that we took the picture after all.

Option 2: Move to the virtual trash can

That’s also obvious. But: See above!

Option 3: Find excuses

You show the picture around and say something like “Well, the background isn’t great, but look at the expression on his face”. Or “I couldn’t help it, I was hanging on a cliff with one arm and triggered the camera with my left big toe”. Etc, etc. But that doesn’t make it a good picture either.

Option 4: Editing

Yes, I know. Image editing is considered cheating by many photographers. But if the image is important enough, you can at least give it a try:

Not perfect, but much better.

However, not an easy case. The hair ornament already makes considerable demands on Photoshop’s various cropping tools. And on the patience of the image editor. Unfortunately, it can’t be done without a little effort and a lot of manual work. And not everyone wants to do that.

Is that cheating?

I don’t think so. Because the statement – little boy at the Pow Wow, who is quite serious about this – has not been changed. Only the distracting background, which adds nothing to the photo, is more unobtrusive than in the original picture. And it corresponds more to the perception on the spot. Because unlike the camera, we are able to concentrate so strongly on our main subject that we “ignore” disttracting backgrounds quite easily.

Of course, such a heavily edited image no longer passes as a press photo.

As always, please feel free to leave your comments and thoughts.