There are two basic ways to approach this, but, generally speaking, it involves going through each image and giving it a rating, after which you’ll use the LR filter to only show a certain selection.
Here are a few pieces of advice on how to use Lightroom to assist you in decluttering and culling. Once you’ve done that, you can move on to the more detailed review, and Lightroom really comes into its own at this stage. The added benefit to this, too, is that the next time you go through, you can do it a little less quickly, and it’ll seem much slower, much like how driving at 40 seems like you’re hardly moving after getting off the highway. But it also gives you a quick recap of the entire shoot, reminding you of all what’s there. What we’re talking about are things like truly blurry or out of focus images, poor framing, wrong light, eyes in mid-blink, and poor backgrounds. What you’re doing at this stage is looking for glaring issues that would render that image useless, and believe me, they’ll stand out at that speed. I’ve previously spoken about the benefits of a first & fast flyby – meaning go into the set of images, say in Lightroom, and scan them all at blazing speeds. If you shoot and cull just for clients, you’ll lose your drive, but if you do it just for yourself, prepare to lose clients. Of course, you can change that ratio as you see fit, but it helps, because as stated above, you’re being hired for your vision and ability, so they want to see your creativity and tastes too. One of the ways to help you strike that balance is to think before the shoot, and during culling, about reaching a 60/40 ratio of what you know the client likes, and what you like. A client wants just enough as not to be overwhelmed, and enough that they feel they actually have options to choose between.
No, you are paying for the decision-making ability (to some degree) of the photographer/studio. You are paying for a service which doesn’t mean you want to be shown all the work on the back-end. If you do that, you’ll understand that you, the client, have hired a photographer to shoot and edit, and part of editing means you want to be shown the best. A Few Words On How To Think About Culling In fact, in almost every part of your shoot, it pays to take a step back and run it through your own neurology as if you were the client. If you ever struggle with why you should, even if you have unlimited storage, think in terms of time, and think in terms of your client. It is a daunting task, and emotionally involved because it means you’ll part ways with some of your shots, but it is oh-so necessary. Regardless of your level of experience, it is absolutely critical that you learn how to think about culling and how to actually use your program of choice to make culling more effective.
But as the flood of norepinephrine and dopamine intoxicates you, you realize that the most time consuming and often gut-wrenching part of the endeavor is about to take place – the cull.
It’s exciting because, during the shoot and prior to, you’re full of ideas – during, you execute them, and then now you’re about to see them realized.