Taking a Fresh Look at Your Photography

How did I miss this yawning Galapagos Sea Lion?

Dope Slaps From the Past

Last week, as I was preparing my article about dealing with Chromatic
Aberration, I searched my RAW archives for images that demonstrated the phenomena. I eventually found some good examples, but I was reminded that, whenever I wander about in my archives, I always find neglected treasures. Images that I can't believe I left behind, unrealized.  All of the images here, except the broad Brattleboro glade, were rediscoverd during this one search.

Maine Shore Rediscovered

Pemaquid Shore, Maine

New Harbor Buoys, Maine

I know why it happens. When I get home from a shoot, I upload the images, convert them to DNG, geotag them, add appropriate meta data and rename. I then dive in, excited to get to work on the pictures with the most potential. There are always images that are obvious misses. I delete some, but not as many as I should. If I'm lucky there are a few that are worth further effort. I try to remember to label these with a yellow flags. As I complete work on the best, I change the flag to green on the parent RAW files, but inevitably, before I can get back to all my "yellows", I come back from my next shoot and the poor orphan images are forgotten. 


 Autumn Rediscovered

Minnewawa Brook, Marlborough, NH

Golden Ferns, Spofford, NH

Bratttleboro Glade, My first Look

The sadly neglected images may be of entirely different subjects, but more often they are just different perspectives on familiar locations. The remarkable thing is that, when I return to these archives after months or years, I see them with a fresh eye. My usual thought is, "How could I have possibly missed that!". It is like mining for hidden treasure. Of course, when I find "new" images, I have to stop and edit them right away. I know that, if I move on, they may be lost forever. Last fall I captured
 some shots of the leaves outside of my old office in Brattleboro, Vermont. I ended up printing a nice broad image of the glade, but when I revisited the archive last week, a previously ignored close-up leaped out at me. After a well desired, self-inflicted, dope slap, I got to work on the image and now I like it much better than the original, rather routine, rendering.

I prefer this, new found, view of the glade in Brattleboro

 So my quick search for Chromatic Aberration became an exciting, several hours long, treasure hunt. I salvaged images from a previous ride along the Maine coast, autumn color from seasons past, our trip to Yellowstone last summer and from our amazing 2009 trip to the Galapagos Islands.



 Yellowstone Rediscovered

Faithful Run-Off, Yellowstone

Blue Recovery: Fringed Gentian

 

The value of a fresh look is remarkable and I urge you to take the

Sally Lightfoot Watching the Galapagos Sunset

journey regularly. You have a treasure chest of lonely pixels just waiting to be liberated. As for me, I plan to make a habit, each month, of scanning the archives from previous years. Not only do I expect to find “new” images, but I trust I will be reminded of locations that are worth another visit, perhaps with a new perspective. So get your fresh eye focused, dive back into those archives and get ready for the dope slaps.


Galapagos Islands Rediscovered

Galapagos Sea Lion Blocking our way home