How often do you look at your photos?

Growing up my Mum & Dad had a big box of old photos, some dating back to WWI. Every once in a while they would pull them out for whatever reason and we would go through them, always with a story of who was in it, where it was & what was going on. Often those stories would branch off to other people, other times, other places. A picture of their old house, across the road from the local pub,, elicited a story of an old friend drunk as a skunk, riding his horse onto the porch, another an aerial target from bomber practice in WWII with a note on the back, the last message from a friend who never came home. Always interesting, often funny, sometimes melancholy.

I treat my photos the same way. For me it's the story behind them that is as important, if not more so, than the photo itself.

They are a touchstone to moments in my life & of those who have shared those moments with me.

SimonV said:

I have this "problem" with my photography. I don't really get much out of looking at my past photos. Any shoot I do, however exciting, I just can't find any interest in the photos very long after. Travel photography, exotic wildlife photography, they might all be great fun in the moment, and maybe a few days after, but when I come back to them after say a week or month or so, even if they're "good" photos, I just go "meh" and close Lightroom. It's like I don't care at all about my photos after I've taken them, even if they're unusually successful. And even then I just forget about them.

I guess for me it's more about actually being there and taking the photos, but it's a bit of a downer that I can't enjoy the photos afterwards and I don't really understand why. It's just boring to look at my photos after a while and they give me little joy.

Anyone else struggle with this? Would like to hear your perspectives.

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My best photo is the next one and I'm always looking forward to the next shoot. That doesn't stop me from enjoying pictures shot previously.

Most of my photos are of people who use them for whatever you use portraits for, or they're used by the charity I shoot for, for "marketing" of their services to the community, to advertise for volunteers, or to advertise for their thrift shops.

When I see them in use, I enjoy looking back at the shoots where they were created, and enjoy that they are good enough to serve their purpose. In one of the thrift shops, two 8' high pictures of volunteers has been on display on large windows, advertising for volunteers for 14 months and they're still up.

I also sometimes seek inspiration or use my flickr page (klausquare) to get new customers or models.

Holiday photos make me remember good times in the past.

Pretty much every day. I get a lot of enjoyment from bopping around among the tens of thousands that go back for decades.

I have about 5,000 images on my iPad and look at several every day. The app that offers images up prompts some of this and I also go looking. Every couple of years, I go through my back catalog and revise the iPad library, including reprocessing a handful of older images.

They are memories of my life and experiences that I value. It’s just a shame that the digital era didn’t come earlier.

For most of my landscapes, the image recalls the pleasure of being there and the equipment and experience of taking the photo.

Andrew

Literally every day.

I have prints around the house, framed, of happy moments of life and family. At my office larger, 60x 90 cm, canvas prints as decoration. At my wifes office too. These are nice travel pictures. We rotate and replace now and then.

On my phone I made selected folders of events, not just taken with the phone but also imported from other device.

Last but not least I scan/ photograph series of older slides (transparancies) and analoge prints I like. Also on this phone.

This device is almost allways with you. You can brouwse at any moment and contemplate any progress, or not, in your photography.

As an ongoing project , editing all digital photos of the last 20 odd years. This will keep me busy.

Main advise: print ,enjoy, print and display, even if it is only in your own man/woman cave,

To some people, some of the time, photography is like golf or a steak dinner in an excellent restaurant.

It's an event, not a product.

I'm promoting the idea of photographers amking prints and giving them away, extending the impact of the process/event of taking/creating the picture.

My partner has some framed B&W prints of famed architectural and historical sites on the walls, and we have a photo of me, a picture of my maternal grandfather, and some dog and boy pictures. But most of our wall art is paintings and African sculptures.

BAK

Plus, we would have more of my photos up if we had more walls,

BAK

SimonV said:

I have this "problem" with my photography. I don't really get much out of looking at my past photos. Any shoot I do, however exciting, I just can't find any interest in the photos very long after. Travel photography, exotic wildlife photography, they might all be great fun in the moment, and maybe a few days after, but when I come back to them after say a week or month or so, even if they're "good" photos, I just go "meh" and close Lightroom. It's like I don't care at all about my photos after I've taken them, even if they're unusually successful. And even then I just forget about them.

I guess for me it's more about actually being there and taking the photos, but it's a bit of a downer that I can't enjoy the photos afterwards and I don't really understand why. It's just boring to look at my photos after a while and they give me little joy.

Anyone else struggle with this? Would like to hear your perspectives.

Click to expand...

Don't consider it a problem. Many go through various stages similar to the one you are going through...

Years from now you will have the time and desire to go through many of those images you have taken and appreciate them from a different perspective, or even want to alter them with the latest advancements of software.

Time changes everything...

-M

Hello, Yes I fallen into this habit. Years ago when I was younger I would have photos made for an album. Well those accumulated fast and now have too many albums. I would look at them once a year. Just getting a few out and gander. Now I just get a few made, and most I put them on my tablet. You are right, it is exciting to take the photos, and a little less to view them.

If the image is mermoriable to me or if it is a master piece of work that I am proud of, I think I shall always look at it again. Do you have any of those?

I read a lot of good comments here on this subject.

My photos are glimpses into my history. I can look at some old photos and see where I went and what I did.

I have a ton of photos made while hiking. I can look at a set and sort of go through that hike again, in my mind.

You can make one or more websites with your photos.

You can make books with your photos. You can use a self-publishing book publisher to make books. Print on demand.

If you have a lot of good photos, made with a DSLR, other modern digital camera of DSLR quality or better, or with a film camera, you might be able to do business with a stock photo agency. Nothing less than DSLR. If you consider this, you need to make sure you will get a decent return on any sales. It used to be good many years ago, but now days, with millions of people with good cameras, some stock photo agencies, maybe most, are only offering "peanuts" for the photographer's share of sales.

Think about what you have, and maybe you can come up with some ideas of what to do with them, if you want to put some time an effort into it.

Are you looking at your photos using the same monitor, chair, office, lighting, etc. that you used when you processed them if you shoot raws, or if you shoot jpegs downloaded them?

If yes, then maybe looking at them feels like work or repetitive. I shoot raws, process every single one I keep, then upload them into the cloud. After that, I might not look at them for months. But when I want to relax, I will stream them on a big screen OLED TV in the den, straight from the cloud, play classical, jazz or pop music appropriate for my mood, and sip good coffee or wine while seated on a very comfortable chair with all the lights dimmed. Much like when I set aside time to watch a good movie. I find it very enjoyable. YMMV.

I don't fail to look at my photos when I see them everyday hanged on my walls.

Seriously though, not all of my photography is worth looking at.

I have a handflu of "keepers" that I print each year in a large-ish format to hang them, and I try to make a photo book per season (composed of abouy 35-45 images generally, never more than 50).

I'm currently working on the Winter 2025 book (January - March), those little books are a nice, efficient way of printing photos in a way that make sense, and that you can go take a look at ever so often. It's nicer than having to boot up the computer and find the right file, then proceed to burn your eyes on a screen trying to remember what was the context or situation in which you took them.

ahaslett said:

I have about 5,000 images on my iPad and look at several every day. The app that offers images up prompts some of this and I also go looking. Every couple of years, I go through my back catalog and revise the iPad library, including reprocessing a handful of older images.

They are memories of my life and experiences that I value. It’s just a shame that the digital era didn’t come earlier.

For most of my landscapes, the image recalls the pleasure of being there and the equipment and experience of taking the photo.

Andrew

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I also have an iPad “rotation” system, but on a much smaller scale. I like to keep about 100 pictures on my iPad. These include twenty or thirty recent pictures, twenty or so old slide scans from my early years and a selection of pictures from the past 20 years. I change many of these about every three months. I don’t like to forget my older pictures and enjoy the memories they bring, even if they’re not exactly works of art.

I don't spend much time looking at my digital photos, but I do make quite a few prints. When I was working and had an office, I had room for about a dozen 8 1/2 x11 framed prints. I rotated out about half of them every month. At home, my wife and I have about 20 framed prints on display. Most are 16x24 prints. Some have been on display for a year or two. Most are replaced after a couple of months.

I have never quite understood why so many photographers will spend lots of money on gear, but a printer, ink and paper just seem to be too costly. Do you really need a 20, 30, or 60 mpix camera and high quality lenses, merely to look at your work at the equivalent of about 2 mpix on a monitor?

In addition to the enjoyment, there is other major reasons to make prints. First, you will be more selective and careful when shooting if you make prints. Before pushing the shutter button, I try to decide if what I am shooting will be worth printing. If not, why bother. Next looking at prints of your recent work, helps me see what I could have done better or at least differently.

Once I started printing, I found my keeper rate went way up and I spend way less time culling and trying to fix the images in post. Printing has also cut back on my GAS. High end gear just isn't needed. A decent camera and lenses is all that is needed for a 16x24 or even 20x30 print.

ahaslett said:

I have about 5,000 images on my iPad and look at several every day. The app that offers images up prompts some of this and I also go looking. Every couple of years, I go through my back catalog and revise the iPad library, including reprocessing a handful of older images.

They are memories of my life and experiences that I value. It’s just a shame that the digital era didn’t come earlier.

For most of my landscapes, the image recalls the pleasure of being there and the equipment and experience of taking the photo.

Andrew

Click to expand...

I pretty much do the same. However, I started sorting my best photos into albums like travel, landscape, cityscapes, me and my wife, family, friends, and portraits. I think it made it easier to look back at my older photos. Additionally, I had about 2,000 old photos developed on paper. I had them all scanned. After seeing the results, I discarded the printed photos.

SimonV said:

I have this "problem" with my photography. I don't really get much out of looking at my past photos. Any shoot I do, however exciting, I just can't find any interest in the photos very long after. Travel photography, exotic wildlife photography, they might all be great fun in the moment, and maybe a few days after, but when I come back to them after say a week or month or so, even if they're "good" photos, I just go "meh" and close Lightroom. It's like I don't care at all about my photos after I've taken them, even if they're unusually successful. And even then I just forget about them.

I guess for me it's more about actually being there and taking the photos, but it's a bit of a downer that I can't enjoy the photos afterwards and I don't really understand why. It's just boring to look at my photos after a while and they give me little joy.

Anyone else struggle with this? Would like to hear your perspectives.

Click to expand...

Do you feel the same about videos ?

Don’t know ? Haven’t tried ? then give it a go and see whether motion and sound will grab your interest

jj

I look at mine every day because they are on my three computer monitors running simultaneously on my desktop. I also have prints on the wall, and I make it a point to participate in sharing photos at Photonet in its Nikon forum and "No Words" forum.

I used to feel the same as you do about my photos. I remember thinking to myself that I needed to do better. That was a few years ago, and I now consider myself a much better photographer, and while others may not think so (which is fine), I enjoy sometimes just staring at my photos (some more than others) and always having them displayed. Don't take this as a critique of your work; it's just what I experienced.

I/we look at mine daily. Throughout our home we have some 100+ prints hung. My photographic interest is scenic/landscape. Prints are my only photographic product.

Some of these go back to when I was early in to digital from film (2009-10). I got photographs I could not now get. Others I could probably go back and get, if weather and lighting cooperated, but that would be a lot of work, then a roll of the dice.

I consider myself fortunate to have gotten those images.

Most of the time my bride and I have been together on such safaris. So besides the aesthetic properties of such prints they are also memories we were making. In some of those instances we would be on-scene and I would be looking for where I wanted to posiition myself, my bride, knowing what I was after, would also be scouting. She would then come back to me and tell me where to stand. Her parting comment would be that she had found my spot; it was now up to me to get the photograph. Beneficial partnership, fun and fond memories.

One of the great benefits to me of digital photography is the simplicity of making prints.

Since we live in a remote area, I have never outsourced printing, and have never wanted to.

My desk is my darkroom.