'Write with fire, cut with ice' - determining image keepers

Whether you shoot thousands of images per week, or just a few, the same workflow applies. After getting back to home base, you will need to save the images from a memory card to your computer and back up device--CD, DVD, hard drive or cloud-based backup (Internet storage).

Then, only after backing up (you do back up your images first, don't you?) can you start on the tasks of culling the new collection and editing the remaining images.

In the title above, "Write with fire, cut with ice," is a sentence I use to teach writers how to hone their craft. However, we can also also use it for photography. Changing it to say, "Shoot with fire, edit with ice," has more meaning to photographers.

When on an assignment, whether your own or on behalf of a client, it's important you be in the moment. Being present is the only way to be aware of your subject and what’s happening around you. Your attention to the details makes all the difference in what you capture and your passion for photography keeps you focused (pun intended).

Now, back at the computer, culling through your new collection is a different matter and here is where the “Shoot with fire, edit with ice” comes into play. You’ve been passionate about your shooting and know there are some great images. Now, you start to examine them.

It’s important, at this point, to be dispassionate, the opposite of what you were when shooting. In other words, when culling and editing, you must have the cold heart of a surgeon. A surgeon cannot effectively do a proper job if there is strong emotions towards the patient; only by staying at a distance can the surgeon perform at the best. Don’t get married to your images, but evaluate them as you would images from someone else. It’s only in this manner, can you discern the quality and efficacy of your images for their purpose (personal collection or for a client).

It doesn’t really matter whether you are culling the collection for keepers or editing the images for content, clarity, contrast (a diamond in the rough?), you still need to step away, from time to time, to properly evaluate what you have and what you want.

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