Camera v Brush

Sometimes a camera is not enough, especially when a photo goes as badly wrong as this one taken in the 1970s on Kodachrome film, before digital processing and editing became the norm.

My fault entirely for not looking carefully enough through the viewfinder to realize that the lens was looking up at an angle which gave the roof an ugly perspective. I am sure that such a mistake would not be made by a camera club member keen to produce "SOOC" images, but as a journalist working almost exclusively in black and white for publication I could easily correct such faults later with a paintbrush or scissors and paste. Colour transparencies however were not so easy to repair.

So I did the next best thing and got out my water colour paints and brushes and started again with a blank sheet of paper to create the scene I saw in my mind, using the photograph as reference, with a good measure of "artist's licence" added.

My failure then became a success (of sorts) and this painting has now been hanging on my wall for decades, reminding me every day that art knows no bounds and virtually anything goes!

OK, so it's not a photograph, but it is a picture with a story and has given me something to write about . . . and that is high on my list of reasons for taking photos - or perhaps I should say "making pictures."

Thank you for reading this. Differing views are always welcome, because that's how we learn.