It's in the Editing, Not the Shooting, that We Know Our Winners

 Rock City barn in Grassy Cove. Tennessee Highway 68, Cumberland County.

Editing has always been the second most crucial part of the photographic process, after the actual photography, because that's where we pick our winners and dump our losers. Sometimes it take a trained eye and artistic sensibility to tell the difference. And sometimes we get it wrong.

In my opinion, editing was easier in the days when we were shooting film because we simply didn't shoot as much. In each situation we would make enough exposures from enough angles to make sure the subject was well covered, but seldom more than that. Film and processing are much more expensive these days, but even when film was cheap, it was expensive. So the rule was: thorough coverage, but no wasted exposures. I think shooting film made me a better, more careful, more precise photographer.

In the digital age, it's easy to be sloppy, holding down the shutter button and making multiple exposures of the same thing when only one is needed.  I'll have to admit I'm sometimes guilty of overshooting. I was a more disciplined photographer in my film days.

For some years now I've been using a free software program called Pixsort to do an initial edit of my files. It helps me identify the losers quickly and dispose of them while keeping the possible winners for a second look. 

But sometimes I slip up. As with the photo at the top of this post. After processing and reviewing the film, I was not happy. In fact, I went back at my own expense (about a 160 mile round trip) a few days later, on a sunny day, and photographed the barn again. But just in case, when I turned in my photos to Rock City's advertising manager, I gave him both the overcast day photos and the sunny day shots.

To my surprise, he immediately picked the overcast day photo above. And when I was later commissioned to photograph and write Rock City Barns: A Passing Era, that was the photo my book designer chose for the cover. I would have missed it completely.

So it can't hurt to get input about your photos from someone whose vision you trust. You might find that some of your photographs are not as great as you think they are, but on the other hand, you might find some real gems that you overlooked.

The photo: Mamiya RB67 medium format camera with 127mm Mamiya-Sekor lens, Fujichrome 100D film.

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photography and text copyright 2025 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     digital photography    film photography     Mamiya RB67 camera     Mamiya-Sekor lenses          medium format cameras     editing photographs     Rock City barns     Fujichrome 100D film