Have you recently process photos that you took many years ago?

Singapore has never fail to amaze me with its rapid speed of change... the skyline for one has gone through numerous refurbishments over the past 5 years. This photo was taken about 3 years ago... I think the skyline would have changed again by now. As a Singaporean, I have mixed feelings with this rate of development - proud & sad. I am proud of the fact that as a nation... it is progressing at a rapid rate yet sad that there are so much unfamiliarity each time I return to the country...


Anyway, recently, I met a budding Michigan photographer at his photo exhibition in Ann Arbor. He is obviously quite talented & his type of photography is rather... "unconventional". I can't remember his first name ... his last name is "Dennison". We were happily chatting & sharing about our different approach to photography. I am a self-professed HDR-freak (although I have "tone" down a little recently), Dennison is more a paint-photographer - while the photos I take places emphasis on colour, contrast & sharpness, Dennison is more "out there". His end product... looked nothing like the original photo. They looked more like some abstract "dark age" paintings. You'll have to see it to appreciate it.


We started sharing our workflow and he said something that sticks with me until today. Dennison's approach is that he will refrain from developing or processing any of his photos until 3 months later. His rational is that he wants an unbiased appraisal of all his photos before he processes them. The logic is that while shooting during the day - you may have thought that you've shot some really good photos (natural bias) & you charge straight for those photos for processing. As a result, you may have missed out some really good shots that may not grab you attention initially... 


I tried that approach today - and got this photo process. I am happy with the end result - and the only reason why this photo ever made its way into this space is because of Dennison's advice.