Why would you want to look back over your old images with a view to processing, or re-processing, some of them? Surely one would have processed an image at the time if it was any good, and a processed image is finished and should not be touched again?

Earlier this year I gave a short presentation of some of my black and white images to the Monochrome Group of the Amersham Photogaphic Society. I wanted to show some of the work I had done before I joined the group, and to show something of my style and vision. In doing so I looked back over some of my older images that I had processed, and some I had not processed. I learnt something of the experience and now have the following guidelines:

• Generally, once I have processed an image that is it in terms of the look and feel of the image and what I have tried to portray, particularly if it is an image I have exhibited… but, my digital processing skills have improved over the years so it is OK to undertake some additional processing in order to give an image something I could not before, such as a certain punch (local contrast) or sharpness.
• It is OK look back through my image catalogue to see if there are images that I want to process or revisit. It is a bit random at the moment but sometime soon I think I will start tagging images I have looked at with a date, to keeps tabs on the process.

I have found that as my vision and style develops I can look at some images I took months ago, or even years ago, and see something different in them. Perhaps I had not felt the image was any good or perhaps I never felt an image worthy of the time it takes me to work it into an image that either represents what I saw at the time, or is hinting at something that I am getting a glimpse of now. Perhaps even the image is speaking to me now on an emotional level when it was not before.

The above is one such image. A view along the Ogwen valley in North Wales taken in December 2009. It was bitterly cold but I was fortunate to find myself there after a period of heavy snow… and the mountains looked fantastic. I don’t know why I had not processed this image. It is a good view, I like the composition and the almost monochromatic scene. It is not a stunning image though by any means, and not a competition or exhibition winner, but it reminds me of the time I was there and transports me back. I like it, and have enjoyed processing it, I hope you enjoy it too, and perhaps you will look back over some of your images and find one that speaks to you.