need some motivation or something ?!

RabbitCatCat · May 27, 2013

I'm very unhappy with the photos I've taken lately at the wedding and at the maternity on the beach shoot. I have culled the wedding photos on lightroom down to 71 5star photos (the for sure keepers on my system) .. so, everyone keeps asking to see the photos and I just can't get myself to a place where I am happy with how they look to even allow people to see. I am editing and editing the same photos over and over because they just 'aren't right'. What do you do to get over this hurdle? I know I'm being overly critical and as non-photographers they probably won't see an issue and that they will like the photos but I can't get myself to give them any of the completed ones yet.

Any suggestions? I could use a kick in the behind.

DSRay · May 27, 2013

Just learn from the experience, not a whole lot else you can do. Give up the pics. **kick**

Overread · May 27, 2013

STOP and walk away from the photos.

Seriously give yourself a few days or a week to actually clear your mind a bit and focus on something else (other shots/shoots/hobbies/stuff). It will help you to step back more from the photos and disconnect yourself from them. Furthermore it will help you break this cycle of editing and re-editing and re-re-editing.

The other option is to post some currently finished works for critique (read the critique thread linked below in my signature)

RabbitCatCat · May 27, 2013

I just want to make the photos perfect, I'm a perfectionist and I keep seeing different ways they can be presented so I'm not happy with them because I can't decide which is best! In this situation do you do various edits and ask the person which they prefer and then use that one theme for them all? I suppose that is what I will do.

Thanks for that tip overread.. I did step away from them for a week.. I just put them back on yesterday.. maybe I should step away again haha.

Overread · May 27, 2013

How different are these features? If you're making tiny changes "A half a billionth of a touch more contrast here" then the average client won't see it at all. If they are massive changes I would suggest stopping and going back to look at your portfolio that your clients hired you from - because chances are they saw that and want that - massive wholesale changes from that might not be popular (you can always show those alternatives and you might get lucky with the new style, but there is a strong chance that if you present a wildly different style to what you advertised your client might not like the change.

RabbitCatCat · May 27, 2013

That's true and actually she told me she wanted me to do the photos because she loved how I edit my photos.. So I am going to just relax and edit them the same as I have always done in the past.

The_Traveler · May 27, 2013

Perfection is the enemy of terrific.

gsgary · May 27, 2013

Get them better in camera and you don't have to do much with them

bratkinson · May 28, 2013

One of the lessons I learned the hard way about post processing is that if more than, say, 2 weeks after the event occurred, the subjects become less interested in the pictures. Sure, an engagement or wedding shoot will always have that 'excitement' about it for the B&G, but everyone else starts to move towards 'ho hum' after 1 week, and are reaching the "it's about time" state of mind after two weeks.

To that end, I've decided to become less 'perfectionist' about my photographs, in direct contradiction to my 35+ years as a mainframe computer consultant/programmer where it had to be perfect or had to be fixed so it was perfect. So, my basic editing is:
a) Cull out the losers/duplicates/uninteresting shots
b) Make 'blanket' changes in Lightroom (LOVE that 'sync' button!)
c) Make a quick pass in LR touching up WB, maybe a bit of exposure adjustment, and maybe a bit of sharpening
d) Make a cropping pass, preserving the originals for cropping to different sizes, if needed, or whatever.
e) Done. Print 'em, put on a CD/DVD, make a presentation, etc.

I used to go back, over and over, and touch up the exposure, WB, etc, then apply them to the 3-10 shots taken under the same circumstances/lighting, only to find out at shot 6 the WB has changed, go back and re-sync from that one, etc, on and on. Perhaps my own limited time availablity as well as my goal to produce results within a week if at all possible has forced me to better utilize my time.

RabbitCatCat · May 28, 2013

bratkinson said:
One of the lessons I learned the hard way about post processing is that if more than, say, 2 weeks after the event occurred, the subjects become less interested in the pictures. Sure, an engagement or wedding shoot will always have that 'excitement' about it for the B&G, but everyone else starts to move towards 'ho hum' after 1 week, and are reaching the "it's about time" state of mind after two weeks.

To that end, I've decided to become less 'perfectionist' about my photographs, in direct contradiction to my 35+ years as a mainframe computer consultant/programmer where it had to be perfect or had to be fixed so it was perfect. So, my basic editing is:
a) Cull out the losers/duplicates/uninteresting shots
b) Make 'blanket' changes in Lightroom (LOVE that 'sync' button!)
c) Make a quick pass in LR touching up WB, maybe a bit of exposure adjustment, and maybe a bit of sharpening
d) Make a cropping pass, preserving the originals for cropping to different sizes, if needed, or whatever.
e) Done. Print 'em, put on a CD/DVD, make a presentation, etc.

I used to go back, over and over, and touch up the exposure, WB, etc, then apply them to the 3-10 shots taken under the same circumstances/lighting, only to find out at shot 6 the WB has changed, go back and re-sync from that one, etc, on and on. Perhaps my own limited time availablity as well as my goal to produce results within a week if at all possible has forced me to better utilize my time.

Thank you bratkinson for the response, and I was having that issue myself. I'd edit a set and in the same series suddenly there would be a slight WB difference and it would drive me crazy! I was always taught that wedding photos should all have the same look etc, well the one's outside in the back by the river are way different than the ones outside in the open sunlight during the ceremony, so I was mostly driving myself crazy trying to get them just right.

I ended up sending her two of the photos and she loved them so I am just going to stick with that and complete the mission.

I know to get it right in camera, that's always my goal.. but I shoot in raw and post processing is part of the process for me .. I enjoy editing, I love the art of editing photos as much as I love to take them..