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

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Love to get your feedback on what you read!

Popular posts from this blog

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

Nobody's Listening

  I recently had conversations with two people I know that had experienced a sudden rash of acute anxiety. One was medication related, the other was situational. Both stated that they now had a better understanding of what I have been dealing with. With the recent changes to my medication, Although I still feel anxiety, it no longer takes control of my emotions like it did in the past. However, I know acutely that it still lurks on the fringes, patiently awaiting its chance to pounce on me. During my recent visit to Dr. Erin, she assigned me an exercise where I had to jot down three things each day that I felt I excelled at. This is proving to be difficult for me. The parameters are straightforward and easy to understand. “Anything I do well that day,” she said. As I continued with this exercise, I began thinking of a song by Linkin Par called Nobody’s Listening. I got a heart full of pain, head full of stress Handful of anger held in my chest And everything left’s a wast...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tested

  Life is a series of tests, pushing us to our limits and forcing us to grow. All blessings originate from a God, yet they manifest through different circumstances, encounters, and individuals. Throughout the past six weeks, I have encountered a myriad of these tests. This is part of the reason I have not written in a while - the constant distractions that have consumed my time and focus. Balancing my mental state and warding off anxiety has consumed my attention, leaving no room to articulate my thoughts through writing. My journey began recently when, with the advice of a medical professional, I began taking Trintellix at its lowest dose of 5mg per day. Gradually I increased to 10mg a day and now am at 20mg a day. During this time, my anxiety has lessened quite a bit, but recent events have put this medication to the test. Our initial challenge was to carefully research vans, searching for ones that would be ideal for safely transporting our furry companions. The cramped spac...
Post a Comment
Read more