Revision

Some random notes about my workflow, or after "after the workflow" habits. Things like that. I thought these would be worth sharing (mainly targeted at Lightroom users of course, but applies to other photo management software just as well I think), as an inspiration, a hint... who knows, maybe it's useful for someone out there. :-)

• I browse through my older photos every now and then. I review them, re-evaluate them, and rate them anew. I try to find out what I like about them, and what not.
• I mark favorites in Lightroom with the "pick" flag. But I often forgot to rate those picks later. I created a smart collection that shows me all photos with the pick flag set but without rating. I can quickly rate my favorites that way.
• I only rate photos that I flagged as "pick". My rating goes something like: 5 stars - absolutely worth printing; 4 stars - definitely a keeper, maybe print it, but not absolutely necessary; 3 stars - it's nice to look at so I keep it, still good enough to be shown in a web album; 2 stars - a nice personal memory that I enjoy to look at (but most likely no one else will); 1 star - personal stuff.
• since I shoot raw, I often create virtual copies of older photos and start processing them from scratch. Just to find out if there's anything I missed, or to experiment... things like that.
• I set filters on my library to show me only 5-star photos. I look at them critically and decide if I still consider them 5-star photos (worth printing). I do the same for the other ratings. Sometimes a photo jumps up from 3-star to 5-star after I re-processed it (with some film simulation or other creative preset, maybe)

I think it's important to stay critic on one's own work and review it. With growing experience, I tend to notice flaws that I had not seen before. I hope to learn from my own mistakes.