pub | What's (in) the Picture?

At The Pub Garden

Black and white photo of a garden area with wooden picnic tables and umbrellas, featuring a building in the background and some greenery. — England, Dorking-Wotton – July 2026

LAPC #406 is ‘summer daze’. On a warm Summer’s evening at the local out in the garden.

Archive England

Shot with iPhone 17 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version

At The Pub

Two women sitting at a table in a casual outdoor setting, overlooking a landscaped area, with one woman gesturing while they enjoy drinks. — England, Dorking-Wotton – July 2026

LAPC #406 is ‘summer daze’. On a warm Summer’s evening having a meal and drink at the local out in the garden.

Archive England

Shot with iPhone 17 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version

Lens-artists Photo Challenge #382 is about rejected photos. What do you do with photos you do not like? You can throw them away, or you can keep them. And if you keep them what can you do with them? First a story of myself, how I work. And in the end an example.

I am a snap shooter for a long time. When looking at this question for myself, I have to distinguish between the analog age and the digital age. But in both ages it is about quality, how you can assess that and what instruments are available after shooting. And above all: how can you be creative, and how much room is there to experiment?

The analog age was expensive: film was expensive, darkroom materials were expensive too. And being a poor student I shot as efficient as possible. You had to be patient while shooting, and selective. You also needed to trust your skills. Experience was essential to figure out what worked and what not. To produce good prints you needed to develop darkroom skills. And some negatives were impossible to print. But you kept them all. I never threw away negatives. That decision was beneficial in the digital age. After scanning my negatives, I properly made them look like what I had in mind when shooting them. What the darkroom did not deliver, software did.

In the digital age the cost of a photo is nearly non existent. The original photo (the former negative) can be copied lots of times. From the start technology offers instruments to oversee the quality of the photos. What you shoot is instantly visible on the camera. You can try different changes in the photo. Adjustments like shutter time, focus, and shutter opening can be tested most of the time. The RAW format offers flexibility for editing the ‘negative’ after the shoot. Software offers lots of creative tools to change the photo, or create new images.

So, do you keep rejected (bad) photos or not? I do reject photos, overseeing the result on my camera. I keep photos that can come to a good result after editing. The rest I remove straight away (e.g. bracketing shots).What I keep is stored on my NAS, where I use Lightroom as my archiving tool. I use editing tools to tweak a photo slightly. My favorite is Snapseed for web and social media publication. And Lightroom and Photoshop for prints.

The digital age is a time for unlimited creativity. The photos of ‘dinner at Wiveton Bell’ are an example of testing out the iPhone in a very dark situation. I shot about 8 frames, I kept them all but had my doubts. At home I worked them in Lightroom and Snapseed. And was surprised by what came out. And the ones that did not work were indeed deleted.

On the left the photo published and on the right the original RAW file.

Four silhouetted figures walking in a dimly lit parking area at night, with a church tower in the background under a starry sky.

Four figures walking on a gravel path toward a church under a starry sky, with parked cars on either side.

Old Pub

A picturesque village square featuring traditional architecture with red-tiled roofs, surrounded by several buildings and a clear blue sky. — England, Blakeney – December 2025

The King’s Arms in in Blakeney. Founded in 1763. And still sells fresh beer.

Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.

Dinner at the Wiveton Bell in Norfolk

Abstract night scene featuring silhouettes of buildings and structures against a colorful, illuminated sky. — England, Wiveton, Blakeney – December 2025

A dark night scene featuring a faint moon in the sky above a shadowy path, with silhouettes of people walking along the trail. — England, Wiveton, Blakeney – December 2025

Having dinner at the Wiveton Bell. A beautiful moonlight night, an open invitation to play with the iPhone. The results did surprise me.

The bottom right photo is taken with the night modus. The rest with the manual mode of ‘real light’.

The one of the church reminds me of a medieval painting.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.

Horsham in May 2024: Leisure

A pub, one of the best places for community connections (connect LAPC 303).

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

The Parrot

England, Dorking – Forest Green – May 2024

The Lens Artist Photo Challenge celebrates its 300th episode! A big cheer for the four founders for starting it and keeping it alive. This one is ‘delicate’.

archive England

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Admiral Nelson’s Pub

The Lord Nelson in Burnham Thorpe, admiral Nelson’s local.

Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

From a Window (Bhaktapur 2004)

This weeks challenge #205 is ‘the eyes have it’.

About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. Some of them are partly retouched but most do have scratches, dust and stains.