[AstroDave]

However, I never delete an image for two reasons.

The first is that all of them are part of the (hopefully) upward journey to improved photography -- it's good to be reminded of the failures and any progress toward proficiency. The second is that all of them document the more circuitous journey of life and it's many phases as reflected by the diverse and varying subject matter.

Same here - partly the scientist background, guess: you NEVER delete data (it just might happen to be useful some day)! Well, I do delete absolutely white or black frames, as well as those taken while making other camera measurements (flash duration data and my recent battery use data - the lens cap is usually on!).

As to the original query - I think our brains process old material/ideas in the background all the time. Going back to an old picture completes some of that processing and triggers enhanced memories (hopefully usually fond) of people, places, events, things, ... .

[kiwi_jono]

Well as you can tell already, you are not alone!

It also happens to me! Yes the back screen of the camera is a poor judge of how good an image is (sometimes its much better and sometimes its much worse). But also I struggle with images when I load the RAW files on my computer.
I think the problem is often the image doesn't represent "what I saw" and so I go all out to try and make it that. HOWEVER often what I saw is not that great after all, OR what I got is better than what I saw. If you leave the image alone until you forget some of the details of what you saw, then it seems to come back to a more impartial judgement again.

I also sometimes canvas my wifes opinion as she has a pretty good eye for it (if she likes something that I'm meh about then I take notice).

[jpzk]

when I first review my photographic results I am often disappointed

however if I go back to the same photos after a period time: days, weeks, months or even years

I find photos that I like now

am I alone in this ?

Your state of mind at the time you first visualize your photos.

[ramseybuckeye]

I usually don't look at the pics on the camera. Once on the computer I flag the ones that I may keep and reject the immediate non keepers (flag and reject as LR calls it). I upload a few to Flickr or 500px. I usually go through again and cull more. Occasionally I will go back to something and see a photo that I kept but did not use for anything that is much better than I thought initially. I feel that is because I was looking for something else (also mentioned by others here) at the time, or I had taken some other similar photos and did not want to display to many that were alike. We've all seen when somebody uploads 10 very similar photos because they all turned out good, I really don't want to do that. Unfortunately I end up keeping some of those "very similar) photos, which is not part of this discussion but is a problem when hard drives fill up.

[texandrews]

and we'll use the art standard here instead of the journalism/documentation standard, since in the latter case you either got the shot or you did not, or it's just a matter of finding the clearest shot(in every sense) in the sequence. I'll lump product photography in that class as well.


For the art shots, even those family shots done by enthusiasts who care about quality, it's a value judgement. Self critique is very important, but so is temperance and patience in this regard. Thus some images will "grow on you" if you let them. Storage is cheap, so if it's not an obvious fail just leave it and review again in time.

I throw almost nothing away now.

[pepperberry farm]

I cull my shots daily - if it didn't make the cut for me to process and save/upload to flickr, I don't keep it....

I do occasionally peep at my shots on the back of the camera, mainly just to make sure I haven't made a bad decision in settings...

I find that if I don't have the fresh in my mind when I go to process them, I rarely keep that frame of mind from when I've shot them...

[aslyfox]

and we'll use the art standard here instead of the journalism/documentation standard, since in the latter case you either got the shot or you did not, or it's just a matter of finding the clearest shot(in every sense) in the sequence. I'll lump product photography in that class as well.. . . .

nice distinction

[ramseybuckeye]

I love when occasionally you open that image that surprises you, and it is way better than you thought. Those are rare.

[Billking]

Have you read Barthes's, Camera Lucida?

I have. Recommended. Not a long book and fairly accessible by French standards.

[DWS1]

You are not alone. I never delete anything. I often find I have better images on storage drives than the ones I originally selected. Partly because my perceptions change over time, and partly my post processing skills and/or software improves making what I thought was an an unusable image now useful.

[arnold]

Ha, I have come to the conclusion that the best pictures I have taken, were with my first Kodak Retinette in 1961. Well it seems that way, so don't throw away those "seconds".

Here is my father the month I got my first camera. Glad I kept it, because it is not possible to do it again.
[IMG][/IMG]

[ZombieArmy]

This is why I'm never bothered by film photography taking a while to get results back, it's almost like getting back a memory.

[Lloyd_Christmas]

am I alone in this ?

You are not alone. Happens to me all the time.

[jvansanten]

When I review immediately after shooting, I am so aware of my expectations for the various images. It's a helpful time to change my patterns in shooting -- adjusting any number of factors to produce the image I hoped for.

After a few days, I judge images as images on their own. It's also an opportunity for evaluating the image, but more in terms of aesthetics of the image as a whole.

[Ariff]

Well this post made me think. I just tried the astrotracer on my K3 II this past weekend and I still found star traces -- so I deleted all the images in frustration! Nice to know I'm not the only one who get's frustrated.


I think there is merit in having a quick look to see what went wrong with some of the exposure and even make notes on what to do the next time, but I'll keep the images and only delete a few months after.