Archive 2023 · Choosing between image variants

ialarmedalien
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Choosing between image variants

How do you go about picking a keeper when you have a number of similar images?

For example, I went on holiday recently and came back with a number of similar photos of a lighthouse, taken over a couple of days. After culling dupes and near-identical shots, I still have about ten variants of the lighthouse, taken from slightly different angles with slightly different FOV, more or less sunlight, mist, sea birds, and so on. I don't feel I have enough landscape expertise to pick "the best" image (a subjective notion anyway).

How do you pick which image(s) to keep and which to bin?

Aug 13, 2023 at 07:56 AM

jforkner
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Choosing between image variants

Ask someone whose opinion you value to choose.

Aug 13, 2023 at 08:54 AM

bmike-vt
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Choosing between image variants

Post them in Photo Critique with your request and see how people react.

Aug 13, 2023 at 09:58 AM

chez
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Choosing between image variants

The best is extremely subjective. Pick the one that you feel the most attachment and that is your best. I’d never let others pick the best for me…that is a personal decision.

Aug 13, 2023 at 10:02 AM

dmcphoto
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Choosing between image variants

If you've gotten rid of near duplicates, bad exposures, and the like, have a number of distinctly different variants of the same scene, and don't dislike any of them, I personally wouldn't bin any. Hard drives are very cheap.

If and when you want to do something with the image, like print it, post it somewhere, or whatever, you probably want to find the "best" one. I don't think anyone else can do that for you. I've found that living with an image for a while nearly always determines if I like it as much as I initially thought, and can also determine the "best" among a group of similar images. By "living with" I mean looking at it frequently over a period of time, say as wallpaper on your computer, or if you can print it, stick it up on a wall for a while in an area you frequent. You may grow tired of some or all of the images, and/or you may gravitate toward one. Sometimes an image doesn't seem as good as I thought it was after the memories of being there and capturing it fade a little.

Good luck.

Aug 13, 2023 at 05:27 PM

kthung2
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Choosing between image variants

Sometimes I'll look at thumbnails of multiple variants and see which one I am instinctually drawn towards. When you zoom out a bit sometimes the more pleasing composition will jump out to you.

Aug 15, 2023 at 10:28 PM

rji2goleez
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Choosing between image variants

The variant you pick today, might not be the variant you pick tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now and so on. Keep those variants, put them away for a bit and come back again. If you keep picking the same one for the same reasons, you have your answer.

Aug 16, 2023 at 06:56 AM

ialarmedalien
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Choosing between image variants

Thank you to all who responded - some interesting and helpful thoughts and advice!

Aug 16, 2023 at 04:38 PM

another_mikey
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Choosing between image variants

A common problem for sure. Once all the obvious inferior images have been eliminated it comes down to which one you like the best. If you cannot figure that out, get others opinions. I have found for myself that getting others input almost always helps me tell which version(s) I actually like better (often because it is NOT the one chosen by someone else...) After that if you just live with a few of the candidates for a while (I like to use candidates as wallpaper on my own computer) you will often find you gravitate towards a particular version over time. Ultimately, it is the one you like the best that is the one to keep, although as mentioned above, hard drive space is cheap and sometimes if you still have multiple copies you like equally after all this you just keep them all...

Aug 28, 2023 at 06:27 PM


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