One I Prepared Earlier

It happened again. I got a request from someone to use images that they found on my website. They are delighted with them, and I am delighted that they are delighted....but now they want me to make more in the same style and I am in desperate trouble.

I can't remember how I did the first batch.

This scenario plays out for all of us eventually, though it may not be at a client's request. We might just stumble upon the photographic equivalent of the Lost Chord and then discover that there is no recipe to repeat it.

Actually, there is. If you look into whichever editing program you use, you'll find that a section can be triggered that records the history of what you have done to an image. The adjustments, filters, and effects are noted down in some detail, and if you reproduce that menu, you can get pretty much the same result. If you want to be even better at it, in Lightroom, for instance, you can record all that you have done in the form of a custom preset in a special list.

There is no guarantee that one image will come out exactly as another was - given that there may have been different starting points as far as the raw image went - but you'll be ever so much closer than just banging away on the sliders.

Note that there is any number of commercial filter sets and programs sold to alter images in LR or PS. These can be made by famous photographers who want your images to look like theirs...or just hopefuls who are trying to sell software. The canny student or enthusiast will spend time working out what they can do for themselves - if they find the Lost Chord they can then preset it and start on their way to their own fortune.