• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • START HERE
  • BOOKS
  • SHOP
  • WORKSHOPS

ERIC KIM

BLOG

  • ARS BETA
  • WHY?
  • AMAZON

How to Choose Your Best Photos

marseille-contact-sheet copy
marseille-contact-sheet copy
Marseille contact sheet.

We’re drowning in a sea of images. How do we choose our best photos?

1. Small thumbnails

Downtown LA swear contact sheet. 2016
Downtown LA swear contact sheet. 2016

Don’t look at all your photos in full screen. Rather, look at them as small thumbnails.

Why?

  1. Save time: It takes longer for your computer to process and load full screen photos. Looking at your photos as small thumbnails allows you to scan your photos quickly and efficiently.
  2. Better judge of your composition: If your photos work compositionally as a small thumbnail, the photo is probably good. It will force you to make more simple compositions, which are stronger than messy compositions.

2. Work backwards

eric kim street photography portrait orange blue mission sf contact sheet
Orange beard contact sheet, 2016

Often, my best photos are at the end. Therefore, look at your photos in a reverse chronological order. Start from the back.

Even for movies, I like spoilers. Why? If the ending is good, I can watch the movie, and be excited for how the movie progresses.

0-hanoi lake eric kim street photography contact sheet

Also, when you “work a scene”— often your subject loosens up. And the best, most relaxed photos of your subject are at the end.

3. Which Photos punch you in the gut?

eric kim street photography tokyo eye contact sheet

Follow your gut when choosing your photos.

Choose photos that surprise, scare, or excite you.

1-istanbul-metro-contact-1

A good photo should be like a haymaker punch to your dome (head), or a straight punch to your gut.

A photo without emotion is not memorable.

4. Procrastinate

Sit on your photos and let them “marinate” before choosing them. When I choose my photos too quickly, my judgement of the photo is impaired. Why? I remember the experience of making the photo, rather than judging the photo more objectively.

Don’t rush to look at your photos. Take your time.

Only look at your photos when you are EXCITED to look at your shots.

5. STUDY CONTACT SHEETS

BUY MAGNUM CONTACT SHEETS and also study my CONTACT SHEETS.

If you study the contact sheets of other photographers, you will get inside their mind. And ask yourself,

  • Why did the photographer choose this photo, instead of others?
  • How did the photographer “work the scene”— why did they choose the angles, framing, and perspective the way they did?
  • How many photos did they shoot of the scene?

If you need help choosing your best photos, share your images on ERIC KIM FORUM.

BE STRONG,
ERIC


PHOTOGRAPHY 101 by ERIC KIM

Seoul, 2009

Dear friend,

If you’re new to photography, start here:

  1. Free Photography Bootcamp
  2. The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Photography
  3. 100 Photography Tips for Beginners

Photography Inspiration

  • How to Avoid Boredom in Photography
  • How to Master Photography
  • A Photographer’s Guide to Seeing
  • PRETENTIOUS PHOTOGRAPHY
  • Photography Energy Management
  • How to Unlock Your Potential in Photography
  • There Are No Good or Bad Photos
  • The 5 Minute Photographer
  • A-Z: PHOTOGRAPHY DICTIONARY by ERIC KIM
  • Why I Want to Be a Photography Newbie Forever
  • PHOTOGRAPHY FLUX.
  • 10 Creative Photography Assignments to Re-Inspire You
  • 50 Photography Tips by ERIC KIM

The Fundamentals of Photography

  • GET CLOSER.
  • Keep or Ditch?
  • What Makes a Good Photo?
  • Why Photography?
  • Everyone is a Photographer
  • How to take better pictures
  • How to take better selfies
  • How to Paint With Light
  • Why Bokeh is Overrated

Photography Equipment »

  • What is the Perfect Camera For You?
  • What to Consider When Buying a Camera
  • More Megapixels, More Problems

How to Take Better Photos »

  • How to Take Better Photos
  • How to Capture Emotion in Your Photos
  • How to Create a “Curiosity Gap” in Your Photos

Composition Lessons »

  • Composition Lesson #1: Triangles
  • Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground
  • Composition Lesson #3: Diagonals

Photography Assignments »

  • 40 Practical Photography Assignments
  • 15 Street Photography Assignments
  • 25 Photography New Year’s Resolutions

Contact Sheets »

laughing lady contact sheet NYC eric kim

  • Street Photography Contact Sheets
  • Street Photography Contact Sheets Volume II
  • Debunking the “Myth of the Decisive Moment”

Editing (Image Selection) »

eric kim laughing lady nyc

  • How to Choose Your Best Photos
  • Be Your Own Harshest Critic
  • Nobody Wants to Look at Your Photos

Creativity »

eric kim Cindy project reflection flash

  • The Beauty of “Creative Constraints”
  • Beginner’s Mind
  • Follow Your Intuition

Motivation »

eric kim portrait by Cindy nguyen

  • Each Photo You Take is an “Attempt”
  • How to Overcome Photographer’s Block
  • Why Do You Need “Inspiration” to Shoot?

Post-Processing

dark skies over Tokyo eric kim

  • How to Edit Your Photos
  • Grain is Beautiful
  • Are Filters “Cheating” in Photography?
  • Video: Introduction to Editing, Processing, and Workflow in Lightroom

How to Create a Body of Work

AMERICA - ERIC KIM16 eric kim woman popsicle

  • Don’t Work on Too Many Projects

Technical Photography Settings

eric kim mom glasses

  • DSLR Photography 101

Learn From the Masters of Photography

MASTERS PROTOTYPE by HAPTIC

“He without a past has no future.”

Start here:

  1. Why Study the Masters of Photography?
  2. Great Female Master Photographers
  3. Cheat Sheet of the Masters of Photography
  4. 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography
  5. Beginner’s Guide to the Masters of Street Photography
  6. Download All Articles >

The Masters of Photography

Prague, 1968. Josef Koudelka / Magnum Photos
Prague, 1968. Josef Koudelka / Magnum Photos

Classics never die:

  • Alfred Stieglitz
  • Alec Soth
  • Alex Webb
  • Alexey Brodovitch
  • Anders Petersen
  • Andre Kertesz
  • Ansel Adams
  • Araki
  • Blake Andrews
  • Bruce Davidson
  • Bruce Gilden
  • Constantine Manos
  • Daido Moriyama
  • Dan Winters
  • David Alan Harvey
  • David Hurn
  • Diane Arbus
  • Dorothea Lange
  • Elliott Erwitt
  • Eugene Atget
  • Eugene Smith
  • Fan Ho
  • Garry Winogrand
  • Gordon Parks
  • Helen Levitt
  • Henri Cartier-Bresson
  • Irving Penn
  • Jacob Aue Sobol
  • Jeff Mermelstein
  • Joel Meyerowitz
  • Joel Sternfeld
  • Josef Koudelka / Part 2
  • Josh White
  • Lee Friedlander
  • Lisette Model
  • Magnum Contact Sheets
  • Magnum Photographers
  • Mark Cohen
  • Martin Parr
  • Martine Franck
  • Mary Ellen Mark
  • Rene Burri
  • Richard Avedon
  • Richard Kalvar
  • Robert Capa
  • Robert Frank
  • Saul Leiter
  • Sergio Larrain
  • Sebastião Salgado
  • Shomei Tomatsu
  • Stephen Shore
  • The History of Street Photography
  • Todd Hido
  • Tony Ray-Jones
  • Trent Parke
  • Vivian Maier
  • Walker Evans
  • Weegee
  • William Eggleston
  • William Klein
  • Zoe Strauss

HENRI SHOULDER STRAP

Film Leica MP x Henri Shoulder Strap (CREMA BROWN)

Supreme >


Street Photography Starter Kit

street photography starter kit by ERIC KIM

Master street photography >


HENRI WRIST STRAP PRO

Henri wrist strap pro

For the pros >

Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Photography Entrepreneurship

My brand-new Udemy Course, "Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Photography Entrepreneurship" now live!

Seize your destiny >


Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Mastering Photography

eric kim ultimate beginners guide to mastering photography udemy

Master photography >

ERIC KIM WORKSHOPS

red hand ERIC KIM

Unleash your creative potential:

2021:

  • April 10-11th, 2021: BOSTON / Discover Your Unique Voice in Photography Workshop [Register Intent Here]
  • May 1-2nd, 2021: CHICAGO / Street Photography Composition Masterclass [Register Intent Here]
  • May 22-22nd, 2021: NEW YORK CITY / STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS by ERIC KIM [Register Intent Here]

Be notified of when new workshops are live here.


ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER

Free Motivation for You >







JOIN ARS: The Anti-Social Media for Photographers

Ars black logo

 

Get real feedback on your photos on ARSBETA.COM

WHY APP?

zen of ERIC KIM why app icon

Never stop asking why?

PHANTOM BLACK HENRI WRIST STRAP

Shoot like a ghost >


STREET NOTES

Never hit the streets without it >


FILM NOTES

Now is your time to (re)learn film >

HENRI WRIST STRAP

The classic CREMA BROWN >

CREATIVE EVERY DAY

Create every day >


PHOTO JOURNAL

Photo Journal Print Edition

Discover more personal meaning in your photography >

OPEN-SOURCE