Author an excellent photographer David duChemin has the best quote I've seen on this subject. It's from his book
Within the Frame.
"Three images go into making your final photograph. The first is the image you visualize--the story you are compelled to tell. The second is the scene you capture with your camera. The third is the image you refine in post-production. The better we are at all of these, the closer the photograph will come to reflecting our initial vision."
There's a lot of advice around on how to compose and edit photos but it's the first part that is so tricky and why many of us are never quite satisfied with the final result. It's that we can't quite create that photo we've seen in our mind's eye. It doesn't look quite the way we've imagined. It doesn't tell the story we desire to share.
But the quest for that great photo is awfully fulfilling.
michael mckee
My Port Townsend – A City in Photographs – 365