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Several times in the last month I have noted that very small changes to camera position or to cropping an image or in image rotation, make a big difference to the outcome and appearance.
For example, in using image-distort to correct perspective in Photoshop, alignment has to be within 0.1 degree - anything bigger is noticeable - who would have thought that such a small angle wouldn't look right. Of course when straight lines are near an edge this shows more, but I know for a fact I cannot hope to align my camera to within .1 degree so that means that virtually all images that need to be spot on will need an adjustment - even if you have used a spirit level on the camera.
Sometimes cropping 1/8 inch off the side of an image can significantly change the appearance of an image, particularly when there are objects near the edge. There is a world of difference between being near the edge, touching the edge, or sneaking across the edge, the latter often being problematic and yet hard to see in a viewfinder, one of the advantages of large format.
Camera position too can be really critical - when I was photographing the steel cylinders, in the middle of the image two shapes crossed each other and I moved the camera to get them to just touch. In practice I might have been better with the camera another millimeter to the left, and on the right side of the image, one of the shapes was a fraction too close to the edge.
Things like rotation can be fixed in your editing programme but framing and positioning issues cannot. I guess the lesson is that if you can't be 100% sure it's right, then shoot more than one image and give yourself a choice. Either move back slightly or zoom out slightly so you can guarantee you didn't frame too tightly by that crucial 1/8 of an inch.
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You know, George, the more I think about it (and the more of your fine commentary I muse on), the more I'm beginning to see the primal power of "selection" in photography; embracing essentially all aspects of the craft, and at all times (before/during/after capture). We select the instrument we use, we select the lens, the settings, the composition before clicking the shutter, we select the "keepers" from our days' worth of work, we select the tools to use on our post processing work, we select the variations to play with, we select which images we wish to share with others, etc, etc. In this context, the first and obvious selection - choosing the shot - almost gets lost in the growing forest of selection after selection ;-)
As many a photographer has lamented (well, I'll include myself in however large this group really is), an ability to "make a shot" (by selecting a moment to press the shutter) does not, by any stretch, imply that the same individual is equally as adept at making any of the other (100+ or so) necessary "selections" bnefore the final print is unveiled.
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