This weekend, I got back negatives from a 36 count roll. There were few to toss out, and the subject matter appeals more to me than others. What do I do?
Extra shots from a client shoot often sit unused or unacknowledged in a file on the computer or in a cabinet. About all they are good for is use as sample or illustrations for blogs or advertisements.
Photos from personal events are equally without value if no one wants to look at them and "Oooh!" and "Ahhh!" So why even bother to capture them?
We take pictures because we are driven. We are moved by what we see. We want to remember. We want to share the beauty that we see and relate to. Fortunately, no one else lives in our head unless we are schizophrenic, so we must adapt.
If there is no historic or memorial attachment to an image, use them to make something temporal, like a calendar.Throw them into an album that can be used as an embarrassing present later in the recipient's life. Use them online to illustrate a point or capture someone's attention on paper or on the internet. Make postcards and thank you notes with them.
Even if a viewer rolls his eyes whenever he looks at one of the photos, at least it had a brief exposure outside its hard drive prison or cabinet lock-up. We are not looking for awards only giving you a chance to see something that we once saw and connected with.
