Mediocre Photos
Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 07:25PM I was running through my mental list of things to write about as a journal entry this evening, and one thing stood out: What to do with a photo that was composed well, but looks uninspiring upon review. I’m sure I’m not the only photographer that this has happened to, and in talking to others recently, I know I’m not. This can be a side effect of the time of year or perhaps a lull in someone’s creative flow.
So what do you do with that photo or group of photos. Some people that I know would simply reject the images and move on. In some cases this is a really, REALLY good idea as cleaning up your digital clutter is never a bad thing. That being said, I often find that I spend a fair bit of time searching through old pictures during this time of year. It’s not that there aren’t things to take pictures of, but in my area the weather is turning cold, the amount of foliage is minimized, and it can be a challenge to even get motivated to go out and find something interesting to shoot.
It is at these times that I like to start doing a more in depth review of the multitude of images that I already have. Sometimes I may find a hidden gem of an image that I had forgotten about, but most of the time it is reviewing an assortment of mediocre images. So here is what I’ve started to do and will recommend to you: Get creative with your editing, and step outside the box!
Quite simply, the photo that may have been composed well may look far better as a high or low contrast black and white image, cross-processed or a colour accented image. Perhaps the colour and tone of the photo is great but the composition doesn’t feel right; crop it into a different perspective.
This is where Adobe Lightroom and its non-destructive environment really performs. Create virtual copies of your image after cropping and apply different colour treatments to them. If you don’t like what you are seeing, go back in the history or simply reset back to original. It’s really that simple! Lightroom provides a creative environment that allows you to quickly and easily explore the possibilities of your image.
What’s the end result? Was it really all that mediocre?
Reader Comments (2)
Hmmm, intersting! I hadn't thought of playing around with the so-so pictures to see if you can make them into more wow-like! Thanks for the idea :)
Good thoughts. Sometimes there is a portion of the shot that may be good - but I will often write it off because I don't have the time to edit it to make it better. Who knows what a little editing could do.