1 out of 259

Poet Rita Dove once said, "Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful." I am fortunate to have a twofold insight into that wonderful passage --- First, as a chemist, I have experienced firsthand how a substance can be refined via the effervescent purification of the distillation process. Second, as the occasional 'poet', I can appreciate how choosing the right words for the right occasion can make one's message far greater than the sum of its parts.

These words resonate in photography as well. I believe now (and it took me a while to get to this point) that if you want to make a great picture, you just don't need to get the technical aspect right, but you have to consider the creative elements of the image (and more so). Your picture must tell a story. And very often this story is achieved by choosing what part of the image to show in the frame. And even when you feel that you have a lot of good pictures that meet the criteria, not all of them will be great. Trust me, they're not. (Quite often, you have to be your own worst critic.)

I read an article for photographers who want to improve their skill; the piece was written by a professional who said that if you get ten good pictures in a year, then you can consider that to be a good year. So, in as much as I would like to 'say more' by putting out more pictures, I chose the picture below out of 259 (culled from nearly 400 images) to tell my story of last Saturday's department party*.

Do you think I was able to tell my story of the events that transpired well enough?

Please feel free to throw in your two cents in the 'comment well' below. Thanks for reading.

*Other pictures from the event will still be posted for the purposes of documentation. :-)#