Perceptive Photographer #37: Thoughts on Editing and Sequencing

When working on a project one of the most important aspects of that work is the editing and sequencing work. To tell a great story, you need to make sure that the images you select for the project are not just great images but also tell the best story possible. In this podcast, we take a look at the key concepts around editing and sequencing work. Focused on more of the photo essay verse a photo story, we talk about how important it is to have strong images. Focusing on composition, technique, meaning, intention and a ruthless eye for editing, you can select the best images for your project. Working with a really strong base of images, you can then start the sequencing project. Sequencing Photos When working with essays, the sequence is just as important as the images contained in the project. There are number of ways that you can sequence work: by color by shape and form compositional elements meaning light and shadow color feeling emotion time With so many options and images how do you even get started. I like to start with creating piles of images that share a common thread. From those piles, I pull the strongest images. The rest of the images go into piles for reference and use later. I then start with one of images and find a second image that pair well with the first. It is feeling or gut reaction at first. It just seems that these images are stronger when they are together. At that point, I can start to figure out what about the images works well together. From that I just keep adding and subtracting images until the essay is complete. It is also important to focus on what your project is since editing for a book, video, magazine, and gallery wall are all different experiences. In some cases, you might have both with one being a subset of the other. This can result in you having two edits of the same work.