I agree about the shaving process. I find Bridge really useful for
that because I can apply stars.
In your case I'd start by sorting the images by date. Then I'd
probably tackle a week, that's 52 tackles per kid Put up a week's
worth of shots of a kid, start classifying them by best/least worth
bothering. Then drop out the least category and look at the
remainder comparing them with the best. Revise your categories so
you get rid of another set of not-worth-its. Then start working on
the remainder in terms of things like emotional content, liklihood
that the image will do best in b&w, connection to the other children,
to the adults, to the precious toys/things, any criterion that you
can use to justify getting to the number for each week that you
decide is your goal.
It's the shaving idea. Eliminate things by criteria until only those
which are most satisfying remain. Then go on to the next week etc.
until you've finished. Don't be in a hurry, but don't belabor
yourself over the not-worth-its. If you bog down, go for a half hour
walk. Sleep on it. Celebrate when you pass a milestone - a month, a
season, from end-of-summer to Hallow'een. Make your own criteron for
what the milestones could be, but set them. Set limits, so you do
the work in chunks and feel like you're making progress.
Of course, while you're doing this you're going to grow as a see-er,
as an envision-er. You're going to want to go back to the beginning
and see if you missed anything, etc. etc. Promise yourself that you
won't do that until you get to the end of the three kids.
The images aren't just about the kids' growth. They're inevitably
also about yours. Just like them, you cannot ungrow, so do not be
ashamed/embarrassed about the images from the beginning that are not
as satisfying as those from the end.
--
Emily L. Ferguson
mailto:elf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
508-563-6822
New England landscapes, wooden boats and races
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