:: visual connections ::

These are a few of my (not so) favourite things.

• Quit it with the HDR images.  Let me qualify that.  I like the fact that it’s possible to rescue detail that’s normally not visible through the camera lens.  But please, for the love of all that’s holy and pure, try to go lightly on the tone mapping.  Nothing looks like THAT to the human eye.
• Selective desaturation. I know that there are lots of people who love this technique, and I know that there are some instances in which applying this little gimmick may seem like it’s a good idea.  I will even go so far as to admit that I have done it myself and may do it again. But I wield the desaturation brush with a grimace on my face and a heavy sense of dread in my heart.
• It is in most instances completely unnecessary to splash a bold watermark across the face of your image.  Protecting your work is important, as is identifying yourself as the author of an image.  Be proud of what you do!  But a watermark, no matter how subtle, is a distraction.  In fact, if it’s a really subtle watermark, I’ll spend more time looking at that than I will spend appreciating your image.
• The abbreviation SOOC grates on my nerves for at least nine reasons.  Your image is not necessarily better because you’ve left it as shot. It’s exceedingly rare that a photo can’t be improved by cropping, or by adjustments in contrast or sharpness or saturation.  A touch-up in Photoshop will not cause you to compromise your photographic integrity.  And listen: “I’ll fix it in Photoshop” is not a linguistically topological equivalent to “I’m just going to be lazy and sloppy about this photo.”
• Be careful of the amount of sharpening you use on your photo. There is such a thing as too much, and yes, it’s very, very easy to tell when you’ve overstepped the boundaries.
• Please, please don’t dump the entire contents of your memory card into your Flickr photo stream.  Would it kill you to edit yourself a little bit?  To get rid of the blurry photos and the obvious duplicates?  I know that it ain’t always art, but don’t show me every single photo you take.  Not even your Mom wants to see all your work.
• Last thing: please feel free to steal ideas or concepts from other photographers, but if you’re going to do that, please do something to make it your own.  Do not go out and slavishly duplicate what you’ve seen, unless you’re doing it as a learning exercise. If you are doing this as part of your learning process, have the decency to say so when you post your photo online.

Above all, have fun.  The photos come out so much better when you’re having fun while you shoot them!