{"id":110317,"date":"2018-08-17T18:13:29","date_gmt":"2018-08-18T01:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=110317"},"modified":"2018-08-17T18:13:29","modified_gmt":"2018-08-18T01:13:29","slug":"the-small-thumbnail-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/17\/the-small-thumbnail-test\/","title":{"rendered":"The Small Thumbnail Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear friend,<\/p>\n

A practical tip to speed up your photography workflow: use the ‘thumbnail test’. Look at your photos as small thumbnails (contact sheets) to more quickly and efficiently choose your best photos!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What is your best photo?<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This is the problem we face as photographers: we have too many photos to look through!<\/p>\n

Our time is limited. How can we best effectively look through all our photos, and choose our best ones (the creme de la crop?)<\/p>\n

If you need help selecting your best photos, upload them to arsbeta.com<\/a> for real feedback.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Contact Sheets<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ever since the old-school photographers and the days of film, they looked at their photos as ‘contact sheets<\/a>‘. This allowed them to quickly look through their photos, and after they decided which they would print — to see it “full-screen”.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nowadays we are lucky– we got Lightroom and other image-editing software which makes this easy.<\/p>\n

A simple tip: in Lightroom, look at your photos in a Grid (Gallery) view, with the hotkey “G”, and then make the sizes of your thumbnails (so you can see 3 in a row), and then press “L” twice (turning off the Lights), and then use your mouse to “P” (pick) photos you want to look at later for closer-inspection.<\/p>\n

For more tips, download my FREE ERIC KIM Lightroom Classic CC Workflow PDF Visualization ><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

“Work the scene”<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

You never know when you will get a good photo, so when you see an interesting scene, make sure to “work the scene” — shoot LOTS of photos of the same scene, and afterwards when you go home, select your best photos on your computer!<\/p>\n

\n

The best photo might be the last photo you shoot<\/h2>\n
\"eric
Note the best photo was the last photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

For example, sometimes I will shoot a lot of photos of a scene and “work the scene”, and I don’t discover the best composition until the very end!<\/p>\n

A simple principle to follow is the “25% rule<\/a>“. When you think you got the shot– you don’t. Try to shoot 25% MORE<\/em> of a scene than you think you can!<\/p>\n

In the words of Henri Cartier-Bresson<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n Sometimes you must milk the cow a lot to get a little bit of cheese.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Eric Kim CONTACTS<\/h2>\n

Some of my contact sheets<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"contact
Photograph outlined in red, when the man looks over and notices me.” width=”1200″ height=”713″ \/> Photograph outlined in red, when the man looks over and notices me.
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"Contact
Contact sheet for Cindy eyes, and trees in background. Lisbon, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Contact
Contact sheet: Walking woman, Lisbon 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Contact
Contact sheet. Man at night through glass. London, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Contact
Contact sheet 1, Boy with mother, marseille, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

CONTACT SHEETS<\/a><\/h1>\n

Don’t just take 1 photo of the scene: ‘Work the scene’!<\/p>\n

\n

Articles on Contact Sheets<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n