UHH has a 10 picture limit per initial post ...
... but that doesn't mean we have to post ten pictures. I am as guilty as many others here, but usually realize it when it's too late to make a change.
What I'm talking about is posting more pictures of the same subject to the point that it dilutes the impact of the one or two best images. I spend more time looking at a thread that has just one or two really nice pictures, rather than a thread that has a couple of really great images along with eight more mediocre pictures of the same subject.
Just something to consider. I think it is called editing our work.
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I've noticed the same thing. A good many will post numerous photos, in some cases of the same subject. Usually, there is one that is outstanding. That's the only one, one should post.
--Bob
Bill_de wrote:
... but that doesn't mean we have to post ten pictures. I am as guilty as many others here, but usually realize it when it's too late to make a change.
What I'm talking about is posting more pictures of the same subject to the point that it dilutes the impact of the one or two best images. I spend more time looking at a thread that has just one or two really nice pictures, rather than a thread that has a couple of really great images along with eight more mediocre pictures of the same subject.
Just something to consider. I think it is called editing our work.
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... but that doesn't mean we have to post ten pict... (
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I agree. Though some posts have many excellent images, four is usually enough for me. There are exceptions, though.
An amateur shows you all his photos, a pro only shows you her best.
rmalarz wrote:
I've noticed the same thing. A good many will post numerous photos, in some cases of the same subject. Usually, there is one that is outstanding. That's the only one, one should post.
--Bob
Unless it is either a photo essay telling a story or a progressive series about how the final image was produced. Even then keeping it down to 3-5 images max works best.
A lot of other teachers I worked with never did seem to figure out that you had to break a long lesson down into chunks or you lost the attention of a lot of students when they became bored or couldn't understand all that material at once.
Paul, you are an excellent example of when posting more than one photo works. Your essays are exemplary. However, even within those, you post a minimum of the same, or close to the same, view of a subject. The illustrative nature of the posts reveals an entire story with just enough photographs to provide a complete view of the subject. Each of those is superb.
--Bob
CHG_CANON wrote:
An amateur shows you all his photos, a pro only shows you her best.
I thought the limit was three! And I approved of that.
Bill, thanks for the message - forcing yourself to limit the number of photos is a good learning experience. I did post five in a topic last fall, but be assured I thoroughly evaluated the "why" of each 😁
Of course, what might be considered "best" often varies among viewers. And that includes many judges in competitions! I would suggest that UHH photographers select six or eight favorites from a shoot, then evaluate and cull. If you tend to post 8 or more, force yourself to a limit of 3, 4 or 5. Think about why you should select some for sharing, while deleting others. As mentioned, often photos in a thread are very similar (e.g. four shots of an eagle taking off from a tree??). Don't dilute the impact of your best by posting mediocre!
Life is like photography, fewer words tell more.
CHG_CANON wrote:
An amateur shows you all his photos, a pro only shows you her best.
When I started 35mm film photography back in the early 70s I read an article in a photo mag where the author said that when you get your slides back from processing you should go through them and cull out the bad shots. You should then throw them in the trash.
His reasoning was that when you present a slide show to friends and family nobody wants to hear why a particular shot was subpar. If you only show the good ones everyone will think you are a great photographer.
I've followed that advice ever since.
Now that I've finally switched to digital I imagine I'll be using the "delete" button, but hopefully not often.
flip1948 wrote:
When I started in photography back in the early 70s I read an article in a photo mag where the author said that when you get your slides back from processing you should go through them and cull out the bad shots. You should then throw them in the trash.
His reasoning was that when you present a slide show to friends and family nobody wants to hear why a particular shot was subpar. If you only show the good ones everyone will think you are a great photographer.
I've followed that advice ever since.
Now that I've finally switched to digital I imagine I'll be using the "delete" button, but hopefully not often.
When I started in photography back in the early 70... (
show quote)
I have a lot of "hard" comments on delete / culling, how to play like a champion type stuff. You're only as good as the worst image you show.
I have thought of a set of circumstances under which you show less than great shots, there are other reasons but this one I have experience with.
Back in the early 70's I was part of a field school in geography and anthropology in the mountains SW of Mexico City for the whole summer. As I was the "camera nut" in the group the two professors gave me a book on use of photography in anthropology field work and a few days to read it and then teach everyone else, including the two professors, how to use it for field studies. Though having "good" photos could be a plus the main purpose was to take photos as a record and to illustrate and study details etc. at a later time. So photography as a tool, not an end in itself.
When the group returned to Los Angeles (two schools Cal St LA and Cal St Long Beach, 24 students, 2 who came with, 1 graduate assistant and two professors) They put together an exhibit that was duplicated at both Universities and all the pictures plus pictures of some of the handicrafts, art and artifacts brought back appeared in two newspapers in LA and Long Beach. The majority of the pictures in the exhibit were mine. I still have some of the prints the university made for the exhibit. One of the professors also used a few of my pictures in a book he wrote. But I don't have a copy of the book.
So under some circumstances it is what is in the photo, not how good it is.
A true photograph doesn't need to be explained.
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