The Fight

“I have had to fight like hell and fighting like hell has made me what I am.”
~ John Arbuthnot Fisher

“Satisfaction does not come with achievement, but with effort. Full effort is full victory.”
~Mahatma Gandhi

There are images that can be mastered in five minutes or less. They are like dogs in heat…Just a little nibble in the right place and everything is a go for launch. Or…Something like that. Then. Then there are those who decide not to go down easy. To never surrender. That possess some Siren-al attraction to their creator with out due justification. You don’t know what that attraction is, you just know you need to keep it. Save it. Master it into something you think it should be. And yes, those are the ones that should probably be laid to rest. Dropped in the trash bucket. Forgotten forever. Your sanity will flourish because if it. Trust me. I have just lost that fight.

An image I created this ski season, had everything, all the while possessing nothing. I gave it CPR–two over thirty times at least. I just needed to keep this puppy.

“Why, Mr. Anderson? Why do you do it? Why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you’re fighting for something? For more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom? Or truth? Perhaps peace? Yes? No? Could it be for love? Illusions, Mr. Anderson. Vagaries of perception. The temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose. And all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself, although only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love. You must be able to see it, Mr. Anderson. You must know it by now. You can’t win. It’s pointless to keep fighting. Why, Mr. Anderson? Why? Why do you persist?”–Agent Smith in the Matrix

“Because I choose to.”–Neo in the Matrix

Well that’s not good enough, that’s not going to sell it. It’s not going to see it in print. It’s going to lessen your brand. But. But. No Buts. Toss that F@#$%ER already.

It started with an experiment, that went completely wrong. Taken into a complete panic. An image that didn’t exist. Then the nightmares of heresy came storming to mind. YOUR REPUTATION DUMB-ASS. I won’t send it any editors unless they agree to look at it first. Completely stating up front that it is a creation of mind, body, and skill. Skill of Photoshop. Survey says…XXXXXXXXXXXX. Sorry you are the wrong contestant for the Price is Right.

Next up. Just add the usual adjustments. Standardize the damn thing. Boring.

Ok, black and white. That usually fixes occasions like this. Garbage. The turn is so perfect. But…But.

One last attempt. Break out all of the stops. What do we want to see here. More contrast, more guidance, some color in a mono-chromatic world. Better. But…

Still trash? I don’t know. We are moving on. Another Jay Goodrich learning experience. What do you think?

UPDATE–AN EDITOR JUST COMMITTED TO USING THE FINAL VERSION ABOVE AS I WAS POSTING THIS–GO FIGURE.