Photo Elements Aren't Zero Sum

The Internet is chock full of photography websites that often overreach to be unique in explaining all of the ins and outs of what affects the out come of a shot. And, if you aren't careful, you'll be lulled into the idea that anything written is the GOSPEL - an unwavering authority that certain aspects are good or bad.

Take "noise", for example. A simple search put this site at the top of the results, with the following open salvo of comments on it - "Noise is a grainy veil in a photograph, obscuring details and making the picture appear significantly worse. In some cases, photos can be so noisy that they are essentially unusable." With writing like that and as an amateur photographer, it's harsh enough to make you think if your photos have noise, you might as well give the hobby up and take up something more appropriate like hitting yourself in the head with random objects.

I disagree - photography is an art, which means any element in its creation is fair game to be leveraged if it creates the result I want. Including noise. This shot is an example of where it works - an eerie, out of focus shot of beach houses captured at night - it reminds me of one of the creepiest album covers I saw when I was younger...Black Sabbath's self titled first album.