I've always been the kind of photographer that likes my digital photography pin sharp and perfect, and my analogue photography a little bit rough around the edges. This is probably because with digital you can take thousands of photographs in a sitting so there isn't much of an excuse for it not to be sharp and in focus, yet with analogue it's no more than 30 shots. Some images will be over exposed, some under. Some will be in focus, and some inevitably out of focus. But this gives 35mm and other film photography an edge in some ways. It makes you think about the story of the image more as well as making you a technically better photography. It makes you think more about what was happening when that picture was taken. Those "mistakes" become quirks of the photograph making them more intriguing. You don't stop to criticise what is wrong with an image, however makes you consider whether that "mistake" makes the photograph what it is.
While trying out my first roll of Agfa APX 100 (which is now my standard black and white film i shoot with when going analogue), i thought i would grab a couple of shots of Chairman Meow, the most dog-like cat the world has seen. The problem with that is he didn't stay still like a cat. Instead he bounded forward straight into the camera head first. Some might look at this image and think straight away "why is it not in focus..?". Others might look at it and think clearly that cat loves his picture taken!
Either way, the point of this blog is to explain that in some forms of photography there is room for error or mistake to make a photograph so much more than a pleasing piece of art to look at. You can plan and plan a shoot until the cows come home, but the ting which makes it will be something you didn't expect. However areas such as product, advertising, and landscape photography will tend to benefit from perfect, sharp, crisp images as you're trying to sell something or show something as being beautiful and perfect. But in others don't be too quick to dismiss an image just because a part you wanted to be in focus isn't.
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