'Rejects' - or images that at first sight ....

Looking through the 'Blurry' thread in the NW forum, i wonder how many would have deleted them as unwanted, not realising they may come in handy. That is one reason I never delete images - storage is cheaper than regrets.

I delete 90% before I get home, they are that bad.

I’m with Sanford on this although i delete mine on the ipad at home. Don’t laugh but i even have a little ritual i perform when deleting photos.

 

Wasn't going to laugh - everyone needs their way of manipulating reality. One of mine is cursing inanimate objects that don't do what I want. I mean, what on earth is so attractive about gravity ?

Ritual? In pace requiescat.

 

I rarely delete photos intentionally, even shots of the ground while walking. I could never be comfortable wondering whether something valuable was lost when there's a gap in frame numbers.

 

Just as well, too. On numerous occasions I return to images I never published or used, because they fit a need which didn't exist at the time.

Ritual? <snip>

 

Just as well, too. On numerous occasions I return to images I never published or used, because they fit a need which didn't exist at the time.

 

My point exactly

Looking through the 'Blurry' thread in the NW forum, i wonder how many would have deleted them as unwanted, not realising they may come in handy.

Most of the blurs in that thread seem intentional, either when taking the photo (using movement, depth of field, or shooting through windows and what-not) or the blur was added in post. I get the feeling most would not have been rejects. Overall, they seemed deliberate and not just like they came in handy for a thread.

 

My rejects are some of my best work, so I keep ‘em. :)

Most of the blurs in that thread seem intentional, either when taking the photo (using movement, depth of field, or shooting through windows and what-not) or the blur was added in post. I get the feeling most would not have been rejects. Overall, they seemed deliberate and not just like they came in handy for a thread.

 

My rejects are some of my best work, so I keep ‘em. :)

 

Can't speak for others, of course, but mine was certainly unintentional - I was intending a portrait of the gull, when the rat ran across (the brown lump !). Taken while zooming out, turning to frame the rat, and jumping a little through surprise !

I delete everything I don't like, which is most. I see little point in keeping them. They fill up your hard drive, confuse, and bloat any selection process and make it harder to locate images that you really do like. Also a bad picture 99% of the time stays bad. I rarely keep multiple shots of a similar view too. My feeling is the world needs fewer images if anything, not more.

As an anal-retentive archaeologist, I pretty much save everything.

 

In so many cases, methods of post-processing or simply taste have changed, and I find I'm glad I saved the '2nds'

It would be tough to be the official Whitehouse photographer. Every photo, good or bad, becomes part of the public record, not your property to be deleted once the button is pushed. My doctor tells me: walk more, sit (Photoshop) less, so I have to keep a 50-50 time balance.

It would be tough to be the official Whitehouse photographer. Every photo, good or bad, becomes part of the public record, not your property to be deleted once the button is pushed. My doctor tells me: walk more, sit (Photoshop) less, so I have to keep a 50-50 time balance.

 

I wouldn't care, if it's not my responsibility to archive, back up and answer if data is lost (that would be White House ITS whoever that is) :-). White House photographers maintain their own curated subsets though which are published later on in books and magazines.

<snip> My doctor tells me: walk more, sit (Photoshop) less, so I have to keep a 50-50 time balance.

 

I use the official House of Commons exercise regime - 'Jump to conclusions, duck responsibility'.

It would be tough to be the official Whitehouse photographer. Every photo, good or bad, becomes part of the public record, not your property to be deleted once the button is pushed. My doctor tells me: walk more, sit (Photoshop) less, so I have to keep a 50-50 time balance.

 

Well in some ways that would be much easier. You keep everything you take: simple. No thought required. Also that is professional work. If you don't like it then don't take the job: you are not doing it for your own pleasure.

Also that is professional work. If you don't like it then don't take the job: you are not doing it for your own pleasure.

 

You state like a supervisor with no sense of humor (not rare). :-)

I have no sense of humor: it is my one failing. A professional job is quite different to a hobby. If it was a professional job I would keep the images for at least 7 years.

Film, I keep everything, but only print what I want to, like most people I imagine.

 

Digital, I sort in folders by date. Everything is backed up. I delete raws and original jpegs that are more than a month or two old, leaving only the finished 'output' jpegs, but I still have the originals archived should I want to go back to them.

 

Anything I think is particularly good, I print.

Like @samstevens says, there are photos in which the blur (either by design or by chance) adds interest to a photo. I've taken many, many more 'blurry photos' in which the blur adds absolutely nothing! Except to tell me that my shutter speed was way too low, my focus was on the wrong spot, etc.

 

When I transfer photos from my camera/phone to my Laptop, I 'rate' them. I usually have multiple shots of the same scene/subject choose 'the best of the bunch' to keep. Every so often I just cull the rest knowing that I'm never going to look at them again anyway.

I delete some in camera. I keep the SD cards as I would have kept film. Then delete what I don't want on the computer files. I can go back to the SD cards if need be.

To each her or his own. I delete quite a number, but not enough. Once in a while something takes me back to an old directory, and I am sometimes amazed at how much junk I have left there.

I deliberately save some images that are borderline to use for abstracts. But those that are trash per se get dumped. Quite honestly, I don't trust what I see on my camera's view screen, so I upload and then delete as necessary.

Not deleting images, for me, is a lot like keeping that little screw you just found but have no idea what it is for. If you do happen to come upon an application where it might be needed, you complete forget you have it, and go buy a new one anyway.

I do it in FOUR directories/folders.

I make copies of the files at each step and work on the COPY of the files.

Because during cuts/culls, I have been known to click delete on the WRONG file :eek: Lesson: don't edit files when you are tired, and PAY ATTENTION. The "delete" option on the menu is not separated enough, and if you don't pay attention, you can hit "delete" when you don't want to delete. Done that too many times. :(

"Delete" is right next to "rename."

• #1 - originals, EVERYTHING (well almost everything)
  
• #2 - 1st cut. Everything from #1 copied into a 2nd directory where I cull out the junk; like the accidental shot of my foot when I accidentally pressed the shutter when the camera was pointed down, OOF shot when the lens was in MF rather than AF, OOF shot where the lens was focused on the background rather than the subject (sometimes if is isn't too bad, I will keep it), totally blown out exposure, etc.
   
  
• #3 - working shots, 2nd cut. Everything from #2 is copied into a 3rd directory. Here is when I start cutting based on the image content; keeping the ONE shot out of a 10 shot burst, deleting image that I don't like, embarrassing subject shots, bad lighting, etc.
   
  
• #4 - edit, Everything from #3 is copied into a 4th directory. Here is when I edit the results from the 2nd cut. Level, crop, color balance adjustment, lighting adjustment, etc. And during the edit process I will cut images that I determine are not worth editing.
  
  • If I am shooting sports, at this time I will sometimes also rename the files with the player number as the first 2 characters in the name, like 07-DSC12345.JPG, where 07 is the player number. This makes sorting and grouping by player much easier. It also clearly tells me when I have a LOT of some players and only one or a few of other players, so next time I have to get more pics of the other players.
    
  • This rename phase is when a LOT of accidental deletes happen, as "delete" is right next to "rename" in the menu.
    

Once all this is done, and I am happy.

I will CAREFULLY delete directories #2 and #3.

So in the end, I have the original files and the final edited files.

BTW, I don't know who the UI people are at MS, but IMHO, they flunked UI design when they put a destructive item like DELETE right next to RENAME.

I have a Panasonic GX1 that has the entire camera "Reset" positioned between card "Format" and "Number Reset". Couldn't be in worse spot.

I upload my digital files into my computer then save edits I like into folders, most of that goes into my host site (Zenfolio). As of now, every digital file I've uploaded remains, and I do find myself revisiting images or blocks of images, at times. I reformat my SD cars constantly. I'm not that far into film but have everything I've ever shot- mostly negatives but some proof prints and a couple contact sheets... so far. :)