Today's lesson is a very simple one:
Save all your images.
ALL images.
Even the really bad ones.
I can not tell you how many times I have gone back through year-old files and found usable images that at the time I thought were only worthy of the trash can.
As my skills progress, I find I'm better able to edit and manipulate images.
Sometimes I can save the entire image, other times I use a portion of it or as an overlay, and in many cases those old images serve as great creative-springboards!
ETA: A lot of you have mentioned that you just don't have the space to save all those image files. And I totally get that! My computer's hard drive was at max capacity about a year ago. So I took the plunge and bought the Western Digital WD Elements 1 TB External Hard Drive. That's a terabyte! 1,024 gigabytes. It cost me $70 and I am so glad I got it! Now I can shoot in RAW + jpg mode and not worry about the file sizes.
Only if tomorrow's lesson is "get it right the first time!" There are not enough hard drives in the universe. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'm with Tracy! I'm hoping to get more space, but if I kept everything I'd be overwhelmed.
ReplyDeleteI do keep a lot though and there were some pretty bad pictures that I kept because of what they were supposed to be that are now salvageable with LR or PS. It makes me very happy!
I often worry about some of the shots I do save... Thank you for validating my hoarding :-) BUT I do clear out the super bad ones!
ReplyDeleteAh, here's where I half agree with you! If I have 10 pics of almost the exact same thing, I keep 3 at the most. I do keep more than what I think is necessary, but I'm also pretty ruthless when it comes to culling my images. Even though I have a 1tb back up drive, I get super overwhelmed if I have too many images....
ReplyDeleteBut the biggest cure I've found to deleting less and keeping more? Shooting with purpose! I think carefully (well, try to) before I shoot and when I get the shot (even if its only the 2nd image) I try to move on and try something different. :)
Sooo true!!! I have thrown out pictures that I can specifically remember and wish I hadn't. All because at the time they weren't "perfect". Now those memories are only in my head. Bad mistake.
ReplyDelete