I don’t think I am the only photographer with this problem, so I’m eager to hear from about your solutions! The problem? I never seem to catch up with the incredible backlog of images that I want to process. I’ve been lucky enough to visit some great locations over the years, and I have shot a lot of photos. Each of these trips has contributed to my backlog.

My current portfolio creation effort is definitely helping reduce the mountain of unprocessed images, so I feel there’s progress. At the same time, it has also pulled me back into directions that I didn’t finish exploring. Infrared photography and processing techniques is a great example of this.

This image from the 2023 Valley of Fire trip will definitely make it to my portfolio after further improvement…

Swoosh Rock Shrubbery

This is one of the shots that I captured during an early morning photoshoot at the Swoosh Rock area. The sun’s rays light up the rock formations in the top of the image, adding more warmth there. The rather unassuming bit of shrubbery in the foreground caught my eye, so I shot this as a focus-stack sequence.

There’s a bit more follow up work to be done on this image, such as improving the overall lighting, as well as a better treatment of the sky.

Of course, this blog post highlights one of my problems: meandering. As I’m going through my images, I will often find myself in a rabbit hole of my own making. The discipline that I am applying to pulling together a portfolio might help with this.

Thank you for reading my ramblings, and I would love to hear about your strategies for your photo backlogs.

2 responses

  1. In the early years of digital photography, managing my backlog was a real challenge. Over time, I developed a system: I start by dumping the memory stick and reviewing the images for clarity and composition. I tag the weaker shots for deletion and do minor edits on the **keepers**. Sometimes, I’ll do a second pass to ensure I only keep the strongest images. This process has helped me stay organised and focus on quality over quantity.

    It does not always work. 🙂

    1. I like that approach. I think one of my challenges lies in controlling how much work takes over life.

      Thank you for sharing your approach.

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