Digital imaging offers us all kinds of tools to find our best work. But many photographers still find it difficult to assess their work on screen. Fine art photographer John Paul Caponigro offers some creative ways to go about it.
In “Finding Your Best Work” for his “Illuminating Creativity” column for the December/January 2008 AfterCapture, Caponigro offered some great insights and strategies for how to use Adobe Bridge and Lightroom to approach the creative process of editing in a digital environment.
Although Caponigro’s suggestions might seem fairly obvious after reading them, I think that many photographers will appreciate them. I did. I thought my editing was going just fine, but Caponigro’s perspective helped me reconsider my process, which had become more systematic and less organic than it should be.
A few of Caponigro’s strategies include:
• View your work as a whole. Fill the screen with large previews so that context allows your best work stand out.
• Eliminate complete failures. (Some photographers don’t believe in deleting ANYTHING, but you can still filter the failures out of view.)
• Look for “happy accidents.” Caponigro says some images become “surprisingly compelling” with a closer look.
• Use a method of “fine sifting.” This is the process of ranking by degrees, upgrading and downgrading one star at a time as you make each pass and become more familiar with the work.
• Learn to be decisive. “Let the rest of the images go,” says Caponigro.
Caponigro goes into the creative implications more fully. At the same time, he addresses program settings and keyboard shortcuts. It’s good stuff. Definitely check it out. (And if you missed it, take a gander at the posting “Edit Like a Hawk—On Steroids.”)
So. . .
I know some photographers who are still really struggling to get a hand on editing in the digital age, while others love the process. Are there any specific problems that you are having? Any strategies you can share?