Lucky Dip - Revisting older files in your library

The start of a new year is an excellent time to review long-forgotten digital pictures on your hard drive. I try to do it at least once a year and, in the Northern Hemisphere, we are less likely to spend time on actual photography in winter. So that is an excellent time to rediscover older images and, at the same time, increase spare storage on your computer by deleting unwanted material.

Where to start is an individual choice. I usually select a year, or alternatively, look for images taken with a specific camera. There is an advantage in this way in that processing files from the same camera becomes more consistent, with identical profiles. This year, I chose to review all pictures taken with my Leica Digilux 2, bought over 20 years ago. Although I still have it, and use it very occasionally, it has a tiny sensor compared with modern cameras. But its unique feature was a superb Leica Vario-Summicron lens, deserving of a longer life. I achieve this selection using Lightroom's filtering system or, more typically, by setting up a Smart Collection. This method is more efficient and automatically collects all appropriate images. (Note that it does not duplicate the actual images, unlike an ancient system I once used) That collection is my starting point for each session. (Oh yes, there will be many sessions)

Next, I use another filter at the top of the window so that I can review all unflagged pictures. In the early days I tended to keep everything. Not so, today! My aim is to review the unflagged images and mark carefully considered duplicates or duds for deletion. These can be reviewed once more before finally deleting them and regaining storage space. Occasionally I have second thoughts and a few would-be rejects are retained. So it is a fail-safe operation.

More information can be found in my article published here: https://kendavis.photium.com/news114614.html