What you do when your pics don't come out as you hoped

[Lilserenity]

Hiya,

This is probably one for the film bunch but it might apply to digi folks as well.

I was just wondering what do you do if you develop a roll, and find out they're all naff as you half expected due to the dull light or whatever reason?

I have to admit if they are really rubbish (like my recent roll was, 24 frames of dullness personified) I tend to just chuck them away. There was no merit in any of them, compositionally 'ok' but as a whole, rubbish.

Do some of you keep them? How do you feel?

One side of me feels a bit crappy like how can I go from taking pictures that I like one day and the next, how the hell did I take all this crap!

I think this time was compounded by not having my dev tank quite full enough for the pre-soak so I ended up with a large mark around the roll about 2mm from the top of the frame, not fatal but it just compounded the whole 'meh'-ness about the shots!

Doesn't help as I'm entering a competition (Black and White Photograpjy Magazine's Photographer of the Year compo) and I still have 2 prints to make and potentially one more shot to get if I feel that my 'back-catalogue' doesn't have something that fits the whole series!

Gah!

VIcky

 

[Keith]

When it happens I feel an incredible sense of frustration initially and then reality sets in and I get over it! 😛

I always scan them though and file them away with the rest of my efforts ... usually as pretty small jpegs amittedly. I've discovered the worst thing to do is mess around with a flat negative for too long convicing yourself that you can get something salvagable from it ... occasionlally you may but at the expense of doing something more produvtive! 😀

 

[Austerby]

I keep everything, for reference and reminders if nothing else. I do also find that my initial reaction isn't always the best one - coming across photo's I'd discounted initially I find that sometimes they have more qualities than I first recognised.

 

[Praxis Unitas]

document what went wrong, then look for patterns to fix it...

document what went wrong, then look for patterns to fix it...

Hi. I've taken an approach that sort of resembles a quality control engineer. I analyze and document what went wrong, file them in a separate place and assess how I can improve the results.
When I say document, I mean that I write directly on the plastic sleeving, drawing arrows and circles for specific problems.

Sorry to hear about your dull roll. I just filed about 70 negatives in the 'crap' file today.

 

[mfunnell]

Personally, I foam at the mouth then chew on the carpet. I'm not sure this is normal.

...Mike

 

[Keith]

Personally, I foam at the mouth then chew on the carpet. I'm not sure this is normal.

...Mike

Normal? I always thought it was obligatory! 😀

 

[peterm1]

Shooting digital pretty much now. I usually keep them and let them mature :^)

Sometimes I find that if I leave it a while eventually the creative urge will kick in and I will find that I am able to make a silk purse out of the proverbial sows ear.

In fact some of the photos I have liked best are ones I thought were awful but when I eventually dug out my Photoshop I have been able to use its awfulness as a lever to get me moving and make something nice from it. Here is one like that. I kept it for ages after shooting it - the girls jumper was really really bright red as was her face - bright crimson and blotchy from the effort of playing. But I saw something in the image and with just a little help from me I now really like this and it consistently gets lots of hits on Flickr.

Moral of the story - do not be in a rush to erase the photos you do not like - one day you just may!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3519/3800610530_238b593a9d_b.jpg

 

[Sparrow]

Normal? I always thought it was obligatory! 😀

so are you saying bouncing tanks off the far wall is abnormal?

 

[Turtle]

I get irritated with myself before figuring out how I can work some magic in the darkroom to improve upon them. If that is not going to happen I file them and think about throwing them over the next decade but never actually do. Looking back shows you how much you have learnt...

 

[Roger Hicks]

File 'em. You may think, one day, "Oh, yeah, that would work for..."

And if that doesn't happen, well, they don't eat much.

The important thing is to shoot some more pictures -- but not until you feel like it. Don't force yourself.

Cheers,

R.

 

[hydroquinone]

I try to understand what went wrong, exposure, too far from the subject, poor composition etc.. try too keep the main mistakes I have made in mind, load a roll in my camera, and go out for shoot.

 

[Lilserenity]

File 'em. You may think, one day, "Oh, yeah, that would work for..."

And if that doesn't happen, well, they don't eat much.

The important thing is to shoot some more pictures -- but not until you feel like it. Don't force yourself.

Cheers,

R.

I'm my own worst critic at times so I can be pretty rash and immediately toss things out, maybe I shouldn't. These ones I had to as they really were awful, that and the bloomin' pre-soak mark where I didn't have enough water in to start with...

The thing was with these ones is that I know the location very well and stand every chance of getting it right with the right light another time (maybe tonight even.)

Also touching on shooting when you don't feel it, that I think is my problem, I don't work well on demand or to a deadline imposed on me by someone else (photographically anyway) -- it becomes a bit forced and I don't feel it as much.

Case in point this weekend, Saturday morning, 5am on the beach with a group of other photographers and it was a dull, grey, boring start to the day, no fantastic sunrise at all. I took about 2 pictures all morning; it didn't work for me that morning and I felt disenfranchised.

Sunday, all day, good weather, felt good about what I was doing and it was almost as if the photos were falling into my lap, I didn't feel anything being forced and felt creatively alive.

The problem with last night's roll is it being for this competition; I don't expect to get anywhere but sending in crap won't help matters and having few days left now to get something in (Friday next week) I have probably at least 1 more shot to get, 2 to print.

I'd probably make the most awful professional photographer for a newspaper; as I need to have some kind of connection to the subject for it to work for me.

Anyway, as others have said, maybe I should keep a few more, I tend to only toss out the duffers a few weeks after, but these this morning were so awful I won't even sully my name by posting one 🙂

Either way, I'm certainly not the type that I sometimes read about who throw away all their slides and negatives now they have scanned them and that to me is like burning your house down because you don't like the colour you painted it. Foolish 🙂

Vicky

 

[kossi008]

I keep everything, for reference and reminders if nothing else. I do also find that my initial reaction isn't always the best one - coming across photo's I'd discounted initially I find that sometimes they have more qualities than I first recognised.

I have almost nothing to add, exactly my approach. Except that it works the other way round for me as well: Sometimes, I sit down and wonder what I ever thought was SO great about this or that picture in the first place...

 

[chikne]

Contact sheet!

 

[Mcary]

I use to tell myself they (images) could be fixed, these day's I pretty much just ask myself what I should of or could of done differently and move on to the next shoot.
I look at it this way if you want to be 100% sure you get good shots everytime out then shoot the same thing the same way every time BORING!!!!!. To use a baseball term I prefer to swing for the fence. Of course that does mean striking out more often then not.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Either way, I'm certainly not the type that I sometimes read about who throw away all their slides and negatives now they have scanned them and that to me is like burning your house down because you don't like the colour you painted it.

Dear Vicky,

Brilliant analogy!

And as you get older you may find you can let time go by without shooting easier when you don't feel like it -- and shoot easier and better when you do feel like it!

Cheers,

R.

 

[Renzsu]

bang head on the table, slowly compose myself again, think what might've caused it and store the film for future reference..

 

[Lilserenity]

After the disappointment yesterday, developed another roll last night and this time I got a couple of usable pictures, one that I am very happy with.

And I didn't throw any negatives away 🙂

I'm hoping for some good light tonight! *fingers crossed*

And with any luck I'll be able to file those ones away nicely too!

The one that came out alright - Steyning Bowl, W. Sussex
​

 

[peterm1]

This is one I regarded as a throw away but a few weeks on, after giving it a bit of thought and with a bit of cropping and other work on the tone and saturation, now I like it.

And this one too

And this one too - here the cropping made all the difference although I also had to do a lot of work to take the attention off the people in the background and focus on the main subject. I did that through tonal adjustment and blurring.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

Maybe learn?