The Photos That Didn’t Make the Cut

If you follow any photographer online, you’ll be forgiven for thinking that every time they go out with the camera, they are creating a masterpiece. After all, photographers tend to publish only their best images on their social media feeds. I’m no different.

The reality of the situation is very different. Even the very best of landscape photographers probably feel frustrated more often than they do satisfied.

When I started this blog nearly 5 years ago I said that I would publish my successes and my failures. This is something I have stuck to. Unlike my portfolio page on this website, my blog contains not only my best images but also some rather average images as well. This is OK though as my blog is about sharing the stories behind my landscape photography adventures, and every adventure is not a success!

Even so, there are some adventures that I don’t write about because nothing exciting happened, the pictures weren’t interesting or there was no story to tell. This doesn’t happen that often, but when it does I’m left with some photographs that never see the light of day.

As I’ve had a little more time on my hands recently, I decided to go through my Lightroom catalogue to pick out a few of those lost photographs so I can share with you the reasons why they never got published.

Belstone

Belstone common is one of my favourite Dartmoor locations to photograph and I’m always discovering new compositions like the one in the photograph below. The image is sharp, well exposed and I like the composition, so why didn’t I publish it? The main reason is that it doesn’t excite me. Compared with some of the other photographs I’ve captured at Belstone, this one lacks punch and contrast. What’s missing is the soft light from the rising or setting sun. That aside, in retrospect I should have been happy to publish the photograph.

Irishman’s Wall

Just a short walk from Belstone is Irishman’s wall and in the photograph below I’ve captured a panoramic image of the wall and Belstone in the distance. Again, I think I may have been over critical with my initial assessment of this image and it would have been worth publishing. My main issue with the image is the grassy area at the bottom right of the image. There isn’t much going on there and I’m not sure it adds anything to image. I still think the composition is good, but what would lift it for me would be some soft light from the left that would capture the undulations in the ground and making that area much more interesting and provide a additional balance to the image.

Colmer’s Hill

I’ve been trying to capture of photograph of Colmer’s Hill in good light for many years now. It never seems to be quite right! This image is getting close to the conditions I was looking for but there is a little too much shadow in the foreground, and the sky needs a little more colour. The main reason this photographed was never published is because it is soft. I’ve either slightly missed focused, or what is more likely is that I haven’t given the camera time to settle on the tripod between each of the panoramic frames. I’m almost glad the conditions weren’t amazing as I would have been heartbroken to not have captured an image due to poor camera technique!

Tunhill Rocks

Tunhill Rocks is a new location that stumbled upon while out walking my dog. This shot is very much an exploratory photograph. I wasn’t out with the serious intention of taking photographs, so it was never my intention to publish any of the photographs from that walk. The composition needs some fine tuning, but I think in the right light it could work. Unfortunately, the evening I took this picture the sun disappeared behind a bank of cloud before I could see what it might look like in good light.

Trendlebere Down

This is another new location for me that I discovered while walking my dog. I like a lot of things about this image but the main reason it never got published as those horrible bright reflections you can see in the water. No matter how I positioned the camera or adjusted the polariser I could not get rid of them. I’m sure that at a different time of day or when the cloud coverage is different, it’s a photograph I could make work.

Trendlebere, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 17mm, f/11, 20 secs at ISO 64. — **Trendlebere, Dartmoor, Devon** - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 17mm, f/11, 20 secs at ISO 64.

I hope you enjoyed that little look at some of the photographs that I’d not published before. I’m not embarrassed by these photographs, far from it. Taking exploratory photographs, trying new compositions, or even finding out that your camera technique that day was poor, is all part of life as a landscape photographer. So, if you have a dreadful day with the camera, don’t worry. As long as you learn something from the experience, you’ll be a better photographer for it.