Glass Bottles

in Monochrome

in Monochrome

I’ve spent the better part of the week going through my photo library. My computer has been groaning about the Aperture Library load ever since we’ve been home from NYC, and the best way for me to get space quickly, without paying for it, is to cull my photographs.

Why is this such a hard job?

Well, partly, it is darn time consuming. No one needs 4 views of anything, but to narrow the choices, it takes time to look at each photo and compare. Then to tag with keywords, to check the meta-data. All time I could spend . . . taking MORE photos!

But the weather has given me a great opportunity to stay inside, huddled in a corner with my Mac. I know it’s summer, and this year it seemed I had to wait months and months for summer to arrive. And I know it’s Wisconsin, all that temperate weather and those cool breezes, but the last days have been darn hot by upper Midwest standards. 95˚F and 65% humidity is enough to slow anyone down to a slow crawl.

I looked at the entire weather map of the US a couple of days ago, and there were two areas of the country with bright yellow weather warnings for heat advisories-the middle of Arizona in the Sonoran desert and the upper Midwest-Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois. Our heat doesn’t get compared to desert weather too often!

As for the above photo, I found it buried in my archives, where I found way too many photos that I once considered posting, and then ran out of time and space. Considering I shoot 4 to 5 days a week, a few hours in the morning, and then back again for the evening light, it is way too easy to collect a huge number of photos. At least when I shot film, my wallet always stopped me from taking too many photos. It seems that no controls like that exist any longer, though I know my camera does have a limit. Just like the Ever-Ready Rabbit, I just keep shooting, and shooting, and shooting.

If nothing else, it keeps me out of trouble. (Usually.)

About Bo Mackison

I'm a photographer, book-artist, traveler, naturalist, and creator of the Contemplative Creatives Journey, An Online Workshop and Community and Desert Wisdom Cards and Workshops. Though often not well known, I find the desert a welcoming place - a healing space. Its mysteries and gifts transformed me several years ago. Since that first encounter, I return again and again to fill my well in what most people think of as a desolate region. I'd love to share my desert discoveries and wisdom with you. Please subscribe to receive my five part mini email course The Gifts of the Desert. It's my gift to you.

Comments

  1. cherokeebydesign says

    I can relate to the photo-taking problem.
    Living in the western mountains of NC, I’m always out taking photos of something.
    I just bought an external hard-drive with a TB of space about 6 months ago.
    And already I’m facing running out of space again.

    Isnt it funny how that happens when nice weather rolls around??

    Raven
    http://cherokeebydesign.wordpress.com/

  2. cherokeebydesign says

    I can relate to the photo-taking problem.
    Living in the western mountains of NC, I’m always out taking photos of something.
    I just bought an external hard-drive with a TB of space about 6 months ago.
    And already I’m facing running out of space again.

    Isnt it funny how that happens when nice weather rolls around??

    Raven
    http://cherokeebydesign.wordpress.com/

  3. Digital certainly does change things, doesn’t it! My photo library has grown to the point that I’m having trouble finding things easily and the numbers are getting overwhelming. I also need to trim some of the fat. Oh well, maybe that’s what winter evenings are for.

  4. Digital certainly does change things, doesn’t it! My photo library has grown to the point that I’m having trouble finding things easily and the numbers are getting overwhelming. I also need to trim some of the fat. Oh well, maybe that’s what winter evenings are for.

  5. Don’t stop, or even slow down, there is always going to be room for just a few more!

  6. suehenryphotography says

    I’m smiling once again at your “commentary.” I would imagine that nearly all digital photographers face the storage dilemma.

    So glad you re-visited this image and shared with us. I love the processing on this.

  7. Great photo!

  8. Great image in monochrome. I have huge files and many as there are some photos I keep for perhaps a later time for experimenting or I just don’t want to delete. Preston and I have an extra hard drive we keep our photos stored. We have finally come up with somewhat a system. LOL

    Keep shooting, Bo. 🙂

  9. Stunning image. Love the sepia tones and processing. And – I know exactly what you mean about running out of space…and then having to actually take the time to go thru everything and make decisions.
    UGH!!!!

  10. Stunning image. Love the sepia tones and processing. And – I know exactly what you mean about running out of space…and then having to actually take the time to go thru everything and make decisions.
    UGH!!!!

  11. I have the same problem, Bo. Too many photos and not enough space. I’m not good at sorting through my photos either. I keep telling myself that I will do it at the end of every month, and then I don’t get around to doing it. Perhaps this would be a good month for me to get started on that project.

    Wonderful image. I really like the way you processed it.

  12. what a great picture! i love the shapes, and reflections! it would look great in my office… 😉

  13. Then you shall have one for your office. I’ll try to have one ready for when we come to NY.

  14. One word for all above. Jello. LIke Jello there’s always room for more …. (photos of course). 🙂

Leave a Reply to Marcie Cancel reply

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.