What street photographer doesn’t feel a rush of expectancy when grabbing the camera to head out for a session alone or with fellow photographers? Nothing can compare to the feel of a racing heart when just the right background is identified with potential subjects strolling into the frame. Admit it. We all succumb to that photographers’ “high” in anticipation of bagging a good one.
We also know that what follows this surge of excitement with camera in hand is the sometimes daunting task of making the images tangible. We can choose to digitally view or print for display or books, but first comes the post processing fun. I’m here to advocate for not just reviewing and editing once, but on several occasions even months/years in the future.
For some photographers the post production process is frankly no pleasure. While we all work hard to get things right in-camera, we often end up with images not to our liking. The motion, the blur, the light, the composition. As we understand, any capture can go sideways and prove less than what we hoped when the heart palpitations began. But tune and tone we must, selecting our absolute favorite image to take from acceptable to awesome. Over time we hone our skills at toning, tuning, editing (people use different terms for running an image through the Photoshop/Lightroom gauntlet). And we improve. We learn new techniques from YouTube tutorials. We take advice from pros and friends. We try new tweakings and we add plugins. We read Street Photography Magazine and we learn from others. Over time our style and techniques improve.
After 11 years of the thrill of the hunt and the hours with Lightroom, I too have altered my style. I have navigated from 100% color images to 99% monochrome. I not only edit differently; I also compose and capture in a different manner.
Also, I no longer delete images from my camera. I hated having “stinkers” on my memory card (who cares) and I also used to think that by setting my camera to RAW capture, I was filled up the space on my memory card too quickly. Easy fix. Buy more memory cards. After download and reformat, my memory card was clean. Although our cameras are brilliant at capturing images and storing them, they are not that brilliant at managing data on the cards. I’ve learned DON’T DELETE images in camera.
One lesson (of the 1,000,000) I have learned is to be frugal in my haste to toss out images from my Lightroom catalog after downloading. Through Lightroom’s amazing cataloguing system, I keep my photos organized by year, then country, city adding keywords. Although I frequently have a project in mind as I complete a photo trip or session, I leave 99% of my images “in the dust” in Lightroom. These never see the light of day in articles, books or Social Media. I have such a large number of images packed onto external hard drives and in the cloud (Backblaze) but they are organized and I will never delete unless an image is so cockeyed or blurry that I can’t ever resurrect it. In the past, I had no regular practice for returning to files to cull through again. With years of work and thousands of images stored, the sheer magnitude can be overwhelming. Because I delete very few pictures from the catalog and because I believe that I have evolved in my photo editing and toning, I have begun a new practice of seeking out those forgotten photos that may have some merit. In the past I looked for near perfection right out of the camera (antiquated idea of perfection) that required a minimum of edits, but I have now changed my thinking. Lightroom has grown in scope and capabilities and now has expanded features similar to Photoshop. That coupled with my familiarity of available tools has allowed me to now take some of my “throw aways” and work them into something I might consider in a project.
My objective in this lengthy explanation of then/now is to encourage all photographers to revisit catalogs of forgotten images, and consider them with new eyes and new talents and techniques. We all grow in skills and discernment with our art and I believe we can uncover hidden gems in our own backyard (Lightroom catalogs). I offer a few of my then/now images to illustrate. Some photos that I set aside in past years, I have now started to rework and create new projects. Nothing is ever too old, too poor to be considered with a fresh perspective. Take a look. I believe you will be surprised at what you find.
A 2019 moment of bliss akin to euphoria came while wandering the backstreets of Old Havana. I discovered some interesting street art and stepped back to photograph it. In my peripheral vision (a street photographer’s super power), I noticed a young man entering from stage left. I lowered my camera then raised it at the moment he stepped into the frame. I was ecstatic. The image below is the original. After the download, I converted it to black and white and cropped to vertical then printed it and hung it on my wall above my desk. Each time I look at it over my computer screen, I think “I think I would like it better in a different version.” So recently, I revisited the original and re-toned it. Who knows, I may change it again.
During a visit to Paris in 2018 I strolled through the Los Colonnes de Buren making images of businessmen, children and tourists cavorting and strolling through the striped disks and columns. When I noticed a woman in a striped dress walk into the scene (again, thanks to the peripheral vision super power), I followed her as she walked out of the frame. Upon review, I considered the result as OK, but never printed or used it in a project. When I reviewed the old catalog, I felt I could improve upon it now and voila! An image I enjoy more and the starting point for a project.
I engaged with a musician on his front stoop in Havana in April, 2019. He ultimately invited me in to his home to hear him play a few songs. And of course, I photographed him. After downloading the images, I didn’t feel I wanted to do anything further with them. In 2023, I reviewed my originals and decided to work them to a point that I will be including in a series on the music of Cuba.
During another visit to Cuba in December of 2019, I visited a dance rehearsal. The lighting was poor, but the dancers were striking. After downloading I felt that none of the images were to my liking. In searching through the old files to find dance images for a project of 1 x 1 images, I uncovered quite a few that could be used by with added cropping and toning.
Images stored in our files deserve another look and another edit based on newer technology and our new skills. There we will find acres of diamonds in our own backyard.
You must be logged in to post a comment.