Editing your images

I am just finishing my third workshop in a row- one in Vermont and two in Acadia National Park in Maine- and I have noticed several recurring themes among my students. The big one is that nobody seems to ever throw any of their images away! Even ones that are obviously flawed or downright bad are still on their computers many months after they were taken. there is no good reason to ever keep very bad photos on your computer. Nor is there any reason to keep 20 versions of exactly the same image. If they are all the same get rid of all but two. If there are some important differences between the images decide which ones you like the best and get rid of the rest. Too many times students give me images for review and critique and then say “Oh, I gave you the bad one. I have a better one in my computer.” If you have a better one get rid of the bad one! To help you decide what to save and what to get rid of I have included below my criteria for editing my images (in other words, for getting rid of the clunkers). The first deleting pass is in the camera. The next deleting passes are done in the computer. Each pass gets increasingly more specific and more picky until I am left with just the best images from the shoot. Here is the Editing Criteria handout:

A. In camera- quicker, gross, overall considerations

  1. Exposure Significant blown highlights or blocked-up blacks 2. Composition Light good? Subject the best? Background not distracting? Conditions optimum? Phrase (good) or Sentence (bad)? 3. Focus Eyes of animals, main subject, distracting blurs elsewhere  

B. In computer- slower more specific considerations

  1. First pass- looking again for obvious problems Exposure Highlights, Blocked up blacks Composition Light, Subject, Background, Conditions Phrase or Sentence? Focus Too much? Too little?   2. Second pass- more carefully considering choices, comparing to best pics Composition Chopped body parts, bad merges, frame filling? Focus All of eye? both eyes? Critically in focus? Expression/Gesture For portraits, movement (actual or implied) Pretty? or just Interesting Noise Manageable or deadly   3. Third pass- keep only best one or two per composition Story Does it help tell the story? Need Do I need it? Might I need it? Impression Does it work? Does it sing?      

Bursts

Most of the time when I am out taking pictures I am shooting a single frame at a time. This is because I am taking my time, waiting for just the right moment where the wind, and light and subject all conspire to give me the best that I can get. But there are times when instead of being so deliberate I am just the opposite- I shoot in short bursts of 5 or 6 images. I do this whenever I am photographing something that is moving and whenever the expression of my subject is important. Read more

Polarizer for Fall Colors

Tis that time of the year again, a favorite time of year for all photographers, when the forests across the country conspire to put on a fireworks show of colors. From red and yellow vine maples of the far west to the gold and orange aspens in the Rockies to the red, yellow, orange, amber, purple and rusts of the east, October and November are a magnificent time of the year to be out taking pictures. Read more