On Thu, 05 May 2005 11:42:52 -0400, Randy W. Sims
wrote:

Too true. I was commenting on this to someone just the other day. I've
been taking lots of photos and then having trouble culling them down to
something reasonable. I thought it was just a newbie experience.

When I came back from my first trip with a camera and showed my
parents about 200 pictures, they made their displeasure quite clear.
They did me quite a favor; I haven't made that mistake again since.
(Mom, on showing photos: "Use restraint." Me: "Good idea -- I
hadn't thought of tying my audience down.")

First I pull out the out of focus
shots or those too badly exposed to recover. I pull out where the
subject got badly clipped, or is in an unnatural position, etc. That's
generally the easy part. Once I get to that point I have a lot of
trouble weeding out the others. I almost feel guilty deleting photos of
my little nieces & nephews, etc.

I'm a newbie at all this myself, but I have some strategies for
editing, and maybe you'll find them helpful.

1. Name your photos. I find that if I can't quickly describe a
photograph in 1-5 words without thinking too hard, it generally
lacks coherence and interest, and should be deleted.
2. Think about what each photograph might be used for. Not every
picture has to be great to be worth keeping, but if you can't
even imagine it adding something to a family photo album, maybe
it's junk.
3. Review your old photos every so often. For me, as time passes,
it becomes easier to let go of a picture.

--
Ben Rosengart (212) 741-4400 x215
Sometimes it only makes sense to focus our attention on those
questions that are equal parts trivial and intriguing.
--Josh Micah Marshall