On the last morning of September, I listened to the hum of the wind as it blew in another storm. I glanced at my camera with the hope that the whole day wouldn’t be raining. I hadn’t taken one last stroll around the yard. I reminded myself of how much fun it is to walk through the leaves before the snow falls on them. Once the rain stopped, I did just that!
Perhaps I should’ve taken a picture with my shoes in the scene. Yeah, that would’ve been better. Oh, well. There’s always October for more opportunities.
I squatted down to get a close-up of a maple leaf. And clicked away (12 photos) until I remembered the dinner discussion Mr. and I had the other night.
Mr.: “How many photos are needed of the same flower, bird, or whatever it is you take photos of? Isn’t saving one enough?”
Me: “Um…” Not sure I was ready to tell him the SD card was full a while back so I off-loaded a bunch of photos to the server that I wasn’t ready to review or delete. I made folders for them where they’d be safe and I could delete them off the SD card so I could take more photos. Sounded rational to me at the time.
Mr.: “Do you know how big each photo file is?”
Me: “Um. . . no. . .” Not sure what to say as I was clicking away as fast as the woodpecker who was pecking away at the fence.
Laughter is what spills over the edge of an inspired life.
Mary Anne Radmacher
It wasn’t really a heated conversation but, it was hot enough. At least my face turned red in embarrassment. And it has led me to the edge of thinking that a month of photo-taking abstinence is in order. Or, perhaps a better technique of deleting?
Let’s vote:
Option One: For October I can’t grab my camera and I must use previously captured photos for my blog posts instead of taking new ones.
Or
Option Two: For October I can take photos but must ruthlessly choose a photo(s) from the lot I took, and then delete the ones I didn’t use.
I’m on the fence about either option. Let’s see if I can do one or the other and survive!
I’m open to reusing and repurposing photos even if I risk showing ones you might have seen before. As you scroll through, can you tell which photos are current or from the past? Hmm. . .
Let’s not escape the fact that the fences in our yard haven’t changed in decades, so there’s that…but the lattice has. Do you remember the old lattice?
The amount of rain making the grass green or brown has varied year by year. We’re ending one of the driest of summers we’ve had here. The last couple of weeks we’ve had considerable amounts of rain and the mushrooms are popping up everywhere. Best photo out of 13.
The amount of dew I’ve walked through has varied as well. Year after year, I walk this familiar path in my yard. I put on a LOT of miles this year watering my flowers daily.
This corner of the fence has been highlighted often as I watch the fields change throughout the four seasons.
This side of the fence is a host to birds, lots of birds. And lots of photos of birds in their own special folder on the server. 🤔 Best 3 out of 9.
The Downy Woodpecker is relentless in its pursuit of chipping away at the cedar everywhere. Peck, click, Peck, click, Hop, click, Hop, click, Peck, click. . .
At the other edge of the fence where the cedar meets the chain link, we see quite the activity. The scoundrel rabbits and ground squirrels can fit through it so they come and go as they please. Rarely do I catch them in the act with my camera.
As you can see, the lichen has grown well on the edge of the cedar planks.
Many a storm has approached our backyard. The fence has withstood the test of time.
Like me, the wooden fence has aged. The textures of the swirls that look like wrinkles remind me of the hummingbird’s wings too. I missed hearing the hum of those delightful little birds. We couldn’t find a feeder that didn’t leak so we didn’t feed them this year. (Bonus point paragraph ✅)
By looking back through my archives I see how much the view out our kitchen window stays the same yet feels so new each time I grab my camera.
Thinking about how I have changed my photography skills/techniques over the years is quite a blur. Focusing on details versus the whole view of an area is one thing I seem to enjoy doing. How many faces do you see in this photo?
I dabble on the edge of abstracts too. Here’s a fence blocking a bridge under repair as we drove by it last week. The photo came in handy but probably should’ve just been deleted. 🤔
And there’s this silly view of an old birdbath. I kind of liked how it was in focus along with the flowers. 🧐 (Best out of 10)
My eyes are attracted to each surprise I’ve captured. That’s why each photo has potential.
Before I force myself to be frugal with how many photos I take/save/delete in October, I did take a few fun shots before September was over. Of course, I did.
If you’re not living on the edge then you’re taking up a little too much space.
Morgan Freeman
Like this bumble bee taking a nap on the edge of the zinnia. Here’s the best out of 7.
The farmer surprised us. He harvested the soybeans before the end of October, and then a day later, he planted something else. In SEPTEMBER! WTH? Doesn’t he know we live in WI, and winter can appear anytime once October arrives? Best 2 out of 32 photos 😏
The geese and the turkeys in the distance are thrilled with whatever it is! Best 1 out of 21 photos.
It looks like some kind of grass to me. It’s lined up with the old corn stalks and tiny soybean sprouts trying to regrow. Doesn’t that blade look like it has eyes?
And I couldn’t resist the Giant Marigold that finally bloomed along with two tiny marigolds that grew from seeds all on their own. (Best of 3)
My last September stroll around the yard looking at the flowers that survived made me smile and tear up at the same time. I couldn’t resist saving a small bouquet to set on the edge of the window sill. Here’s the last photo out of 12 and the last on the SD card for September. 🥰
Hello October, will I learn my photo rationing lesson?
Post Inspiration: Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: starts with “hum.” Find a word that starts with “hum” or use the word “hum” itself. Send your bonus points to Dan at https://nofacilities.com/ if you use both. Enjoy! Patti at PilotFistBlog for Lens-Artists LAPC #269: On the Edge and Terri Webster Schrandt’s Sunday Stills October 1 Fences and Brian at BushboysBlog Last on the Card for September.
PS – Happy October! Do you do any special challenges in October? What tips do you have for getting ruthless in deleting photos you don’t use? What do you think the farmer planted? And . . . what is your vote? Option 1 or Option 2?
Yep you might have more photos than you need, Shelley, LOL! Always good to delete the dupes or fuzzy ones. I’m on the fence to choose my favorite, too, but I love the shot of the fence with the lines of corn! Of course the birds around the fences are fun to see! You really are a skilled photographer and the images may feel like your babies–hard to choose the best and delete the rest, LOL! High fives for meeting 4 challenges, too!
😂🤣 Yes, I have too many photos, definitely more than I could ever use. I’ll get plenty of deciding/deleting this month (I hope)!
Thank you so much for your feedback and encouragement. Thanks for jumping back into the groove of Sunday Stills after your long trip!!
Hahaha! You’re cracking me up! Probably because I’m guilty of the same thing…too many photos. I always say “Too much of a good thing is still too much.” 30 photos of the same thing is 30 photos of THE SAME THING! Plus I have to go through them all processing and picking the best one. Sometimes I go back & forth between two and then think “What the heck am I doing?” Anyway yeah, you need to cull, or else curb the click (lol). Definitely don’t cold-turkey it though! On another note, I was going through my reader and wondering “Where’s Shelley? Come out, come out wherever you are!” and Boop! your post popped up! Lolol! PS- my plan for this morning is to start on the 500 photos I took of Yellowstone last month. The struggle is real. 😉
Hi! As I was reading your comment I was nodding my head, especially the comment, “What the heck am I doing?” 🤣😂 I’m going to try and delete each day, I just don’t have it in me to not grab my camera. I tried on the 1st and already have withdrawal symptoms. 😆
I missed your post for the Tell Us Why and WOW, your choices are spectacular!
Oh, my, 500 photos of Yellowstone. I bet you’re struggling, that’s a lot to go through. I can’t wait to see your favorites.
As always, thanks for stopping by, I love hearing from you! 😊
Yeah, it’s not fair to deny yourself such a simple pleasure. It’s too much fun to give up! As for the 500 photos- I neglected to mention the additional 100’s of Gigs of video too (dash cam x2).
I grabbed my camera yesterday!
Wow – that’s a lot to look through. You’ll feel like you’re on vacation again! Happy sorting to you 😉😁
I like all of your photos, Shelley, they all tell a story. Option number two is what I have always done. I take several photos of a subject then sort them out later on the Mac. The rest go in file 13. The summer has blown by hasn’t it? Maybe the farmer planted Rye or Alfalfa? That’s what we used to plant to feed the deer for deer hunting.
Thank you, John! I’ll take your approach as inspiration to be more ruthless this month.
Yes, the summer flew by, but came back yesterday and will stick around for a few days. It’s kind of a shock to be in the upper 80s and running the AC again. We thought shorts weather was over. 🤔🤣
I think it might be Rye to help save the soil. I’m sure the deer will be out there eating it once it gets a little taller. I hope I’ll be able to get some nice pictures of it as it grows. It’s a new sight for us to see.
I hope you’re having a great start to October!
We will go from the 70s back to low 90s this week. Nice! Happy shooting!
Yo-yo weather! I hope your bike tire is fixed and that you get out to ride it some more.
The company I bought it from is picking the bike up at noon today. It will be gone a couple of days. Of course I have to pay for the trip as well as the repo but it’s better than the drive south to Henderson.
That’s great news!
Wow, Shelley, so many photos! I’m guilty of that too 😄 good job we can delete what we don’t want instead of paying to have photos developed. I love the bird and flower photos and you have a wonderful selection of fences. I haven’t seen a woodpecker go at a fence like that before, but I guess it was part of a tree…😉
Thanks, Cathy! Yes, I have way too many photos. I agree, I’m glad I’m not paying to process these on film. When I think back to that time in life when we had to pay for the photos, I didn’t practice much. I was disappointed often when I picked up the envelope – wishing I had done a better job at taking photos. I have a box of those kind of photos to sort through some day too. 🤣
That woodpecker is a daily visitor that we chase off often. She brings friends too. 🙄
PS – I so enjoyed the photos you chose for the prompt – excellent job! 🥰😍😁
I was very often disappointed with film photos too.
I’ve recently put a nut feeder out with the others and I’m hoping it’ll bring the woodpecker back. The ones that visit don’t seem interested in the fence 😄
The phone cameras make it much easier to capture moments!
This year has been the year of several species of woodpeckers in our area. That little Downy one is the peskiest of the bunch. You’re lucky yours stay away from the fence!
The really do!
We only tend to get the great spotted woodpecker in our garden and I haven’t seen one for a while. Maybe this winter…
I think Cathy hit the nail on the head Shelley. Those of us who started with film are much more strict about how many we shoot and/or keep. The ever-present cellphone camera has definitely complicated that issue. Ever notice how long it takes someone to find something they want to show you from a week or more ago?! 😊 Not shooting for a month is a TERRIBLE idea IMHO!! Better to push yourself to be as committed to downloading, editing and deleting as you are with capturing! After all, that’s a big part of the fun of photography – seeing what you created and whether it’s worth keeping or improving! This week my favorite is the two wooden eyes
Hi Tina! Thank you for your feedback. I so appreciate reading your words of wisdom. YES – very true – I even did that myself this week with my cellphone. I hadn’t realized how many photos I had taken, it seemed like the one I was looking for was just two days before. After a lot of scrolling I found it! 😂
I’m encouraged by your advise to download, edit, and delete. I made a post-it note to hang on my computer to remind me! It might show up as a photo in a future post 😉😊
PS – your take on the prompt was great – I’ve recovered since seeing the last photo that was such a surprise as I scrolled through them!
Too many photos is like too many books–impossible! At least photo files are small and you can save them on thumb drives, right? Love your pics of your yard–and especially the fence wood swirls which happen to mimic the swirls in the wings of the sweet hummingbird. Amazing. And I never would have noticed that before, without your photos!
LOL – aw, Rebecca, yes, so true. In between my photo clicking sessions I’ve been gathering books to read. My book collection has been growing out of control too. I tried being a good user of my Kindle, but found I still prefer to hold the book in my hands and turn the pages.
I’m glad you enjoyed the photos and the swirls like hummingbird wings. 😍🥰
I hope the boys’ school year is going well and that your events you’ve been going to are filling your writer’s heart with joy! Thanks for stopping by – it’s always great to hear from you dear blogging buddy! 🤗😍
Option 2. It’s great to have choices, you just don’t need to keep them all. You will still amass a large number.
Thanks for your vote, John! I chuckled, YEP, I will still amass a large number regardless of my attempts to download, edit, and delete. My new mantra thanks to Tina!
I don’t bother deleting any. As soon as I do, someone will have a blury-bird or fuzzy-photo challenge. I bought more space on iCloud and I back up my camera to OneDrive (Microsoft give you 1tb with Office365 subscription) and I keep the full memory cards as additional backup.
I love your photos today. I’d be hard pressed to pick a favorite, let alone any to delete.
Yes – someone will have that blurry/fuzzy challenge. Are you hinting at a future prompt for SoCS? 🤔😂
We haven’t ventured to the iCloud yet, thus the server space discussion. 😆 Even my phone photos are too much the iCloud warnings come to my email each time my phone isn’t backed up! UGH.
Thank you – I’m glad you enjoyed the photos.
PS – I started reading book 4! I’m enjoying it and wish I had a vacation day to keep reading it!
Storage space is always an issue. I don’t imagine the need will ever decrease. I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying the 4th book.
Keep clicking (why do I dislike that word and I don’t like “shot” while I’m at it) It is a case of going through the photos then
1 deleting the obviously dud ones
2. deleting the ones there is two or more of the same. I have to do this when I use the 10 photos/sec function which is handy for insects and some bird opportunities.
3. Have a best folder where the best of the lot goes
4. this is where the hard decision is. You already did this with the woodpecker on the fence. Picked three so delete the other ones
5. keep the best one at full size, resize others for blogs or other online use
6 thanks for joining in 🙂 🙂
7. I couldn’t remember some of the old photos. Thanks for getting down and getting some great macros. Love the fence textures as well 🙂 🙂
Hi Brian! That’s funny you say that, I don’t like those words either, they don’t seem to do photography justice. Do you have a better term?
Thank you so much for the list of tips and your feedback. 🥰 I need to work on dud patrol.
I’ve printed the list and have it hanging next to my computer monitor so I revisit them when I’m reviewing my photos. I’m determined to practice the new skills this month!
Thanks for hosting the last on the card and for your advice, as always, much appreciated!
hahaha yes, that discussion about “how many do you need to keep”. We were talking today about how we would take photos and then have to wait two weeks to get them back and then send photos of my kids to our parents and they no longer looked like that. I am so grateful for as many photos as it takes, and I enjoy picking a few that “I feel”. Loved your fence face. A fun read Shelley.
I love that comment about how the kids had changed by the time the photos arrived in the mail. 😂
You have a gift for curating photos that “feel” right! Happy Birthday to you – your birthday celebration spot was breathtaking! 😍🤗
Thank you Shelley.
You’re welcome!
Well I like all of your pictures Shelley, the series, the groups and I especially like the still life of flowers you had at the top. I would not want to see you give up taking photos for a month to punish yourself for something you like to do. Instead put some of the photos on Google photos or buy a flash drive. I have a flash drive in my laptop all the time … I have lists and also I keep a spreadsheet of bills I pay electronically or any paper checks I write … I would not want to lose that list as it is extensive. When I go thru photos on the camera card, I save them to files on my old computer, then send those images in an e-mail from my G-mail account to my Comcast account. They are ready to be used in a blog post then. So I still have them on the camera card and back up photos in e-mail accounts – three copies, so they’re not lost.
Aw, Linda, thank you for your encouragement. I’m determined to use this month as a learning tool to be better at ditching the duds.
I smiled when you said 3 copies so they’re not lost, that’s ME too! 🥰😍🤣
I used to put them on Shutterfly too, but I just started doing it this way instead, though I was looking for a photo yesterday and couldn’t remember where it was … finally remembered after searching for “butterfly” in my Sent G-mail and coming up empty-handed. I find myself taking more and more duplicates at parks because half the time standing on uneven surfaces, the pic may be lopsided or even blurry if your hand shakes.
Yay for being able to find what you were looking for. I do the same thing by taking duplicates. I think I really need to delete duds and dups!
If you store them in your Gmail, they are not on your server and you can search for them that way … I sort photos, then don’t use them right away, so if I identify them enough I can find them in my Gmail using key words and the clicking “with attachments”. I’ve had a ton of duds and duplicates through the years, believe me!
Thank you for sharing the tips about Gmail! I could do better with that as well! 🤣
Me too Shelley and. in Comcast e-mail I have a lot of separate folders, so many I almost need a key or a list of some type to find them!
You’ve created a mini-library on your computer!
Yes, and it’s searchable … more so than Comcast is, but for now, it works for me!
A system that works is the best thing ever!
Yes, that’s for sure! (Except in a computer glitch – right now my Comcast is down, but my G-mail is okay … so I still have one workable option anyway and G-mail is better as it is more searchable.)
Comcast sure goes down a lot. 🤔 Way to have a back-up plan!
Yes, it does and I am glad I have my texting abilities back with the handyman … I asked my boss to text me back with a few words to see if it was Comcast or T-mobile (handyman’s phone) and my boss claimed he never got my text. Comcast has some issues. I got a message tonight when I logged on that said I came from another source. Well, I am an alien. 🙂
That’s good you have some of it working properly again! I hope you have fun being an alien. 😉
What tips do you have for getting ruthless in deleting photos you don’t use? I have no problem deleting photos, if it doesn’t grab me instantly it is gone. If it repeats a story told by another photo, it is gone. If it seems mundane, it is gone. There’s a freedom I like in having a tightly curated photo collection.
I’m inspired by your ruthless approach Ally – thanks for sharing! 😊
You made me smile more than once, Shelley! So good. Loved your birds and your fence structures.
Hi Anne-Christine! I’m glad to hear you smiled. I was in awe at the photos you used for the prompt. I’m definitely smiling and inspired! 🥰 I’m also glad you put the prompt for next week out in advance. See you next Sunday!!
Buy yourself an external 5 TB drive for under $200. That’ll hold about a million pictures. I don’t know any serious photographer that doesn’t take a hundred pictures to get two or three good ones.
Hi John, well…dang, that’s a good idea too. I’ll discuss it with Mr.! You’re right, that’s a great point too. Photographers take LOTS of photos to get just one or two.
All you need is an open USB port to plug the drive into…
I might just be able to do that all on my own! 🤔😉
Oh boy. I’m the worst person to ask for advice on scaling down the number of images! I keep buying more storage! But I have started going back to a folder and deleting the ones that are obviously not good enough to edit. I really loved your close-up of the fence. The textures are marvelous! And the birds at the edge of the fence are terrific. You have captured the world in your backyard! I love it.
Hi Patti- thank you so much for your feedback and for hosting the Lens-Artist challenge. I’m glad you enjoyed my post too. 🥰😊
Oh my I can relate to the photo taking issue….lol. I take so many. I need to be better at deleting. I say keep taking but then review and delete what’s not needed. or douuble, etc..haha. Great photo choices by the way.
Hi Kirstin! I appreciate hearing I’m not alone in taking/keeping/not deleting pictures. It’s just so easy to do nowadays.
Thank you – I’m glad you enjoyed the photos I chose for the post. 🥰