BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

My fun is shooting images for the fun and process of doing so. I want them ROOC, but do nothing with them except put them on my computer to see what I might have done better to get good ROOC.

What happens when I'm gone, I don't care. I've got over 87,000 images in over 1,000 folders (I use Windows) and know darn well no one in my family will want to spend the time looking at them.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Another realist like me.

Doug RC Loc: Western Massachusetts

Thanks to all the awesome folks on this site,
Just my 2 cents worth .. (there 'was' a time when that 2 cents would buy a loaf of bread) .. anyway I've found that folks who LOVED and wowed
your photos 30 years ago.. have grand kids who will ALSO love and wow your photos .. Good photos don't really grow old (unless exposed to sunlight or printed and not kept under glass) .. lots of newbies want to become photographers, some will purchase a 'camera' and whoa! INSTANT PHOTOGRAPHER .. but those who have worked to 'make' really stunning photos know the difference and the 'new' folks will appreciate what can be done with a little bit of "work" .. WORK yaaaaaagh!!!

wteffey Loc: Ocala, FL USA

I have two groups. Group one includes photos of sentimental value, and I never delete any thing from this group regardless of the artistic merit. Photos of my wife and I, our horses that we have loved, dogs, cats, family, friends and travel photos are included. The second group includes my collection of photos with "artsy" merit. Landscapes, birds, lizards, toads, flowers, trees etc. I am ruthless when it comes to mucking out this group. Initially, only one in ten survive one day after download. After all, how many photos of toads do I really need? After a lifetime of photography I have only 100 photos in this group good enough to go on my large digital frame (our walls have long since been covered with prints). Only the best make it this far, and for each one I add I take one away. A photo that is bad the day I download it is still bad a week later.

Fred Harwood Loc: Sheffield, Mass.

You're welcome. Another venue is to share some of our daily local shots on Facebook with family and friends, many of whom have moved away and like seeing our distinct four seasons and other changes.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

I save raw files long enough to review and process the ones I like. After converting to jpg I save 2 copies (1 b/u). Since my tastes evolve I may cull the saved files too. 25,000+ and counting.

thewags Loc: Phoenix

Funny you should ask. I was just thinking about me and my photographs, and my mind wandered into existential territory. Like many here, I now have probably 40,000 or more. All but a few dozen are in electronic format on my various hard disks. A few hundred are on my FineArtAmerica.com account.

What occurred to me the other day is that all this work over the last dozen years is so ephemeral. A couple keyboard commands and all is simply gone, kaput. The only thing that keeps them real is me. And when I'm gone? Oh, I have a couple daughters, but they have their own lives. They won't fret over my work.

This mental epiphany has led to a decision. I plan to create a series of photo books using some of my best shots, hopefully in some sort of rational order. Not a whole library of thousands of photos, but just 4 or 5 books of the best. I realize they may end up in a landfill some day, but at least they will give me a little comfort in my waning years.

I like to carry around a real silver dollar in my pocket. Money has become nothing more than electronic numbers that go from one computer to another. I guess the photo books will give me a similar feeling of reality.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Interesting thoughts. Thank you.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

They reside happily in Negative sleeves in a binder along with a contact sheet for easy viewing without a loupe.

If I especially like a shot I print it. Some prints go on my office wall (corkboard) and some go into a shoebox because they have sentimental value, some go both places.

Some become gifts.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

I bought PS Elements to organize and edit my photos and am now moving into Pro Show Gold to make slide show videos to distribute to family members along with a few nice photo books.

redlegfrog

I feel like one of those hoarders. I can't tell you the last time I looked at one of my slides let alone a "newer" digital image, and yet I am constantly adding to my collection.

Expressoman1 Loc: Jupiter, Fl. USA

I take thousands of photos, and when I return from a trip, etc, I download them to the desktop computer, delete the duplicates selecting the best for exposure, lighting, and so on. Them I create a folder and name for the year, dash, month and date and an small description(example 2017-0624TriptoPA). Then I copy these folder to 2 diferent (2 TB Hard drives ) to archive them. I can always retrieve these images, and have never lost any. With the images in my desktop, after manipulating the ones I select, will make a book of any trip, I use Shutterfly and my favorite book size is 12x12. I may print 2 or three images for my office or home wall. The coffee table books are a nice way to condense a trip and and a conversation piece for friends and family without boring them.

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

I always find the ROOC folks somewhat interesting because ROOC in today's world means absolutely nothing.
On my little ol' Canon 760D I can set the ROOC settings to be just about anything I want.
It has a Menu setting for Picture Style, and under Picture Style it has settings for Auto, Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Neutral, Faithful, Monochrome, User Def. 1, User Def. 2, and User Def. 3.
Under each of those settings are settings for Sharpness, Contrast, Saturation, and Color Tone.
Each of those settings allow me to adjust them from 0 to 7 (Sharpness) or -4 to +4 (Contrast, Saturation, Color Tone).
I can set exposure compensation for -5 to +5.
If I really want to get creative ROOC, I can use Canon's creative filters: Grainy B/W, Soft Focus, Fish-eye, Art Bold, Water Painting, Toy Camera, Miniature.

And I won't even delve into the difference between the people who program DSLR software for Nikon versus the people who program DSLR software for Canon.

Even our smartphone cameras are getting creative in providing unique software to help you get ROOC something better than the other person is getting ROOC.

So............. What is ROOC?

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

According to my Bridge catalog (yes, Bridge does cataloging, rating, keywording, etc., and much much better than Lightroom—Bridge never loses a folder or file, regardless of where or how you move it), I currently have 1,324,011 digital photos. However, I went to the Surf America 2017 USA Surfing Championships yesterday, and surfing is one of those sports that requires burst mode to get just a few good pictures. So I came home with 897 photos and I'm sure about 800 of those will go into the trash can. Surfing and racing are the only two photography adventures where I delete photos.
I create Photographic Art which I sell as close-of-escrow gifts to Realtors, loan agents, escrow agents, and title agents.
My purpose in keeping so many photos is so that when I'm no longer physically capable of climbing up and down seaside cliffs, or wading out into chest deep water, or hiking for 20 miles in a day, I can sit at home with a margarita and continue creating Photographic Art out of the millions of pictures I have.

SS319

I have several boxes of slides (Lake Mich Sunsets, horses and Glacier N Park) and a Tub of 3 1/2 X 5 and 4X6 prints (kids) and a 3/4 Tb of Digitals (west by God, Alaska, Texas, Yosemite), and tomorrow I am going to scan the prints and cull the bad ones, and ... And then I am going to clean my workshop and my office......