Tag: editing

Kill Your Babies

8675029335_4a2c7fd6f4_o

Read this as a Google Doc or download a PDF.

—

I have a problem. I often get too attached to my photos, especially my bad photos. I look at all of my photos like my children, and I have a hard time deciding which to keep and which to ditch.

One mantra I have always tried to remind myself is: “Kill your babies.”

The problem is that our photos are like our babies, and the idea of getting rid of them (especially “killing them”) is emotionally painful. And if the phrase “kill your babies” is too graphic for you, I recommend the British saying, “Kill your darlings.”

The problem in today’s society is that we have an overabundance of stuff, information, and especially images. Every minute there are hundreds and thousands of being uploaded to the internet. And 99% of these images are just junk or noise.

The solution? Before you decide to upload an image, think of why you are uploading the image. Is it because you are trying to show a beautiful masterpiece that will bring value to someone else’s word? Or because you are trying to get more “favorites” and likes?

Killing my own babies

I recently went through my own baby-killing session. I went to my website splash page and edited down my splash page to my 5 favorite images, all of which I felt had some sort of consistency and emotion to them.

I also edited down my portfolio from 6 projects down to 3. It was really difficult to do, but my good friend Diarmuid McDonald helped me be brutally honest over some nice Turkish food. I once told him to edit down his entire Flickr down to 5 images, so I had to practice what I preached.

I then went home, took out the axe, and started to remove tons of my photos from my website portfolio and Flickr. At first it was very painful, but by the end, it was insanely refreshing. It felt almost if a huge weight was taken off my shoulders, and I looked at all of my images with admiration. They were all strong and had a good cohesion and style to them.

It is rare you make a good photograph

The photographer I am trying to imitate the most at the moment is Josef Koudelka. He is a photographer who has been shooting for over 50 years, and has dedicated his life to 3 main projects: his “Gypsies” project, his “Exiles” project, and his new panoramic landscape work. All 3 of these projects are powerful, emotional, memorable, and iconic.

I want to be like Koudelka. I want to aim to create at least 1 strong body of work before I die. Less is more.

Remember, street photography is hard. Damn hard. The most difficult genre of photography out there. It is very rare that you make a good photograph. If you can even get 1 good street photo a month, 12 decent shots in a year, and 1 truly great image in a year, you’re doing really well. Bruce Gilden even admits only taking 1 photo he really likes for every 50 rolls of film.

Keeping photos for yourself

Just because you “kill your babies” doesn’t mean you have to delete the photos or throw away the negatives. Rather, what I encourage is to kill your photos that are public and not very strong.

I have some images that have personal significance to me, but I know that they aren’t necessarily good photos. So I keep them on my hard drive for myself, print them out and put them into photo albums (for myself and family), and not share them in public.

Even another practical tip: when I recently edited down my Flickr down to my best 20 images (from 9 years of shooting street photography), I simply marked the weaker shots to “private.” So I still have the images just in-case, but I don’t need to clutter my site.

“But what if I want to get feedback on my photos? Isn’t sharing them on social media a good idea?”

That is a good idea if you don’t know anybody in-person you can share them with. But I have even a better method I like to do with my buddy Josh White, Neil Ta, and Charlie Kirk: I will send them a photograph that I am not sure about, and simply ask them: “Keep or ditch?” I will also encourage them to be “brutally honest” and help me “kill my babies.” They then have no problem taking out the axe and doing the dirty work for me.

Apparently even Steve McCurry didn’t really like his “Afghan Girl” photograph. He shot several of her, and actually preferred another shot. But his editor told him that the (now) iconic image was the best. The editor knew better than McCurry, and now it is one of the most famous images in the world.

Oftentimes I don’t know what my best images are, because I am too emotionally attached to them. I know too much of the backstory behind my images, and sometimes I had a very engaging conversation with the person. This confuses me, and impairs my judgement.

This is one thing I love about shooting film: I am an impatient bastard (I’m the guy who complains when Google Maps takes longer than 2 seconds to load), and shooting film forces me to be more patient and let my images “marinate” and sit for a long time (before I  judge them).

Recently my last big batch of film I developed was 164 rolls of film. I waited an entire year (not out of discipline but out of pure laziness and business of my travel schedule). What it taught me was that I was able to “kill my babies” more brutally, because I forgot shooting the majority of the images. So it was almost like I was editing someone else’s images.

It is always easier to kill someone else’s babies than your own. Furthermore, it is actually easier to work on longer-term projects, without being disappointed on a daily basis with digital photography.

I have nothing against digital photography. In-fact, I prefer the convenience and the cost (film is damn expensive). But the thing is that shooting digital makes me miserable. Why? Whenever I go out and shoot for an entire day, it is very unlikely I will get a good shot in a day. So when I look through all the images, I am massively disappointed. But with film, I only see my photos one every 6 months or once a year. And over that period of time, I am bound to at least get 1-2 shots I’m really proud of.

This is another philosophical issue I am dealing with: I technically know that shooting digital will make me a better photographer. Also all of my recent shots I like are shot from a digital Ricoh GR.

However, shooting film gives me more peace of mind, zen, less disappointment, and therefore more happiness.

So what do I do? Do I am to become a better photographer, or to just be happier?

Granted these things aren’t mutually exclusive. I can do both at the same time. Perhaps in the future I can try not to “chimp” as much when shooting digital, or to treat digital like film (not look at my photos often, maybe only one a month).

Removing your ego from your photos

Another practical tip when it comes down to “killing your babies” or editing down your portfolio: remember, you are not your photos. Not only that, but your photos have no feelings. If you decide to “ditch” a shot, your photos don’t care. If anything, they are happy to be released once again into the ether or the digital cyberspace they came from.

So when people critique or criticize your photos, they aren’t criticizing you. They are criticizing your photos.

I often get criticized for the writing on the blog, but I also try to remind myself: people are criticizing my writing, not me as a human being. They are different.

Even when people criticize my actions, I try not to get offended. I remind myself: I am not my actions. I therefore try to change my actions in the future.

Killing your ego is one of the most difficult things, something that take a lifetime. Your ego is that little voice in your head that never shuts the fuck up, and is always criticizing you. This is why studying meditation and Zen Buddhism can be so useful. If you’re interested in learning more about Zen and Street Photography, download my free e-book: “Zen in the Art of Street Photography.”

Moving forward

So moving forward, I am still trying to figure out my life and my photography.

Currently, the only camera I own is a film Leica and 35mm lens. Everyday I need to fight the urges of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). Everyday I don’t feel inspired, I think buying a new camera will magically make me more inspired. That is bullshit, it never does.

What I always try to do is whenever I crave a new camera, I buy a new book instead. Some books on my radar currently include Sergio Larrain, “Songbook” by Alec Soth, and a new personal favorite: “For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness” (you can see the project online here). Remember: Buy books,  not gear.

Another thing I’ve been thinking about: there is so much depressing photos online of people and society. I want to start taking happier photos. Photos that are positive and encourage people, rather than capturing alienation and confusion.

Anyways, I don’t have anything left to say. I started to get another weird reaction from drinking coffee again (throat swelling). Instead today I got an Almond milk Chai Latte which was lovely too.

Godspeed,

Eric

Written @ ExMouth Coffee in London, 11:26am, 8/18/2015

Published
Categorized as Posts Tagged

Learn From the Masters: Lesson #5 Emotionally Detach Yourself From Your Photos

Copyright:
Copyright:
Copyright:Estate of Garry Winogrand

“Sometimes photographers mistake emotion for what makes a great street photograph.”
– Garry Winogrand

Imagine this situation: it is a cold and rainy day. You are out shooting on the streets, and you are feeling miserable. You haven’t got any good shots all day, despite the fact that you left your warm (and dry) house to take some street photos. You are about to give up and go home when you see a little girl with a red umbrella about to jump over a puddle.

You think of the famous photograph of Henri Cartier-Bresson (man jumping over puddle), and get excited. You hold up your camera, and wait patiently. The girl then jumps, and you click. You quickly look at your LCD screen and you realize: “voila!” You just captured the “decisive moment.” You are excited.

You then rush home, quickly download your photos to your computer, post-process the photo, and then upload the photograph to your social media website of choice. You cross your arms, and think that it is one of the finest photographs you have ever taken. You are excited that perhaps, finally, you will get over 100+ favorites/likes on this image.

A day or so passes, and you only got 10-15 favorites/likes. You throw up your hands in rage and think to yourself: “These people on the internet wouldn’t know a great image if it hit them in the face!” You then continue about your day.

A week or two go by, and you revisit the image. You then look at the image and tell yourself: “Hey, this image isn’t quite as good as I remembered it to be.”

What just happened? You became emotionally attached to the backstory of how difficult it was to get that image (and the emotion you felt of being excited). This confused you into thinking that this was actually an “objectively” good shot.

This happens to the best of us. We get too emotionally attached to our shots, because we were there. We experienced it. It feels alive and vivid inside our memories.

But the problem is that our viewers have no idea what the backstory of the image is (unless you write a long caption, which I generally advise against).

So what is the solution? Try to emotionally detach yourself from your photos.

When editing (selecting) which images to “keep” and “ditch,” ask your peers to be “brutally honest” with your work.

Another tip: don’t refer to the photos you take as “my photos.” Refer to them as “the photos.” The difference? Calling them “the photos” detaches you emotionally from them, so you can be more critical and objective when editing your shots.

Stories don’t exist outside of the frame

14799923850_8c9f90a3a0_b

In photography, the entire story of the image must exist inside the frame. If you want to tell a better story, include context in your photos (like this environmental portrait I shot of a man in San Diego).

I have this vivid story in my head of how I got the image: I saw this well-dressed man in a hotel lobby, and asked if I could make a few photos. He said, “No problem,” and I started to take a bunch of images. Afterwards, I asked him what he did and what he was up to. He told me, “I own this hotel!”

Now I have this vivid backstory, but the viewer has no idea about that story or information in this photograph. But regardless, viewers find this photograph interesting because the outfit of the man looks like he’s from the 1950s — a relic of the past. The viewer then makes up their own story about the man, based on the TV shows (Madmen) or any other films they have seen in the past.

Morale of the story? If you have a photograph which is weak without having a compelling story, ditch the shot. When you have to “explain” the back-story of a street photograph, it is like explaining a joke. The funniest jokes don’t need to be “explained” (or else it isn’t a good joke). A good photograph shouldn’t need an intricate backstory or explanation in the caption.

Video: Introduction to Editing, Processing, and Workflow in Lightroom

Hey streettogs, I just put together a video introduction to using Lightroom 5 for editing, post-processing, and workflow. In the video I share some fundamental hotkeys, tips, and suggestions. I hope you enjoy the video, and please let me know what other questions you have about using Lightroom 5 (or editing/post-processing in general) in the comments section!

Hotkeys

  • E: “Enlarge”
  • G: “Grid” / “Gallery”
  • F: “Full screen”
  • Tab: Collapse side columns
  • Tab + Shift: Collapse all columns
  • D: “Develop”

Workflow

  1. “F” : Make full screen

  2. Turn on the “Caps lock” key

  3. “P” or “X” :

  • P: Pick (if you think it is a good shot): 5-10%
  • X: Reject (if you think it is a bad shot or a ‘Maybe’ shot): “When in doubt, ditch:” 90%

  1. Go through all of the photos

  2. “Filters off” -> “Flagged”

Removing Myself from My Own Photos: What I Learned While Editing and Sequencing My “Harmonious China” Project

Harmonious China-1
Click to read more
“Harmonious China” by Neil Ta

Eric: This is a guest article by Neil Ta, my homie and babysitter. In this article he shares his new project, “Harmonious China” and his thoughts about the editing process.

Neil: My good friend and International Street Photographer, Eric Kim, first introduced me to the idea of letting photos marinate. The concept is really simple. When we take photos, there is an emotional attachment or bond that reminds us how amazing we felt when we took the image. Photographers who select and post their photos immediately are often times at a disadvantage because they let their emotions at the time of taking the photograph get in the way of their better judgement. To combat this, Eric has recommended to photographers to let their images marinate. As time passes and we revisit our images, we lose that emotional bond that had initially formed and we’re better able to objectively look at our images without biases.

So why the long-winded introduction to my new project, Harmonious China? Taking Eric’s advice, I recently decided to look at my archive of images that I shot in China back in April 2011. I hadn’t looked at these images in a very long time and secretly I was hoping that (by some act of god) I was able to pull something out of there that I had previously missed.

When I began to review the images, so much time had passed that they were fresh to my eyes, Surprisingly, I was able to pull out a number of images that fit into a centralized idea. Because I let the images marinate for so long, there were a number of shots that I forgot I took or had no immediate recollection of where it was taken.

Continue reading Removing Myself from My Own Photos: What I Learned While Editing and Sequencing My “Harmonious China” Project

The Importance of Letting Your Photos Marinate

Hong Kong, 2013
Click to read more
Hong Kong, 2013

I think one of the most difficult aspects of photography is the editing process (choosing your best images). Garry Winogrand famously said, “Sometimes photographers mistake emotion for what makes a great street photograph.”

Winogrand famously shot like a madman (shooting several rolls a day for his lifetime), but had the discipline to not even process his photos for a year after he shot them. Why did he do this? In order to forget the memory of having taken those shots– so he could be more critical and objective when it came to choosing his best images.

It is always easier to judge and critique other people’s photographs. Therefore one of the benefits of forgetting some of the shots you took is that you can look at your own photos not like that of your own– but that of a stranger.

Continue reading The Importance of Letting Your Photos Marinate

15 Tips How to Choose Your Best Photos

Magnum Contact Sheets (one of my favorites)

"Nails" by Eric Kim

(“Nails” from my City of Angels series)

Editing in street photography is one of the most important aspects to know. When I refer to “editing“, I am referring to the act of choosing your best images, rather than “post-processing”. However nowadays when most photographers refer to “editing” their work, you can almost determine with 99% accuracy that they mean “post-processing” their work. Due to this confusion and interchanging use of the word “editing” – the true art of editing of choosing your best work is a lost cause.

For this article, I will attempt to explain why editing is so important in street photography and give practical tips and advice on how you can become  a better editor of your work (and how to ask others for advice as well). Keep reading if you want to find out more!

Continue reading 15 Tips How to Choose Your Best Photos