Picture editing

[John Bragg]

I guess one of the ways to get your pictures seen and appreciated is to be brutally honest with your self and edit them with wisdom and feeling. I just whittled 31 shots down to a set of 9 and it took me time, but I feel that they work as a set and tell a story. How do you edit your work ? I feel that a one in three strike rate is exceptionally good for me as I am happy with one in six usually. Any thoughts, wisdom and tips please ?

 

[btgc]

Your keeper rate is very good, I think.

I often toss 34...36 out of 36. Wait, does it mean I'm better at editing? 😀
Nah, there's minimum photographer has to get from roll. I've heard once this did mean 1 exposure per 50cm of film, that is about 3 from 36exp roll. Most of time I go below this.

 

[John Bragg]

Your keeper rate is very good, I think.

I often toss 34...36 out of 36. Wait, does it mean I'm better at editing? 😀
Nah, there's minimum photographer has to get from roll. I've heard once this did mean 1 exposure per 50cm of film, that is about 3 from 36exp roll. Most of time I go below this.

That makes you really brutal or really harsh on your own work. I like your style !

 

[Keith]

Ultimately ... let someone else do the editing! When it comes to crunch time for consideration for an exhibition, that will be my direction.

 

[daveleo]

Over the years I have learned that very very subtle differences have fairly big
effects on how I feel about my pictures. So I shoot a lot of one scene, with
small movements and such and pick the one (out of maybe 20) that is the
best. That goes into a folder of "good" stuff, that gets re-evaluated and
typically I get less than 50% out of that folder that I like well enough to print.

I average 8 - 12 printable images per year.

 

[John Bragg]

Ultimately ... let someone else do the editing! When it comes to crunch time for consideration for an exhibition, that will be my direction.

That seems right for an exhibition. Do the same rules apply for a book ?

 

[Keith]

That seems right for an exhibition. Do the same rules apply for a book ?

I think I would probably seek outside advice in that instance also. 🙂

 

[Sparrow]

I can't edit my own work it has to go the someone I trust to do ... I'm even worse with text and proof-reading ... I still have a cherished draft copy of a book where my mane is spelled wrongly

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

The thrill of victory, the agony of deleting!

A photography book or a photo essay is a great form of self discipline. Nobody wants to see 10 pictures of the same waterfall even if all 10 are different and excellent. One must break it down to the one out of ten that is the best of the best.

Time wounds all heels. It's amazing how waiting awhile and letting things settle down helps with the culling process.

No matter how much one wants a bad image to be good, a bad image is a bad image.

Anyway, these are things I deal with when I'm thinking about what to keep and what to delete.

All the best,
Mike

 

[p.giannakis]

Nobody wants to see 10 pictures of the same waterfall even if all 10 are different and excellent. One must break it down to the one out of ten that is the best of the best.

Yes ! 👍

My goal is 1 good picture in a roll of film. Maybe I will post 3 from that roll if I was exceptionally lucky.

This thing of going out and shooting 90 pics and all 90 are worth of posting is something I will never understand.

 

[pvdhaar]

I don't edit, I just keep the keepers..

Seriously, it's not a conscious process. And I don't have a target as in I need to have 1 really good one on a roll. Last roll of 36 had 25 keepers, but that was because I had a project in mind and already knew what I was after. Sometimes there's only 1 or 2 that sort of are OK, and that is fine as well. After all, I just shoot for fun, there's absolutely no pressure to perform.

 

[mrtoml]

I am currently going through a lot of old files.

My lightroom catalog has about 50000 images taken since the early 2000s. I also have 1000s of negatives. I am finding that shots I overlooked back in the day (and may have deleted if I were being heavy handed) I now find can be salvaged or edited in a different way to the manner I would have done in the past. I have different ways of interpreting the score as I have gained more experience - to use Ansel Adams's analogy. Software has also improved a great deal and I am more proficient at editing than I was back in the day.

If you shoot digital, given that storage is incredibly cheap relative to the cost of photographic equipment, I think you should think carefully before deleting and culling files unnecessarily.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Godfrey]

I edit my photos per my whim and caprice of the moment. Again and again and again. I look at a set of photos as being a musical score, with necessary highs and lows, pauses and glissandos. An exhibition is usually a short piece, a book a longer piece.

Once I have what I think works for whatever purpose, I like others to look at the piece and tell me what they think. And then I edit some more.

G

 

[pvdhaar]

If you shoot digital, given that storage is incredibly cheap relative to the cost of photographic equipment, I think you should think carefully before deleting and culling files unnecessarily.

Agreed, and it even applies to negatives. Some images get better as time progresses, sometimes because of the emotional value they gain; 'remember when....'. But your taste may also evolve over time, and you may go through phases where you try to emulate someone else's style. The ones that didn't fit the style may have been thrown out, but these may have been the very images that define your own perspectives..

 

[Bob Michaels]

What is photo editing?

Is editing the process of deleting those photos that have technical problems such as out of focus or improperly exposed?

Is editing the process of eliminating those protos down into some random assortment that individually would not be considered “greatest hits”? This random assortment of “greatest hits” is where too many cease efforts to edit.

Editing is that process of beginning to assemble some cohesive story, something with a semblance of a beginning, a story line, and a conclusion. The key is it is a story, not a random assortment of photos.

One has only to look at the finished work of accomplished photographers in their published books or online presentations. Look at Robert Frank’s “the Americans” to see how his story flows. Look at some of Bruce Gilden’s early work such as “Coney Island’ wished. Let your editing accomplish that. and realize it is a total story, not simply an assortment of photos.

Remember, your objective is to present your photographic work in the manner that best shows the emotion you

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I take nine pictures to have one to tell the story.

But it is freedom of choice.
HCB had assistant to carry on films.