I was searching the web, as you do, t’other day, and Dear Old Uncle G. threw up a search find, that was just about irrelevant to my search.
However it did have a line of thought that intrigued me.
Mostly because it’s an affliction that I have been surrounded by for a few years now.
The point being, “Help, My Photos are being Held Ransom by computer software management programmes (programs).”
Like the bedraggled writer I too am overwhelmed by gigabytes of images, all sitting on a harddrive(s), on DVDs, USB Thumbdrives, and an assortment of other ‘storage’ devices that have scattered my photos landscape.
Yes, I hear people cry, but they are carefully catalogued, selected, and sorted into various albums, collections, folders and “Smart Albums”, so you’ll have no problem finding them.
True, I weakly reply.
But, none-the-less, they are not accessible all the time, I can’t recall ever getting excited about going over the 27,890 pictures in my 2015 Collection. To be practical, I don’t even know what’s there. They are held ransom by the very technology that is supposed to administer them. I can’t even hold them up to the light and search through them. Drives don’t work like that.
Oh, let’s create Slideshows, Photo Books, print them out, share them online, and the like.
And that is where my other failing raises its ‘ugly’ head.
It’s easier to procrastinate, and it’s not really an act of despair-more an act of rebellion. I think I am beginning to Not Care, about the unseen photos in the March 2012 directory.
Because, as the writer points out, we need to spend the time to ‘Process’ them. It’s why we shot them in raw to begin with. And that is my failing. I don’t want to spend the time in front of the computer wading through those directories, just to find the “Nuggets of Gold” I’ve overlooked and will eventually get around to “Processing”. It’s enough to drive me back to shooting JPEG. 🙂
And just in case you are pondering a hopeless case, each year does indeed have an album of the Best of the Best for that year. Carefully culled from among the Dross to represent that year.
If I used Star Ratings, these would be my Number 5 Stars.
Probably also get a Colo(u)r label.
Certainly a Keyword (Best of Best) ?—which is how I do it—to be able to seperate them out.
But the rest? Hijacked. Not only held to ransom, but probably never to be thought of again.
I just won’t pay the ransom price of “Processing” them.
I have boxes of slides that go back more than 50 years, and they too are going to suffer from never being seen again.
The reality is, that I think I’m more excited and interested in the pictures I’ve recently taken, and the ones that I’m going to take in the future.
Ramble Over.
We were out with the young kites on a cold, windless morning. The sunlight was clear and bright.
First one, and then another of the young Black-shouldered Kites took to the air, and headed out over the open fields.
Swooping, diving, climbing, jinking left and right.
Reminded me of young lambs kicking up their heels.
I thought it must have been enjoying the freedom of flight and life as it flew across the paddock with backlight running through the mists coming from the warming grass, I couldn’t help but pause and enjoy the moment with it. Then the second one came out, and they sprinted up and down the verge on the freeway, looking like pups chasing vehicles.
The serious business of living a Black-shouldered Kite life put aside in the joy of the moment.
Here ’tis.
Birds as Poetry —— Just because I WANDER - --doesn't mean I'm LOST 
A fabulous image, David! They are wonderful birds to spend time with. I spent way too much time with them today, or so my good wife said!
I have also reached the point where I would rather go and take a new shot than refer to the cloud/hard drive etc. I think it was brought home while we couldn’t get out and I was looking for images to post. At first it wasn’t too difficult, good days in the field came to mind easily. Then it became, do I go back to this day in a previous year or search for images of a particular subject. It all became rather mind numbing!
By the way, Arthur, Brown Falcon, finally popped into to Sneydes briefly today, the Maggies quickly escorted him out.
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G’day, they don’t run to our time schedule do they, and it gets to the point of having spent 20 minutes, if I leave now, then something is going to happen, and then 20 minutes later and still nothing, its time for the same argument again.
Hard to explain to someone who looks at a clock and says, “time’s up”. 🙂
I think what I’ve learned about database management and if you like to draw a long bow, “Supply Chain Management” is that I need, long-term, to cull my shots a lot harder. 🙂
PS, A Brown headed across the northern side of the paddock the other day and kept going toward the far side of the freeway. Needless to say it had Magpie and then Raven escorts.
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Lovely shot of a young one enjoying life to the full. It must be glorious to be able to fly, and right now, they are carefree.
I was talking to Warwick only today about looking in the appropriate album for a particular photograph (which I found because the keyword system you told me about works a treat) and realising I have so many mediocre photographs of ducks, herons, what have you, and I really need to throw out almost all the old ones because my equipment is better now, and my skills have improved too. So I have determined to go through all the photographs one album at a time and chuck out all the slightly fuzzy/badly lit/otherwise unsatisfactory images I have amassed over the years. There really is no point in keeping them.
I may be some time!
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HI Eleanor, I thought I’d wait a few days before replying keeps up the theme 🙂
We have had a very good run with these young, and it would take a lot of blogspace to share just the very best.
A body of work is something that needs constant curation. Some I know have a ‘never throw anything out’, but in the case of wildlife, birds in particular I think, we find better subjects, excellent light, amazing angles and intruiging moments in their lives, so its not as though we might be able to make a mediocre shot into a best in class motif.
A lot of image hoarding comes from my days of film, where it wasn’t possible to throw out negatives, but slides were somewhat different.
I do edit hard today. I rarely shoot multi-burst, but when I do I only keep one or two from the series. The others are never going to be use. Shot 260 yesterday and got it down to 22 good ones, and 7 that I’ll eventaully be able to use on Flickr or the blog.
However I do have on the old drives, images that have survived and should just be removed. Like you say, it may take some time.
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Hello again David, I have started the task. About 2,500 photographs turfed out and no doubt several thousand more to go. I’m just going through one album at a time to turn the job into reasonably-sized chunks. As you say below to Ashley, there is the memory of being there and who was with me, but I remember special places and times anyway, and don’t need the bad photographs!
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Beautiful images as always David. I had the same dilemma years ago with my hundreds of slides and digitized only the precious ones of family, disregarding most. I found there just is not the time, nor practicality, as you mentioned (when will one actually view them again anyway). We live in the present, so the present captures are our present treasures. Part of the enjoyment is the excitement that each new capture brings to us as. I noticed when analyzing my own responses last week, how the excitement of seeing and capturing the Gang Gangs was so stimulating, but now I have done this looking at the images has a lower level of excitement, so I guess like the hunter in us, it is the excitement and accomplishment of the hunt that is the prime endorphin response for me. Such a great buzz to have had so much time with the Black-shouldereds David 🙂
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G,day Ashley,
I think part of it is where to start. I keep all my current work Keyworded. Its the one thing I don’t procrastinate on (very much). I only keyword the best, and if I have a number from a given shot or moment, then I can always find them in relation to the Keyworded ones. (I have 3,000 Black-shouldered Kites, since 2009) But really I should take the big stick to most of them. However there are of course, sentimental reasons for keeping some. I remember the day, the place, the people, or the activity. So a simple In/Out system is a bit too harsh.
We just keep trying.
I was talking with someone whose opinion I value the other day, and they made the astute insight, that perhaps a lot of what we do is not about taking the picture, but rather being there and experiencing the moments in the bird’s lives.
Probably quite true, because when I look at them on the screen, I don’t quite get the buzz of pusing the shutter. 🙂
Always more to learn and do.
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Hi David, wonderful photos! My name is Maddy, I’m a PhD student at the Uni of Melbourne, researching human-animal interactions, and how this influences interest in species and conservation. I have been specifically focused on migratory shorebirds, and I saw recently your fantastic photos of the Latham’s Snipe from around Victoria. I was wondering if you would be interested in a conversation with me about your encounters with these wonderful birds, and your photography? If you were keen, perhaps I can send you some further details via an email? Happy birding! Cheers, Maddy
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Well done Eleanor, what a great move.
I like the idea of keeping things in albums, and then just setting aside time to work through one at a time. It is amazing how just a few small bites a day can whittle done the biggest of jobs. Good luck
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