Managing an Image Overload

The invention of digital photography has turned a lot of people into avid shutterbugs. With a single click and instant gratification, it would seem that once the photographer captured several good images he or she would be satisfied, but quite the opposite is true.

We now find ourselves acquiring in the range of twenty-five to fifty photographs per event and up to several hundred or more per vacation. Throw in a couple of holidays and the images really start to add up. If the quantity alone wasn't enough to make your head spin, try adding the reality that most newer digital cameras are relatively "goof proof," causing a majority of those images to be of fairly good quality.

So what are we to do with them all?

Here are a few suggestions that I have for going through your images.

• After loading them onto a computer, for best viewing, start by sorting and purging (deleting) all blurry photos, unless the blur was done intentionally through use of shutter speed control.
  
  
• Next, look at the images again and pay attention to facial expressions and background. If you see anything that distracts the viewer from your intended subject or theme, ask yourself if the image can be cropped or altered with a photo-fixing program in ten minutes or less. If so, keep it. If not, then delete it.
  
  
• Once you have gotten this far, the next step is to check the images for overall exposure, sharpness and appeal. Exposure and sharpness can be adjusted slightly in most basic photo programs but remember that when it comes to what we like in a photo, we all have our own "vision." A photo doesn't have to be perfect; if you are drawn to it for any reason, that is reason enough for you to keep it in your file.
  
  
• As a final pass, look to see if any images in a series are a close match. If they are similar, view them side by side to select the best one(s) that captures your subject or theme. If you still can't decide, enlist the help of another person for a second opinion. Most of the time, the viewer can understand the visual story and will be more interested in your photos by seeing a handful of images rather than seeing a stack of them. Again, delete as needed.
  

When you complete these steps, you should find yourself with a more manageable number of images to work with. From this group, you can begin to determine what uses you will have for each photograph and can print them accordingly.

Following this simple approach will leave you shooting photos for practice and selecting photos for a purpose. Once you develop your eye, you will eventually find that you start this eliminating process before you click the shutter button, making both better images to begin with and less of an overload to sort through.

Happy Shooting!