So you thought that image was not usable?

Rebuilding my site I have to put up some new content. I have to display work that would make people want to see more. That might be the understatement of the week. So I now have quite a few interesting decisions to make.

Decision number one is to get out there and shoot fresh material. Port Elizabeth is giving us lots and lots of fresh air today. Right now I am then settling for second best. But only for now. I am going for second best and revisiting the past.

As I sit here I am sorting through lots and lots of past work. A very small fraction of this work ever saw the light beyond my storage drives. It was a bit annoying at times. You come back from an outing and the outing was very enjoyable. You start downloading truckloads of images and you think that there must be a few usable ones.

Now, if you are anything like me, you make an initial selection and then find reasons why they are not usable. That selection dwindles to very few if any remaining images. Very soon you are convinced that the shoot was but an outing with nothing to show except memories.

Now skills are always improving and we learn new techniques. But how often do we make the time to revisit older work?

I recently found something very worthwhile. A Danish company called sleeklens.

I have started using their Landscape Adventure Collection. To say that I am impressed is another big understatement. I have not yet even scratched the surface of their set of more than 50 actions for Photoshop.

Now you might wonder why I am telling you this. I am a photographer making a living with my camera, right? Why would I help you to know what I know? Very simple, it will save you time. And lots of it, too!

We all have our own style. There are many companies and individuals out there who will offer similar actions. That is true. Sleeklens even offers online editing for you. They also offer a large number of other extra services such as template designs. These templates are very well made and, like their actions, are versatile.

So I will leave you with that. I will also leave you with a quick example of what took me mere seconds using two of their actions.

The image I am sharing below is no award winner. That we can agree on. The best use of this improved image is probably nothing greater than sharing on social media. If two actions and about ten seconds of your time can make that much of a difference, think what it can do for you.

Sure, a properly captured image is always the goal. I can just hear some purists starting up their keyboards to tell me so. The fact of the matter is that here is a great set of tools that you could use to salvage an image that could otherwise be unusable. Many things are often outside of the photographer's control.

Can you just imagine what it could do for really good images?

Now I must get back to sifting for content.

Take care!

Anton