An Old File processed with the latest software
A few months back I wrote about completing work too quickly (483 Sometimes, I Move Too Fast. November 12, 2017). A conversation with a friend brought up another thought that makes so much sense that it will change the way I approach completed work. It’s quite simply this. Why shouldn’t you go back and rework old projects where the images were great but the presentation has not evolved to current standards? In short why not show your best work in the best possible way?
More than a few years back the friends of Ansel Adams created a surprise exhibition for him showing all the versions of Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico he made from the time he first printed the negative until the present. Maybe my initial position on not reprinting photographs was made without adequate consideration. (Isn’t that a clever way of saying I made a mistake in my thinking?)
Have you tried re-processing that RAW file you made five years ago with the latest version of Lightroom and Photoshop? The folks at Adobe have not been sitting around idly for the past five years. The software has improved and it will show on your photographs. Don’t believe me? Go back to a five year old RAW file and process it with today’s version of the software. You will see a difference.
Some of the best images from years ago could benefit from being processed with newer digital editing technology to take advantage of newer displays. It’s something I never thought I wanted to do, but it is necessary to show my best work in the best possible way.