To Delete or Not Delete?

Over the last 2 weeks I have come across a few other bloggers that have posted photographs that they originally thought were not interesting or technically correct but have gone ahead and posted them anyway.  I for one have actually liked and loved quite a few of the photos that they thought were not worthy.   Well I figured I would do the same, so I opened up Lightroom last night and took a second look at some of the photos I originally deemed not worthy of posting.  🙂  Actually some still may not be worthy of posting but because  Marcus or my wife occasionally surprise me by saying they like a photo that I frankly thought was utterly blah, I have decided to post some of them here today.   So if you have a moment please let me know which ones to delete from my hard drive and which one or ones I should consider keeping.   The last 2 photographs in this series are my favorites of the bunch and I also have to confess that my wife did take the 2nd to last photo.  Thanks!

Cristy’s Photograph.

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78 thoughts on “To Delete or Not Delete?”

  3. I like the last three, the second from the bottom I would flip it upside down for more impact. The last and third from the bottom are the best in that order. 🙂

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      • I find that the turtles fall into the category of documentary of nature, it is what it is. The other shots are simply abstracts that will form in your mind through your sense of vision.

      • Excellent point and very well stated! The 2nd photo in this series strikes me differently each time I look at it. The shot of the turtles as you said is what it is.. Thanks again for sharing your opinion.

  8. I like them all, but my favorites are 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7. I love the turtle photo. Any kind of art is so subjective. I have photos that I love and my husband doesn’t like and some I’m not particularly fond of that he loves.

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    • Hey Maralee. By this little experiment I can see that you are right. I thought photo # 1 was a throwaway but Marcus you and a few others like it so I am starting to question my own taste lol. By the way love your slideshow images in your website. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

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  9. I’m really glad you reconsidered. : ) I love using soft-focus lenses for shots like the ones you have on here. I just did a post with some pics like this yesterday. you might like them. Have a lovely day and keep taking pics like these ones and let someone else decide whether or not they want to look at them : )
    http://elizabethselena.wordpress.com

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    • Hey Karl. You make a good point in regards to deleting shots because I have actually deleted some photos from my hard drive by mistake. Thank G that I had backups uploaded to my website. But I always think about what happens in say 10 years if you have over 10k images. Do your “good ones” the ones we think are great get lost in the abyss of all of the rest. Is it not bound to happen and do we continue to value those great shots when we have tens of thousands to view. Anyways I am not going to delete too many more photos unless I think they are absolutely horrible because as has been proven today someone else may appreciate it even if we don’t. Thanks for responding and I do appreciate it!

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    • Jeesh the first one really? Wow thanks so much for your comment. I am sitting ony my couch smiling because I honestly thought that # 1 should be a goner and numerous posters think it is a nice photograph. Have a lovely evening and thanks again!

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    • Thanks for your comment. This post has really opened my eyes in regards to the subjectivity of what one may call beautifu versus. There were quite a few photos that I deemed nothing special moving on but all I can say is wow. Now I did not really think # 5 was terrible but as another poster mentioned I should have cropped it down a bit. Photo # 4 appears to be one of the better ones of the series while I thought for sure numbers 6 and 7 would run away with the votes. Again thanks for taking the time to comment because I do appreciate it.

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  13. I like them all too except the second one. It has interesting DOF, but not a whole lot else going on. I especially love the last one and the little white Christmas tree looking plant although I would do a shorter crop on it, meaning shorter top to bottom. What is that, ornamental cabbage? It’s magical!

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    • Hi Joylene. This photo was taken at when I was the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade a few weeks back in one of the gardens at the National Mall. I am not sure what it is although I believe you are correct because that is what it reminded me of. Thanks for the advice and I will go ahead and crop the photo tonight.

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      • I am no expert, that’s just my opinion 🙂 I would crop it down to where the change in background at the top stops not too close to the plant as the empty space looks great on top. It really is a cool plant!

    • Forgot to also mention that in photo # 2 I also feel as though the DOF is all that this pic has going for it. I was thinking about changing the hue to a red to make it feel as though this picture was taken on Mars or something but I am afraid even doing that there is just nothing to focus on. Thanks again for your comment!

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      • Can’t hurt to try! I love to play! I usually end up dumping them but fun to try anyway.

  15. This is interesting who didn’t find them interesting or technically correct…. What I learned in my photograpy life (yes, not too long maybe and still I am learning too but) not important what I see in the photograph but what makes a photograph to me… what says a photograph to me, this is imortant. Sometimes it may give a message… sometimes brings a memory… In your series, these are all of them an artful touches… Theres is a kind of poetical touches too… Each of them has its own power… and stories… I loved them all, and I would not delete none of them… Don’t listen to anyone… just listen to your inner soul, if you like it, it is your art, it is your work… Yes, I know I say something strange. But we are not being in the contest… or in front of an election commission of a magazine etc. They normally have some parameters… Anyway, sometimes beauties especially in art, comes from the absurds… Today I am talking so much 🙂 with my language should be boring. I hope I can express myself. They are all so nice dear MD, go on with them… Thanks and Love, nia

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  16. I wouldn’t delete any of them. Number two is not the best though, It could have been much more interesting than it is. And number three could have had better focus, but I still find it beautiful. I particularly like number four, five and seven.

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  17. Each of the photos has it’s own beauty. I like all of them, but the first one and the last 3 are my especial favorites. Storage space is inexpensive these days, why delete any of them? They all tell a story and have captured a moment in time.

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    • Thank you for your compliment Fabala. You are right about storage space. There are so many cloud services out there plus a hard drive with a terabyte of storage space is much cheaper this year than a 250gb hard drive from just 2 years ago.

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  18. Thanks Inga. I clearly missed the focus on photo #3. So therefore I tried to take your eyes away from the fact by saturating the sky a little and then increasing the vignette. That photo hurts because I thought I had a beautiful shot until I got home and saw that it was out of focus 😦 My wife will be particularly happy that you liked 7 and 4 does continue to grow on me. Thanks for sharing your opinion because sometimes I forget that just because I may not like a photo does not mean someone won’t love it like it or appreciate it..

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    • Thanks DH! Most of these photos were taken 2+ weeks ago and normally when I spend a few hours taking photos I create a blog post with them usually within 2 to 3 days. I was trying to clean up some folders last night when I came across these and I could not make up my mind whether to delete a few or not. The funny thing is photos 3 and 4 were out of focus but 4 seems to be getting a lot of love. So maybe we should not rush to judgement with some of the out of focus shots 🙂 Thanks for your compliment!

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  24. I have a preference for the first one and the turtles. I wouldn’t really say to dump off the other ones either. I’ve learned that taste is simply taste. I go with what feels right. (for keepers myself) Some of the images that I rather dislike have raised the largest at auctions…so, go figure!

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  25. Thanks for your honesty! I really like criticism or advice sometimes because it helps you grow in the right direction at times. What about # 2? That more than all of the photos posted did not seem to have a real subject. What I was trying to capture with # 2 is the rebirth of spring. I was tring to focus on the new grass that was growing/coming and trying to show a correlation to spring and birth etc. Yeah a little bit of a stretch but that is what I saw when I took the photo. When I looked at it originally and again last night I thought Blah! Maybe a tighter crop would help but oh well. You mentioned #5 may I ask why? Can you tell me why it does not appeal to you? Marcus really loved 5 and he could not really explain why and another blogger mentioned earlier that she also liked 5 but it could use a tighter crop. Well thanks again for responding and I value and respect your opinon.

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  26. I just want to thank everyone for responding to this post. I am a securities analyst by day and my wife Cristy tells me I have a habit of overanalyzing everything but I did find the various responses to be very interesting. Thanks so much for being honest in regards to how you felt about this series of photos! Funny enough I am more confused than I was before but hey art is subjective and I realize that I only have to please myself . Thank you.

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    • I just figured that out a few weeks back myself. I am actually going to do just that. I did not think they were awful but just did not know if they were blog worthy. Thanks for your comment and compliment!

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  31. Great post! Turns out that looking at other people’s “out takes” is fun! 🙂 I like the 5th one best, and like the 8th (last) one quite a bit, too. I love the warm tones in the second one – I just with the area of the image that is in focus was a little farther back, and not right at the very bottom of the shot. Just my 2 cents, of course. The colors in the blossom shots are lovely, as well. There are no bad shots here! 🙂 Thanks for sharing them!

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    • I actually completely agree with you in regards to the 2nd photo. Marcus said the same thing exact thing that you mentioned above and your 2 cents are appreciated. Always looking for advice on how to improve. Have a great day John!

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  33. Remember that deciding which images you work on and which one you let go is as important as taking the photo, maybe more. It is the series of decisions we make that give life to a body of work and what we want to show.

    I encourage people to only show the work they feel good about. If you show an un-edited selection of work, everyone will pick images other than what you would. One of my friends said that it is like some reading your diary. As photographers we have our own idea of what works that is a result of the process of shooting and editing. Sometime it takes a while for an image to speak to you.

    I tell my photo students to pick the images they like and the images that bother them. It is not the out of focus shots, but the images that have an impact but might make them uncomfortable. Those are the images to work on either in the darkroom or photoshop. They usually become the images that have the most impact and we wind up “liking” them because we know them. That is what make us grow as artists.

    I apologize for the rambling and I do not think I helped you with the question of to delete or not.

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    • Rick I appreciate your advice. I wish that I had read this before posting the blog that I posted today. There were quite a few images that I honestly did not feel good about but then I thought maybe others would appreciate them based off of the responses on this blog post this blog posting. You did not ramble one bit and I think you have handed out some really good advice and I appreciate it!

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    • One last thing.. I have only been shooting with a DSLR since December. I spend hours watching youtube videos as well as going to various websites to learn everything I can in regards to the technical aspects of photography. In your opinion what is the best way to learn? I understand that people learn differently from others but would you suggest the best method is via workshops, books, videos? I think I am lacking in quite a few areas but especially in regards to how to light a subject. So especially in regards to lighting are there any books that you have come across that have impressed you?

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  36. Oh my! These are great! LOVE the first one. I found your site when Donna at Bay Photos by Donna was nominated for the Blogger award. Now I’ll have to start checking in on your site! 🙂

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    • Hi Kitty and thanks for stopping by. Donna does have some wonderful photos on her site and I especially love her photos of the Bald Eagles and Osprey. Thank you for the compliment..

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  38. I think everything has already been said, still filtering my opinion 😉 The first you should keep for sure, the second I would keep somewhere in a map ‘my learning experience’, this photo just doesn’t have ‘it’ for me, the third and fourth are lovely because of the little flowers, although number three I find the focus a bit ‘out of control’, the fifth is beautiful because of the lightning, the sixth with the turtles is definitely a keeper, love this shot… Cristy’s photo I like a lot because of the details and composition and the last one is simple and beautiful because of the focus and the bokeh. I’m very glad you didn’t delete without showing… now you know you shouldn’t 😀

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    • Hi Joanna. We share the same opinion on the 2nd photo and the reason I was going to delete # 3 & 4 were due to them being out of focus. My reasoning behind getting rid of the turtle photo was due to so much empty space at the top of the picture. I am glad that you liked the last 2 photos and we share a similar opinion and why they should be keepers. The reason why I threw them in even knowing that I really liked them was because I did not want everyone to think that all of the photos in the post were junk :-). I would have had to throw away my camera if they were the least liked. LOL.

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  39. I say keep them all. I really like 5&6. I know how you feel. I have a hard time tossing photos which is why I have 6 terabytes of external hard drives. Sounds like a lot, but when you consider the fact that my 5D files jump from about 23 megs to 120 per photo just to open in photoshop, it adds up.

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  42. You did good by posting them. I know how it feels to be on the fence about random photos. My fav is #4, the white flowers against the almost sea foam blue background is gorgeous! That bluish color is so hot right now I can see this hanging in someone’s home. I love the turtles!! And I love Christy’s photograph. All worthy of framing!!!

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  43. How funny, Amy does the same thing…she looks at a photo that I think is rubbish and she just loves it…so I end up posting it (I however, usually don’t say I think it’s crap)! 😉 To be honest, I think the only one I would ditch is the second one…just doesn’t do anything for me.

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