Your Google Drive is almost full…
My Google Photos/Drive account has been accumulating thousands and thousands of photos, all automatically uploaded, over the last few years. Most of the photos are snapshots taken on the spur of the moment with very little thought given to composition, lighting, or any of the other rules of photography.
So it came as no surprise to me when, a few days ago, I got a message from Google saying that I was rapidly running out of room on my Google Drive and I needed to take action – quickly!
Google’s options were to:
- Buy more space; or
- Delete unwanted files, or;
- Download everything I wanted to keep and delete all my photos from Google Photos.
As I am a tightwad, I wasn’t going to buy more drive space and instead opted to download everything and cull unwanted photos and files once they were safely on my local hard drive.
Downloading all my accumulated photos wasn’t a difficult task, but somehow there were lots of image duplications in what Google terms “Takeout” in their download process.
I eventually ended up with about a dozen “Takeouts”…meaning many, many duplicated images.
It’s a good thing I have plenty of time on my side for culling…
Anyway, during the culling process, I decided to single out a few photos that appealed to me, and had they been taken with a better-quality camera, I might consider having some of them printed, framed and hung on the wall.
Alas – the Android devices I have used through the years, have not been at the same quality level as more modern iPhones, Samsung Galaxies, or whatever the yuppies of today use.
My devices have all been middle-of-the-road units with middle-of-the-road on-board cameras, and have delivered, dare I say it, middle-of-the-road images.
Admittedly they were purchased as phones and not cameras…
I’m not saying I am displeased with the photos, or that taking them was a waste of time taking them…but in all honesty, you wouldn’t want to see them at 200% normal resolution!
Your Google Drive Is Almost Full…
If your Google Drive is almost full – it’s time to check out the photos you have stored there and have most likely forgotten about.
You may be pleasantly surprised.
I was!
When in doubt – add a distraction to conceal the inherent flaws in an image. Nik Analog Efex was the distraction used for Roadside Motels, Waiouru.
With Umbrellas the distraction is a black and white conversion. The umbrellas are hanging decorations in a local restaurant and this was a quick capture while dining there a few months ago. Processed in DxO Photolab 7, the original color image was cropped, and one or two bright distracting objects in the dark background were removed. The black-and-white conversion is one of the Premium LUTs built in to Photolab 7.
One of the really good things about my middle-of-the-road phone camera is that it generally does produce bright vibrant colors. Sure, often they are a little over-saturated, but nevertheless, the colors in St Anne’s Lagoon above, are pretty close to what I remember when we visited there at the end of our previous autumn. It’s just a shame that the blue of the sky is not reflected in the water.
But – I guess you can’t have everything.
Everyone loves a beautiful sunset, and Henley Lake in Masterton served up quite a few lovely ones during our visit last year.
While the sunset itself is an awesome distraction in iteslf, a bit of tweaking in Photolab and Nik added to the finished image, allowing detail to be drawn out of the shadows, and warmth added to the sun’s glow.
Lots of noise in the sky detracts from an otherwise nice photo. However, as a “memory” snapshot, Misty back country road fits the bill well – a reminder of roads less travelled.
So when you get the message – “Your Google Drive is almost full” – or whatever it actually says, download your photos from Google Photos, and check them out.
You may well be surprised by photographs you have captured and forgotten about.
