Matt Powell Humanitarian Photography :: Blog

Some travel shots from Timbuktu that didn’t make the portfolio cut.  It was such an amazing location, I just have to post more pictures.

A big thanks to my colleague Paul Sherar for doing the HDR work on this image.

I’ve been combing through my photo archives lately as I do a new portfolio edit.  It’s a slightly painful task, (lots of junk!)  But it’s fun at times because I’ve encountered a few hidden gems- some I don’t even remember taking.  Most are a bit quirkier or random than my usual favorites, and finding one actually gives me some excitement- similar to capturing a great image from a new assignment.   These images remind me not to pass up those random, quirky moments when they happen.  Plus it’s enlightening to see how my style has progressed over time, or perhaps rather how my preference for which pictures hold value and which don’t has changed.

So this begs the question, “Why would we disregard certain pictures at one point in history, but find them so pleasing upon re-discovery”?

And then it occurs to me:  In the time since I shot many of these pictures, Lightroom has completely revolutionized the way I see and process my pictures in post, making the process much more fun and creative.  So maybe that answers part of the question.   Anyway, I’m starting a new category called “Pictures from the Vault” to which I’ll be posting periodically.  Here’s the first…

Cambodian country side. Yes, that's a pig in his basket.