Sunday, January 12, 2014

Smart editing might help

Welcome back to my journey. Thanks to all of you who've shown an interest. Much appreciated. Remembering that the point for me is to try to find a focus for my photography, I thought editing wasn't a bad place to start. 

Learning to keep the best....
Ever since I started taking photography classes I’ve been pushed and pushed to edit each group of photos down to a handful of the best. As I’m rather a prolific shooter (clicker), I try to follow this very good advice. Just as a simple example, I took these 106 shots of my grandsons on a climbing wall and ended up with SIX, and then selected the ONE below that I liked the best because it showed both boys and was a bit more creative. I'm now comfortable forcing myself to make these decisions within one set of images. 



 









Next step? Making decisions about which kinds of images I should select. 
Ah... well this part is harder. Why cant I make editing decisions about different subjects and types of images? Some thoughts
  • Maybe I’m too attached to the works to reject them.  I think I’d be sad to leave some behind. I mostly like all the images I've kept.
  • As I mentioned before, perhaps they’re just too diverse to even consider comparing them. Can you compare apples and oranges? 
  • And then there’s a difference between the shots I take of my family, the assignments I do for a class or a competition, and the images I shoot because something inspires me visually. 
  • I might be scared of rejecting something really good but what does that say about my judgement? Am I the only person who finds it hard to critique my own work? 
For now, I'll ignore the family photos and the snaps at golf tournaments etc. because I'll always want to be doing some of that for me and for others and for FUN! 

No, it's the more creative work that is at issue here. Well, I could go on musing and making excuses about my indecision, but it's time to get some feedback from you. If you can relate to my dilemma about how to choose your best work, and you've got some advice, PLEASE bring it on!

And here are 4 quite different photos. Tell me which ONE you like best and why. I'll try to put up some images with each post.  Just give me your comments below or send me an email. Many, many thanks. J

# 1 Portugal Church with birds layered into the image


# 2 Character on Main Street, Vancouver




#3 Intentional Camera Movement - Rose Hip



#4 Experiments with tree skeletons


5 comments:

  1. I hear you Judi! Editing is time consuming and tough, especially when you are close to your work. I try and restrain myself from getting snap happy for this very reason, although that is also pretty tough. My vote is for number three and some more experiments with movement and focus.

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  2. I love the colours of #3 -- it feels like interpretive dance to me. I also liked the composition of #1, but then started to wonder if the birds layered in seemed inauthentic -- they felt out of proportion to the clock tower to me. This is fun!

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  3. Hi Judi. I'd like to see number 1 without the birds. I like the colour and the lines in the first photo.
    I empathise with the editing. I take thousands of photos a year and then choose 100 to go in a photo book. I miss the photos that don't make the cut.

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  4. Good luck! i chose the way it is recommended to choose in a multiple-choice exam - For no reason I can explain rationally, I vote for #2. Perhaos it's the whimsy. I paint a little , and I tend to like whimsy. Jocelyn Cooper

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  5. Hi Judi, I plump for #1, not because I know where it is (fond memories!) but it's stunning and simple at the same time, but a little bit weird as well, and I'm a sucker for anything blue .... Looking forward to more photos! Sue xx (PS hope you get the message - having problems with my "profile")

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