Revisiting Work

This evening I went through some of my old photos that I took a few years ago.  Going through them was eye-opening, a bit shocking, and even the occasional "Did I really shoot that?!"  One of the things that I did early on while I was learning photography, was to keep all of my photos.  I mean all of my photos, even the bad ones.  To this day I haven't removed or deleted any of the photos I ever took.  Doing this has meant an investment in quite a bit of hard-drives and a lot of backup.

However doing this gives me the opportunity to see how I have developed my craft over the years.  Seeing the photos from before and seeing the photos now, makes you appreciate all of the hours of learning, disappointment, and accomplishments that photography gives you.

Another reason that I don't delete of my pictures is because as I have progress in the craft, I'm learning new techniques, skills, and perspective about photography.  And with those new thoughts in my head, it makes me look at my old photos in a different light.  I've realized too over the years, that sometimes, you just don't pay attention to some details in the photo because you just didn't know how to pay attention to it.

I suggest to you (the reader) to do the same.  Save your photos, work on them, and then a year from know look at them again and see what you see in the photos.  I can guarantee that you will see your photo in a different way than when you took it and edited it.

Here's a image I took as part of my 2010 - 365 Project.

And here's a similar photo as I see it today in 2011

If you have done work in the past and set it aside, I suggest you go look at it again and see if you there is something different about it today.  Think about the skills and knowledge that you have learned since you took that photo.

What do you think about it?  Where do you see your photography going in a year?  Let me know by leaving a comment.

Thanks for reading.   :)