One thing I’ve started doing when my photography inspiration runs a bit thin (as it has lately) is look back at my old shots, even ones I originally rejected for one reason or another.
In reviewing some of these old shots, I’ve come to realize there are some gems in there that just need a little help to shine through. This type of photographic revisionism may be blasphemy to some people, but I think so long as the overall meaning of the picture isn’t affected, it’s simply another tool in the toolbox of a photographer.
As an example of the point I’m trying to make, take this shot, which was actually from my first set of pictures I shot with my new Canon 40D:
A fairly unobtrusive, harmless “snapshot”, really. There are probably hundreds like it in scrapbooks all around the world.
Now, I crop it down a bit, and, since I’m on a black and white kick currently, I’ll convert it down to monochrome:
Considerably better already. Much of the background “noise” from the high-aperture original has been eliminated. The focus of the picture is now definitely on the girls.
If I was going to take this shot to a medium-sized print, like an 11×14 or maybe even a 16×20 (for display at a distance), I would probably stop here. Overcropping lowers the overall number of pixels in the shot, so the size of the high-quality prints available are reduced accordingly.
In this case though, I’m really only concerned with the best crop I can, so I can crop out even more of the surrounding area:
Even with this tight of a crop, it will print a good 8×10 print suitable for hanging on my wall and adding to my collection.
The lesson here is two-fold: Don’t be afraid to revisit your “throw-away” or rejected shots, and don’t be afraid to crop down the shot to really bring out what you want to say in the picture.
