A tale to solve a photo storage problem

I was crouched down on the footpath, taking photographs of a series of limestone rock carvings in a garden. Not for any particular reason. I have started taking my camera with me on walks. I love to capture details, art, pretty things. I relish in the ordinary.

The problem is, I take A LOT of photos. So many that I currently have 54,000 photos stored on my laptop. It constantly causes storage issues. I photograph extensively for my business, which accounts for a considerable portion of these, but also for pleasure. A lovely record of memories and the everyday beauty that exists around me.

I can easily take 20 – 100 photographs of the one thing. Later, I go back and pick the best. Then I usually forget to delete the others. Or I decide to keep them, just incase. Hence my storage problem.

Anyway, back to the footpath

I am not sure how long I was photographing these limestone sculptures. I was lost in the moment. So there I was down on the ground, trying a few low angles when I heard a voice behind me say

“ When I was 19, I used to take rolls of black and white film.”

I looked up and was greeted by a radiant elderly man, dressed in a gorgeous rainbow outfit. We started chatting about photography. I told him about how many photos I take each day. He said that watching me take close up photos here on the footpath reminded him of his younger self.

We mused about the difference between film and digital and after a lovely chat, concluded that with a finite roll in your camera, you tried to make each shot really count. Time was spent lining up a shot, considering the frame and balance. Sure he snapped beautiful random things too, but there was value in a roll of film. Value that made you mindful.

I thoroughly enjoyed my brief encounter with this man. We never exchanged names or any other details of our lives. Just a shared love for photography in that brief moment. I watched him charge up the hill, walking stick in hand, impressed by his speed and agility.

I realised that he had just shown me the solution to my storage problem.

I simply need to take less photos. Make each one count. Digital photography has made me a lazy photographer.

I was at a music festival that weekend, surrounded by incredible talent, art and beautiful scenes. The temptation was ripe to continue on my merry clicking trend. Instead I deliberately chose to only take one picture of each subject.

Not all turned out perfect.

Back home, when I put the photos on my computer there was not many to delete. In fact instead of trawling through a few hundred photos, I had 20 or 30 shots that I was proud of.