Photo: Alan Look Photography
by Alan LookBest Look Magazine
We live in an age where more photographs are made in a single day than were produced in entire decades not that long ago. Cameras are everywhere. Bursts are cheap. Storage is endless. And yet, for all this abundance, truly good photographs—images that stop you, hold you, and tell you something real—feel increasingly rare.
Photo: Alan Look Photography
... the strongest photographs usually need less embellishment ..
A poorly timed sports photo does not become meaningful because a preset adds contrast. Missed focus does not become intentional because the image is desaturated. Awkward composition doesn’t suddenly read as artistic because highlights are blown and shadows are crushed. Style, when used to compensate for substance, becomes a distraction. In sports action photography, the consequences are magnified. Action demands clarity. Emotion lives in faces, hands, and body language—details that are often the first casualties of heavy-handed processing. Aggressive presets can smear motion, bury texture, and strip an image of the very information that gives it meaning. What remains may look dramatic at a glance, but rarely rewards closer inspection. This is why buyers should be discerning. Images built on excessive processing tend to have a short shelf life. What looks striking on a phone screen can fall apart when printed, enlarged, or viewed alongside truly well-crafted photographs. Colors break down. Artificial contrast reveals noise and artifacts. And the emotional connection—the reason sports images are purchased in the first place—often feels thin once the initial effect wears off. Ironically, the strongest photographs usually need less embellishment, not more. When timing is right, light is understood, and composition is intentional, restraint becomes a virtue. The photograph carries itself. Processing supports the moment rather than competing with it. In a visual marketplace flooded with stylized imagery, discernment matters. The best sports photographs are not the ones shouting for attention through effects. They are the ones that still work when trends fade—because the moment, captured with care and respect, was always enough. Quality has always mattered. It simply matters more now, because in a world full of images, it’s the only thing that truly endures.
SPRINGFIELD - Illinois could become the first state to fully decriminalize sex work among consenting adults, under a new proposal introduced by two state lawmakers.
The legislation, unveiled Monday by State Sen. Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago) and State Rep. Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago), seeks to remove criminal penalties for adults engaged in consensual paid sex. It would also expunge arrest and conviction records for sex workers, establish a sex workers’ bill of rights, and create protections against abuses by law enforcement.
