On Minor Failure and Experimentation

The backsplash and ripple formed by a water droplet filled with blue dye striking the surface of a bowl of water.

Failure and success appear differently depending on where they are being viewed.

“Boy that did not go as planned…” Said after any of the following:

• Photography experiment gone wrong

• Attempt at cooking something new

• Getting your Jeep / off-roading vehicle stuck in a mangrove, rocky outcrop, swamp, mudhole, other area of questionably safe passage that any casual onlooker might have noted as being unwise to proceed further into

That last point has been responsible for some of my most valuable lessons learned, and countless repair bills. Nevertheless, it takes a great deal of effort to view these experiences less as personal failures or inadequacies and more as points that should be considered for further learning. The above photo was the only salvageable image from about three hours worth of work, and even at that the result is not what you would want it to be.

The image lacks real clarity in the swirling patterns in the water, there’s some undesirable reflection on the vessel used to hold the water, and the clear and crisp white I wanted to achieve in the background fell significantly short. Rather than call this session an outright failure, it is instead a partial success in having narrowed down techniques that did not achieve the desired result, and a starting point for the next set of experiments.