P3D A plea for editing

[Tom Deering <tmd@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Aug 5, 1996, Morris M. Keesan <keesan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>I was surprised by some of the poorly exposed and/or
>improperly mounted slides people were willing to project for a presumably
>discerning audience.  And one or two shows, while technically OK, were
>overlong and sorely in need of editing.

I noticed this comment in the archives, and it reminded me to make 
this brief plea for editing.

Some of you are putting together slide shows, perhaps for your local 
club, perhaps for a convention like the NSA gathering in Mesa.  I 
would like, very humbly, to offer some advice that you probably will 
not hear anywhere else:  Pull out your marginal slides, and show only 
your very best work.

Why?  Two reasons:  First, we all love our own photography, so we 
tend to keep too many marginal shots.  The shots with a poorly 
defined subject, the ones with murky focus, slides with iffy 
exposure, photos that are almost identical to others you are showing.

The other reason is: people will tell you they love your slides, no 
matter how good or bad they are. People often will say something 
complimentary rather than hurt your feelings. (My first slide show 
was 100% crap, and yet everyone said nice things.)  It's hard to get 
good criticism.

If you are planning to present your slides sometime soon, I would 
like to suggest that you find a couple people who know good stereo, 
and who will be brutally honest with you, and have them take notes 
during a preview of your slides.  (They must be projected; 
hand-viewing is no good for this.)  If both of your reviewers have 
problems with a certain slide, ask yourself if the shot needs to 
remain.

Me, I would rather see a short presentation of excellent slides 
instead of a long presentation of good and average slides mixed. 
Maybe you feel the same way?

Cheers,

Tom Deering

PS: I'm not thinking of any particular show as I write this, except for my own.