Do you ever go back to re-edit your old photos?
Sometimes I go back and re-edit old photos for fun. I do this for many reasons. Maybe I locked myself up in the house for the winter or there was a pandemic or something.
Isolation, the warm confines of home, coffee in hand, let’s go explore the lightroom catalog. Am I right?
Because let’s be real. Months have suddenly escaped me, and all my new photography falls in the family photos album. I mean the kind where you went for a walk with the family and deemed it photo-worthy. Sure, it was a nice walk, but I wasn’t really in photography mode.
I was in family mode, just documenting our life together and now it’s Saturday Morning and I have some free time and a creative itch.
I could pull out the camera and tell the wife I’m taking off for a while but nah, I just want to sit here across from her, coffee in hand and work on some photos. Surely, there’s something I forgot about in my Lightroom Catalog.
You see, I like Editing Photos
Some people don’t enjoy this part of photography experience, but I happen to like it very much. The only part I don’t really enjoy is culling through photos. Sometimes I wish there was a magical faerie that would just show up and hand me the top 10 photos from a session.
That’s never happened so here I am culling through my previous work. I’m in search of the magical moment I missed. The time I just did too much. And of course, the time I had no idea what I was thinking or doing. Trust me, they all exist!
Here are five benefits you’ll find in the process of revisiting your old photography.
1.) You get to see how your editing style has evolved over time.
The first and most obvious change you will notice is your editing style. You’ve likely improved, learned new techniques, and developed your own style by now.
When I first began my venture into photography, I was not a good editor. Mostly I just over-edited and I still do on occasion. Sometimes I just like moving those levers so much!
2.) You get to see how far you’ve grown as a photographer.
Not only will you notice how far you’ve come in editing but also photography in general. You will recall the times you directed your subjects into awkward poses. You will remember the image you tried to capture many moons ago but completely failed. Except now, you will be armed with the knowledge to better understand why you failed.
3.) You discover images that you may have passed on.
This happens a lot to me when I come away with a substantial number of photos. I’ll take a bunch of photos on a trip or during a photoshoot, get home, edit some of them and then step away for a while. Then I end up photographing something else and all those other photos just get forgotten about.
Another possibility is that you may look at a photo today with a different perspective. Time seems to play a role here.
If you ever shot film, there is likely a waiting period between when you took the photos and when you review them. Heck, you might get the roll back and not even remember what your about to look at.
I think something magic happens in this period of time. Time seems to make things look better. At least for me.
With digital, we generally can go home the same day and start culling over the haul. But this isn’t always the best thing to do. I think allowing a little time to pass between shooting and reviewing brings a fresh perspective.
But sometimes, we just are not going to do that. Were excited and want to see what we got.
That’s why going back through your photos on another day, maybe even another year is a good idea.
Because suddenly the image you passed on way back in the day is now your favorite. Do you have any hidden gems hiding in your catalog?
4.) You can improve and practice new editing techniques.
If it’s a client shoot, you’re probably not breaking out some new editing technique or style. They hired you because they like your style, the one they are familiar with. It’s probably not the best time to switch it up.
However, maybe you would like to try a different technique or style. Maybe you discovered a new technique that would have made your life a lot easier when you were trying to clean up a background.
Or maybe you want to try out those Light Leak, Prism, and Bokeh overlays you downloaded from me for free. You got those right?
Either way, going back and using old photos is the perfect time to venture outside your norms and experiment.
5.) You get to have a good laugh.
Seriously, a good laugh at the expense of yourself is good medicine to humble the soul. You weren’t always this good, were you? Step back, take a look and decide to help someone at the start of their journey. Don’t put people down or discourage them from trying their best. Encourage people, let them know where it all began for you, and the struggles you endured as a beginner.
Do You Re-Edit Old Photos?
If you do re-edit your old photos you know I want to hear about it right.
Change that, I want to see it!
Come join us on our private Facebook Group, Photography, Blogging, Motivation. I typically approve photographers pretty quickly. Once inside the group, you will have the chance to share your re-edits. We run daily threads and this along with many others is one of the fun themes. Come join a community of photographers, bloggers, and creatives just like you!
Use the comments below and tell me what you like best about re-editing your old photos.
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I save all the raw files from my shoots. Been doing that since about 2006. I sometimes crawl through the archives searching for images that I didn’t know what to do with. Sometimes I get a gem, sometimes not. But it’s been fun looking back and remembering when it was taken.
For sure Loyd, even when you don’t find the gems there is usually a lesson or two in there to be had and remember. Thanks for commenting!