D_LlewellynD – ©Daryl Llewellyn

Never think that you are finished with one of your images.

As your processing skills develop and your photographer’s eye becomes more discerning, you’ll find that when you return to earlier images, there are often other ways to see them, and other images lurking within them.

The attractive photograph above, a tranquil lakeside scene, is a recent one by Daryl Llewellyn.  I am sure that what caught Daryl’s eye was the gentle reflection – of the variegated rock, the bright green leaves and the more subdued evergreens.  So he composed his photo to tell that story, which it does perfectly.

But there is another way to tell the story.  If one takes a second look, and remembers that it was the reflection which caught Daryl’s eye, within the original image is this beauty (be sure to click it to see it larger):

Reflections – ©Daryl Llewellyn

So the lesson of this post is two-fold: never throw away an image unless it really is seriously flawed (badly out of focus, over exposed, pushed the shutter button by mistake); and, do go back over your images looking for different ways they might be presented (cropping, convert to monochrome, process differently).

Your subconscious intuitive brain works with your more analytical side to compose each photo.  But the camera is not always able to isolate every important attractive elements of the scene.  You’ll often be surprised by what you can find with the help of image processing software…