On Second thought . . .

Church Blues, Waynesville, NC  -  2016

(Click on photo to enlarge.)

When I download photos from a camera to the computer, the first step of editing is to cull out the obvious losers. Out of focus, blurred by camera shake or subject motion, un-fixable exposure misses, and other mistakes - they've got to go. Then, since I usually make several exposures of the same scene, I pick out the best version of each. I learned a long time ago that the secret to being perceived as a "good" photographer is to only show your strongest images. Too many people show everything, including their screw-ups. Why? Just show your best stuff!

After I've thrown out the obvious mistakes, and selected the best shots for further editing, I'm usually left with quite a few "maybe" photos. These are images that aren't really that good, but I hesitate to trash them because I think maybe I can salvage them later in Photoshop. The above photo made at church last Sunday is an example.

The strong, blue backlighting rendered the bass player almost, but not quite, in silhouette. On the left side of the frame was half of a singer that would have to be removed. (You can't have half people in your photos.) It looked like too much work, but there was still something about it that made me hesitate to delete it. Last night, I finally decided to take a shot at salvaging it.

It took quite a bit of time and effort in the digital darkroom to finally come up with a version that I was happy with. It's not one of my best photos, but I think it's a fairly interesting image, and I had fun working on it.