Sitting with your work

Our minds are a funny place some days. I wasn't sleeping well last night, and ended up thinking of a multi-part blog series, and writing the first part. I should have got up and actually wrote it. Now it's gone. Maybe if I leave some milk and cookies at my bedside, the idea fairy will come visit again.

But part of it was to go back and look at some of my earlier photos. It was sparked by this photo, or rather, these two photos.

and

Two really similar photos, taken 40 seconds apart. The first pass through editing I zipped right past the first one, and edited the second one, mainly because of that petal and the ant mooning me. (Look for it.) The second one shows the detail in the petals that is there, and that's what I'm usually aiming for. The details.

It's only when I was going back and adding the keywords I actually took a good look at that first one. Technically, it's a bad photo since it's out of focus which is why I skipped past it. I knew that I'd nailed it in a later shot. (Flashing on the Men in Black bench scene, with the Tommy Lee Jones character explaining what previous people "knew", and finishing "imagine what you'll know tomorrow."

And yet, the overall feeling of the first one rings my chimes. I love how the yellows and oranges slide into one another, and the edges are a bit soft. It makes me wondering what else I've missed along the way. I know from editing batches (sometimes really big batches) of raw photos, that either the first one in a sequence is the good one, or the last one is. Sometimes I'll know right away what shot I want, and nail it first time. Other times I might know the shot and have to sneak up on it, tweaking the settings as required. When I get it, I stop. And yes, let's just say there's been some regrets along the way, where I should have taken a few more shots.

A photojournalist author I was recently reading talked a bit about not knowing what to select for a book, mainly because she was never sure her work was good enough, and hadn't sat with it long enough to choose between the photos.

That's kind of resonating with me here, especially after overlooking that first one. I've periodically gone back looking for photos for some reason. Our newsletter editor wanting a particular one done in cover quality resolution. Another client looking for a photo. Me looking back at a photo, or for a photo for some reason. (Just lately it's been killing me that I can't find a photo that I know exists. You've probably seen it, the one of Curtis reaching for the front door locks, with an impatient look on his face, saying 'right here! Stupidest human ever!")

Monthly I go back over the photos to pick the image of the month, and do the same for the year. I think this is a good practice to improve. I've been thinking about some of my earlier work, and wondering if I like it because it's had time to grow on me, and the newer work hasn't. Or maybe, the older work was better. I've been making a deliberate effort to separate out photos taken for documentation purposes (such as construction on the ring road, there's no making THAT artistic) and those where I'm trying for some artistry, some particular effect. The latter I try to take a bit more time on, and maybe get some insurance shots.

Going back to that first photo, once I took a minute and actually looked at it, I realized my normal edits would not do. Not at all. As it turns out, between the menu settings in my camera, my normal shooting style and subjects, editing photos means doing very similar things to each of them. That first one needed the opposite things done. It makes me how many of my photos are lurking in my previous work that would shine if re-examined and the proper adjustments applied FOR THAT PHOTO.

Good thing I'm mostly retired.

Of the Day
Curtis
Not a typical photo of him, I admit. Him being stealthy. Watching for prey. Ready to leap on the unwary.

Flowers

White Peony

Driftwood