Viewing & Editing Photographs

Viewing & Editing Photographs

by William Lulow

So, on my last trip I made approximately 1,500 exposures. Some were just documents of the places I visited, while others might rise to the level of “art.” I always try to gauge an image’s effectiveness at communicating something, perhaps a feeling or even a sense of awe, by how long I like to view it. As I have repeated many times in these pages, in order for a photograph to be effective, really effective, there has to be something about it that invites the viewer to look at it many times and study it. So it has to be intricate and contain something that stops the viewer from going on the next image. 

Out of all those shots, there may be a dozen or so that I like to call “money shots,” that is, they are arresting enough that people might want to buy them. Here is one:

This panorama of Florence, Italy makes you want to examine it! Not just because it contains so much information, but because the vantage point allows access to the three main attractions of the city itself. Not that the city doesn’t have many of them, but these are probably the most visited by tourists because it’s the reason most people come here. It was made by carefully making three images that could be stitched together by Photoshop. Many think that doing panoramas requires a wide angle lens, but those lenses actually encompass more of a scene by making items within the scene smaller. The three images comprising this single panorama were made with my Canon 85mm lens so that each would produce a photograph big enough to see its contents clearly. That’s one of the things that makes it compelling. But, at the same time we have to realize that panoramas, by nature, are long, thin images.

But, making these panoramas is a kind of “trick” because it relies on being able to put multiple images together, something I used to do even before the digital age made it easier.

This close up of Florence’s Ponte Vecchio, is compelling because of the detail shown on the bridge itself as well as a nice reflection in the waters of the Arno River:

This was made with my Canon 20mm lens which, on my crop-sensor camera, makes it act like a 32mm, which is still considered a “wide angle” lens. Since I was close enough to my subject, I could render all of it clearly. 

This image, to my mind, describes what I thought Venice was mostly about – boats. In this case it was a gondola:

I think the compelling factor here is that the gondola is large enough in the scene to be the dominant element and it makes the viewer want to look at it and examine it. Here is another of gondolas and has a similar “wow” factor:

And there are a few others as well that I thought commanded my attention:

A street scene in Orvieto,

A classic Black&White image made in Amalfi,

and one of Positano, made early on my visit. 

Out of the 1,500 frames I shot, these seven, were probably the best. Lighting was good, but not spectacular, so the images, to be strong ones, had to rely mostly on composition, color and overall “feel.” And, although I didn’t get every shot I thought about (one was the Trevi Fountain in Rome at night, but when we could go there, they had shut off the water), I basically covered many interesting views. 

Many times during this trip, I found myself getting tired of shooting just scenes, as beautiful as they were. Occasionally, I made an image or two of some interesting people:

Here, farmer and pasta expert Chef Lorenzo Polegri in Baschi, Italy. Made with my Canon 20mm f/2.8 lens to gain maximum depth-of-field.

Here, a busking cellist in Orvieto. Made with my Canon 85mm f/1.8 lens to isolate the subject from the background. 

For me, the climbing up to see many of Italy’s famous hill towns (built that way for defense purposes) was a lot of exercise, but I got many memorable images which I hope my readers and viewers have enjoyed.