Quality Control
I’ve just finished editing my images from the Bolivian altiplano and here is a contact sheet of the final 40 images I’m happy with.
I was thinking today about how I love the entire creative process: you start with nothing and even trying to visualise what you may come home with is often nowhere close to what you end up with. There’s that element of the unknown about the creative process that is intriguing.
But there are some factors which can heavily influence the outcome of a body of work. I don’t have a ‘formula’ as such and tend to like just ‘going with the flow’ and seeing where my editing will take me. But here is a rough outline of what happens for me:
1. I get home with a massive pile of films processed. I don’t look at all of the sheets in one sitting because I’ll be overloaded with the need to work on too many images.
2. I’m patient. Good work is not rushed and rome wasn’t built in a day. So I just consider that each image takes time to be born correctly, and if there are golden nuggets in the pile of transparencies I have, then I will find them : at the right time, when I’m in the right mood to approach them correctly.
3. Sometimes I’m not sure how to approach an image, how to edit and this can be when I’m tired, done too much editing, or I’m simply not feeling inspired enough. Taking a break, heading outside for a walk, a cycle, or doing something else with my life completely seperated from my photography is the only way of approaching my images with a fresh and keen eye.
4. I work on a sheet at a time. I don’t peek to see what else I have. I take each contact sheet on it’s own merit and work on the best images from that sheet. This allows me to find images that I’d easily forget about if I found something better underneath.
5. I ruthlessly throw images away. For instance, on a contact sheet all the shots of the same location may be excellent, but there may be one or two that stand above the rest. Those are the two images I will work on. The others are stored away, but not used. If an image is not working, and I’ve tried a few things, given it some space, etc, then it will be discarded. If there is a glaring problem with focus for instance, then it is discarded. If the composition just isn’t working, and no amount of cropping helps – then it’s discarded. Sometimes I have a nice image, but something causes it to be discarded because it’s simply too much effort to get it right. Good images should not take a long time to edit. They should just come together smoothly.
6. Quality Control. Ok, so I have say 40 rolls of film, each with 10 images on them – that’s 400 images. I’ll edit it down to around 80 images. Those that are really standing out mixed with those that are nice. Some may stay because I want to show an aspect of a location that is not already covered by the proposed final portfolio. But I will keep editing down, until I have a smaller number of images. If you want to be a good photographer, you have to be objective about your work and maintain a certain level of quality. Only release what you are truly happy with (unless you suffer from very high expectations in which case you are in trouble).
7. Be kind to your mistakes, try to see the images as someone else would. Some flaws are acceptible, and if the image still conveys a spirit or ‘feeling’ that you like, even though it’s slightly blurred due to camera shake – then it’s an image that still works. Images should be read on face value. Pixel peeping is not a productive activity. See the wood, not the trees.
8. Live with the images for a while. You get a sense of distance from the whole process and can then be more objective about your work.
I’ve taken around three weeks to produce 40 images. To some digital shooters, this is not a way forward, but for me : it IS the way forward. Good images, ones that I can live with and feel close too, can only be born correctly if I am receptive and nurtiring with what I do.
sounds pretty much like my work routine. but still I don’t throw much images away ’cause I don’t have that much images :) and some I keep for the memories’ sake. Sometimes I upload picture that I don’t like and even if people would like it I will come back and delete it.
(unless you suffer from very high expectations in which case you are in trouble)
couldn’t be more true :) especially when you just started in photogrpahy, but already expect too much.
Comment by goosetea — 5 May, 2009 @ 12:27 pm
Good post which brings me to a question I am dealing with as an amateur. I have no customers, no stock agency, no outlet for my work other than a little web gallery. So what do I do with all these images? Lets say I only get 20 images out in 3 weeks. That’s 350 in a year. As they get better, I retire half of those. Now I have 175 and the new ones are rolling in. I love the process, and that is what keeps me going, but this question continues to lurk.
Comment by glenng — 5 May, 2009 @ 12:38 pm
Bruce, these images are brilliant and it was really encouraging for me to hear that your work process is so similar to mine. I especially appreciate hearing your ‘weeding’ process. Thanks so much. Glen
Comment by glengoffin — 5 May, 2009 @ 2:54 pm
Excellent post, Bruce. I especially agree about #8 – putting some time between your shoot and the final print. So many times, I go back and say to myself “What was I thinking?” Perspective comes with time.
Mark
Comment by olwick — 5 May, 2009 @ 5:15 pm
I agree with taking time to make great pics. Elizabeth Opalenik, a great photographer in her own right, is fond of saying: “What takes time to create, time respects.”
Great work!
Comment by Steve_Robbins — 5 May, 2009 @ 11:51 pm
Bruce, a big thanks for sharing about this essential process. Your writing has been a precious input for me.
Comment by Henning Wust — 6 May, 2009 @ 7:10 am
Hi Bruce – I have to say 40 images that you are really happy with from three weeks is pretty good going! I spent my fortnight vacation in Glencoe last year and took 30 pictures in total and only five of which I really liked… I was really happy with this though – I’d like to get my hit rate up to about 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 but 1 in 6 will do for now…
Comment by timparkin — 6 May, 2009 @ 8:16 am
Bruce, thanks for sharing your thoughts, very interesting and raises some questions against my own experience;
I’ve just started selling some of my own images and choosing a ‘portfolio’ to offer for sale was surprisingly (for me at least) very difficult. I realised that because I had the whole story of a particular shot in my mind I saw it very differently than anyone else viewing the same photo. E.g. a shot I have of Ullswater in the Lake District means to me getting up at 5am, scraping the ice off the car and travelling 30 miles, worrying about the light, waiting 40 mins and then Eureka!
How dou you disconnect yourself from those stories, especially when you travel so much?
Adam
Comment by awinf — 8 May, 2009 @ 11:21 am
Hi Adam,
I disconnect myself by getting out and doing other things and leaving the recent work for a while. Often I’m suffering from fatigue of sorts, so the last thing I want to do is go anywhere near the images. When I feel I want to go back to them… that’s often when I’m recharged and perhaps ready to take them for what they are, rather than for anything I wanted to force upon them at the time of creation.
I find that coming home and working on a different project allows me to completely forget about the last one. I’ve got a pile of images from India and Nepal to work on, and they all got sidelined by my recent bolivia trip. I now feel I’m ready to go back to the Indian and Nepal images because I’m no longer emotionally connected like I was when I had just come home from the trip.
But in essence, time, or a distraction can help you disconnect from the stories of the photos.
Comment by Bruce Percy — 8 May, 2009 @ 7:12 pm
Hi Tim,
My hit rate has improved over the years. I think this is because :
a) I’m more in-tune with what I do now and know what works/doesnt (mostly) for my own style
b) I shoot a lot. Considered images, and still get a lot of crap, but am able to ’see’ something in an image which can be helped by some cropping or further editing.
c) Perhaps I’m less choosy. I like to think I’ve got a sense of distance between shoots, and I don’t feel too precious about my photography. I’m a failed musician and one thing I learned from that was to be a lot kinder to my mistakes and to just let some things be the way they are. Take them for what they turned out to be, rather than what I wanted them to be.
Comment by Bruce Percy — 8 May, 2009 @ 8:58 pm