December 12, 2008, 10:29:05 am, San Juan Bautista, California

I quickly scrolled through my archives to find a weak image. Part of the purpose of this site is to share insights into my work. So far, all the photos posted are ones I like and why not, they are easier to talk about. However, we can learn from weak images as well, such as this one. It's been done to ad nauseam. We are seduced by the perspective, patterns, and lighting, but it's still a cliche. And, it suffers from over processing. It may have been the time I discovered HDR. I posted this photo as a reminder of what to avoid. We tend to photograph familiar things and too often we are dictated to by our subconscious that house millions of images. When we are about to capture a scene, a moment, we should always pause and ask why this subject, this moment, and what we are trying to convey. If the answer is because it looks familiar, forget the shot and move on.