The photo shown here is a bit of a joke - a panorama combined from three LX3 photos, cropped wide but shallow. This was a sort of response to an inverted photo which I for a while though was actually a reflection from water. There is a hint of what this actually is.
But how to develop as a photographer. I guess having fun is one aspect of this. Another aspect which I don't really know the answer to is: Should one return to photos taken earlier?
There is a quite good argument that recommends waiting for a while until you make a decision about a photo - is it good or not? The argument for waiting is based on the fact that you have a certain image in mind when taking a photo, and the result may disappoint. But later on - with fresh eyes - you may find that there is something even better in the photo. And you would never have gotten that insight if you deleted the photo at once.
Another viewpoint argues for making the decision early and not returning to old photos. If the photos do have some value, you notice it right away. So just delete the bad, post-process the good ones, and move on to shooting the next set of photos.
I'm a bit ambivalent. I like browsing photos taken earlier, and sometimes there are positive surprises. A not-so-good photo turns out to have an unanticipated meaning. But I also delete most (over 90%) of my photos the same day they are taken.
I'm a bit excessive in my shooting habits - I have written about this previously - taking a photo even if I'm not sure there is something worth photographing. For example, today I took about 250 photos during a two-hour walk outside.
Some photographers like to "simulate" photography by looking, not shooting. I have found that this does not work with me. I want to experiment, to iterate from one photo to another, as a process of stepwise refinements. This is how I function best, and I'm not keen on changing this any time soon.
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I had been wondering how your storage kept up with your prolific shooting.
It is possible that you may come to see this as a mistake in the future. I now keep everything I shoot, pretty much. I only delete a few howlers. I scan all my film. I have found that I go back to stuff after weeks or months. Plus I've found archiving everything straight from the camera saves a lot of time - I've automated the process and don't need a huge manual sorting exercise.
That is indeed a question I have been thinking about. On the other hand, as my shooting style is iterative, I have lots of slightly different versions of the same subject, so deleting 90% of them is probably not a great loss.
Perhaps I'll develop a different workflow in the future. In any case, even though I delete most of the photos the same day, they are still on disk for up to a week or so, until I "empty the trash can" (using Mac terminology).
another way to develop as a photographer is to look at photography in terms of the visual arts, and study the history of visual art, to gain an appreciation of the "ways of seeing" that have evolved since prehistoric cave art right through to modern art, with photography being one branch of that story. The ways that artists and photographers perceive and represent their world, and how conventions have developed over time in our visual language, can be helpful in developing one's own visual style. So read up on the history of art, visit art galleries as well as photo galleries, you will find much food for thought.
@Lynn: Thanks for the suggestion.
I got today the book "The Simple Secret to Better Painting", written by Greg Albert, which seems to provide some inspiration and education of the kind you suggest.
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