Skip to main content

Purge

As the Coronavirus has taken a grip on the world, it has allowed me more time to get to those things I have always been wanting to do. I completed one of those ‘to-do list’ tasks today. I did a purge.

One challenge or task I have wanted to do for a long time is to go back through all my pictures and delete those I feel are not any good. I have completed one aspect of that project. I house my picture in Lightroom, on a file on my computer, on an external hard drive (backed up once a month) and finally in Google photos. This week I tackled the first purge of my Lightroom catalog.

Purge simply means to purify or rid of unwanted quality. As I have progressed in my photography I look back a few years and see many of my older photos do not live up to what I determine as “good enough”. I asked myself two simple questions. Does this picture tell a story, and what was I trying to display? If I could not answer either one I deleted the photo.

So here are some numbers to put this into context. Below I am listing the year the photograph took place, how many I started with, and the final number I ended with for each year. I deleted a ton, but feel much better and my hard-drive also thanks me.

2016 from 560 to 393
2017 from 1313 to 291
2018 from 1357 to 587
2019 from 1964 to 811

I deleted over 3000 original shots.

My photography is average to above average at best, but I am improving with each shot. However, much of my older work is sub-par. As Henri Cartier-Bresson once said, “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worse.” I have seen that through this process and strive to be a better photographer each time I shoot. Who knows maybe eventually I will get good at this.

Until next time,

Tim

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Love to get your feedback on what you read!

Popular posts from this blog

End

I don't worry about the world ending.  It has ended for me many times and always started the next morning. Until next time  Tim
Post a Comment
Read more

Mentor

  When my photography journey rekindled back in 2015 with a trip to Maine, I never knew how far I would come and how important pushing a button on a camera would be. I have come a long way, but still have so much more to learn. A mentor is described as an experienced and trusted adviser (noun) . Also, as someone who will advise or train (someone, especially a younger  colleague ) (verb). Wikipedia also states mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person.  Since I have gotten more serious about my photography, I have been looking for a mentor that fits these categories listed above. Seeking guidance, I reached out to a handful of “professional” photographers to inquire about mentorship. I received no response from one person, another person casually mentioned that they rarely mentor, and a third person kindly explained that they ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Somewhere I Belong

  Music is so powerful. It is an integral part of my life. It often helps me express my feelings that I cannot do otherwise in any form. Yesterday this happened to me once again. I drove to Curby, Indiana for my massage. It is a nice smooth drive west on interstate 64 to exit 92. With the temperature in the upper 70s and the sun shining brightly, I had all four windows down and my sunroof open. Cruising at 78mph, my playlist on shuffle and the radio turned up. We have all done this. I arrived at my massage location and as it begun, my massage therapist referenced my latest post tiled 3am . She, however, had a different take on it. She mentioned that she had read waking up at 3am consistently was because of anxiety or anger, not creativity. The CALM app states, “ The mind has a funny way of kicking into overdrive just when you need rest the most. Stress and anxiety can activate your body’s “fight or flight” response, making it hard to stay asleep . ” For me, waking up at 3am h...
Post a Comment
Read more