When is good enough, good enough?

When is good enough actually good enough? Do your photographs and artwork have to be perfect, or as close to perfect as is possible? Why or why not?

We often see this sort of discussion in terms of detail and sharpness. There is a group that believes photographs need to be “tack sharp” with all the minor details recorded. It also appears this mindset is growing amongst photographers but is it really necessary to be “tack sharp” and highly detailed? In some photographs that amount of detail and sharpness may be necessary but not in everything.

Sharp focus and detail are wonderful but they can also be a curse.

Super sharp lenses that can render all the minor details will show everything ruthlessly. Every skin pore, every bit of hair and blemish. Trust me on this one, the resulting image above is softened a LOT compared to the actual image on my computer screen.

My goal as an artist is to give enough sharpness and detail to convey the message I wish to without giving the viewer distractions or useless or unnecessary details. Back in the “olden” days, we used to use a variety of tools to give a soft look to images and this was before lenses and digital sensors were capable of rendering the level of sharp focus and detail as they can today. What changed? Was it that we were now able to achieve this level of detail and show off the quality of our equipment. Has photography become so narcissistic that we as photographers and artists have to show off the quality of our equipment rather than our artistic skills and creativity? Maybe we should obsess over the art rather than the gear and how “tack sharp” it can reproduce every minor detail. We don’t have to be scientists so we can study skin pores, tree bark, or insect shells and antenna. We don’t expect the same level of sharpness and detail from painters.

I’m not going to give up my quality equipment, not just yet, but I don’t obsess over the rendering of sharpness or detail. I, in fact, often soften a photograph in post-processing while developing the final version of my artwork. Let us lead the way to obsess over the art rather than the forensic science level sharpness and detail. Learn to convey your message using less rather than more. Remember the old adage, “less is sometimes more.”