Steller’s sea lions hauled out on rocks along Alaska’s coast.

Going through ten thousand photos and trying to pick out the best is a daunting task.  That was my goal upon returning home from two week photograph trip to coastal Alaska.  You must be ruthless and delete the vast majority of shots.  There is really not much sense in keeping too many of your photographs.  They clutter up your files and make it hard to have the cream, those photos with value, at your finger tips.  And when you have whittled your work down to bare bones it makes your entire collection look its best.  As you might expect bringing the cream to the top is not so easy.  Deleting shots that took a lot of work and more than a little luck requires a collection already bulging with good material and knowledge of what has a chance of being published in this market of low demand and high, very high supply.  I pick my keepers by asking questions.

Fluking humpback whale.

Does the photograph improve my coverage of the subject matter?  If not delete.

Sea otter feeds on scallop.

Does the photograph have clarity?  By clarity I mean, is it clear what is happening?  If not delete.

Long-tailed ducks in winter plumage.

Does the photograph have photogenic qualities?  Show action? Depict mood?  If not delete.

Bald eagle banks over large schools of herring in shallow water.

Does the photograph contain clutter, light spots, obstacles in front of subject or other elements that distract from a good clean presentation?  If so delete.

Bald eagle snatches herring.

Sea otter mom and pup.

Does your portrait illustrate your subjects qualities?  If not, then delete.