Pixtus - Photography Forum, Photographers, Photo Tips

Boracho · **%'s -** 02-17-2007, 10:59 AM

I just wanted to know what % of shots you take while out you actually like and use. I know my % is fairly low, so wanted to know if that is abnormal or average. Of course I am able to take lots of shots so I just snap away, but when I get back I find that most are just not what I wanted from that picture.

Pikachu · 02-17-2007, 11:05 AM

I took 80 shots of some geese and ducks yesterday. Of those, I deleted 35 as soon as I saw them in Aperture. I have 26 left that are acceptable after basic post-processing. I'm sure I'll probably get rid of about half of those once I go back in to look again. If I end up with 1 or 2 that I'm really pleased with, I'll consider myself fortunate.

JPalmer · 02-17-2007, 11:08 AM

Ah yes...the classic case of "machine-gunning" as I call it.

Generally speaking....for the newspaper....I rarely take more than 50-100 photos from a general assignment. Sports, I'll go between 100-200 usually...but I'll save a bunch of them for later use as well. If they only need one photo from something, I'm even more selective to what I shoot. Just a nice portrait of somebody....I'm liable to take 10 shots after I get the lights and angles perfect.

My first pro. job was in a kids portrait studio using a nice medium format film camera. Kid photos...seven different backgrounds/poses.....and only 12 shots total.

The mgr. (and I was the assistant mgr.) hated it when we used more than 1 roll of 120 film per photo shoot. So when you've got to get 7 perfect shots on 12 attempts...you learn to have a bit of patience....I still shoot like that.

Daniel Bates · 02-17-2007, 11:20 AM

Me, I'm just starting out in PJ and sports shooting. So in sports, I'll be bursting nearly all of my shots and just plain shooting a lot of frames so that when I go back over my "take", I can figure out what worked and what didn't. It is a crash course of sorts in shooting--the more (different) shots I take, the faster I learn how to shoot that event.

Pikachu · 02-17-2007, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPalmer

Ah yes...the classic case of "machine-gunning" as I call it.

Generally speaking....for the newspaper....I rarely take more than 50-100 photos from a general assignment. Sports, I'll go between 100-200 usually...but I'll save a bunch of them for later use as well. If they only need one photo from something, I'm even more selective to what I shoot. Just a nice portrait of somebody....I'm liable to take 10 shots after I get the lights and angles perfect.

My first pro. job was in a kids portrait studio using a nice medium format film camera. Kid photos...seven different backgrounds/poses.....and only 12 shots total.

The mgr. (and I was the assistant mgr.) hated it when we used more than 1 roll of 120 film per photo shoot. So when you've got to get 7 perfect shots on 12 attempts...you learn to have a bit of patience....I still shoot like that.

Also, the beauty of digital. I can move around a lot, use different lighting angles, perspectives and compositions, fire off a lot of shots, not pay to process all that film any more and have more shots from which to select the best. I used to be very "thrifty" with film, but since I went digital, I've gotten some great shots (admittedly, some were accidental) by firing off a lot of them.

When you can take more shots at virtually the same cost, why wouldn't you?

Glen_A · 02-17-2007, 12:03 PM

I believe Ansel Adams was quoted as saying he was lucky to get one or two "keepers" a year. I don't think anyone would accuse him of machine gunning it and I am sure he went through many rolls of film. I believe if he had a digital camera at his disposal, he would have taken even more pictures. I think most people get to a point where they become more and more critical of their own work. Also, since we can take several pictures of a shot we want, we take several and then select the best of a series, after seeing what looks best on the big screen. My guess as what to I usually keep is probably 10% but it could be even lower.

Boracho · 02-17-2007, 12:24 PM

With my AE-1 I was very selective of what I shot, obviously, because you can't review what you have and can't reuse film. With my 2 gig cards, I feel that I can take as many shots as I need to the the ones that I like, then all the others are just disposable and I can reuse my CF card. But then again, I am still trying to learn the ins and outs of my new camera so I just enjoy getting out and shooting whatever I can.

Duffy Pratt · 02-17-2007, 07:22 PM

If I take 150 shots, my initial goal is to throw out about 130 of them. If I had a real good day, I might keep 30 shots at first. Some of these will be shots that I want to play with in Photoshop, and if the playing doesn't work, I will dump them as well. When I'm done processing, I will typically have somewhere between 10-15% left. I'd be happier if I could winnow it down to 5% or less. That's for a typical handheld session with a 200 or 300mm lens.

Over Christmas, I took some pictures of my mother's and my sister's newly remodeled kitchens. I was using my 10-22 lens and a tripod. The keeper ratio was over 80%, but that's because I was really careful with composition and exposure beforehand. And the point of these pictures was more documentary than artistic, so the standard for a keeper was a bit more lax.

Duffy

Night Owl · 02-17-2007, 09:19 PM

I saw "%'s" and thought you were swearing...

David Whatley · 02-17-2007, 09:46 PM

I'm guessing I get 75% +. But then I'm a film Dinosaur.

KeithAlanK · 11:49 PM

When just walking around somewhere, like the Rodeo on Thursday, I'll take three hundred and be willing to show a few dozen to people.
Those good enough to make it on one of my sites (or here)---about ten.

When I have a clear idea of what my subject is going to be and how I'm going to shoot it, I may refine composition and exposure over ten frames for the one keeper.

So, 3 to ten percent of my photos are what I'm proud of, the rest are intentionally snapshots or part of the creative process. About 5% are just crap.
If I was shooting film, I would be bracketing a lot instead of chimping.

When shooting clubs and concerts the numbers are worse, BTW.
Getting a good combination of ever-changing stage lights and smoke plus pose and facial expression is sometimes more luck than skill, and shooting with wild abandon definitely helps. The keeper ratio is around 1% at best. I feel lucky to get one a night that I like, but when a venue has good lights I might get ten or more.

srwatters · 02-18-2007, 08:14 AM

When shooting portraits or model portfolios, I usually will make 25 images per look. Of those typically I'll process no more than 3 or 4. Lately I've been getting what I want closer to 20, but still shoot a few more frames because you never know when 'the shot' will turn up.

20-25% keeper ratio is much better than when I started. It wouldn't have been odd for me to shoot 200-300 images.

David Whatley · 02-18-2007, 03:35 PM

Before anyone gets the wrong Idea, lets define "Keeper". To me a keeper is a shot that with cropping and CB is a shot the customer "should" like. With digital it 9is very tempting to fire away and hope to get something worth while. A keeper should be in the customers eyes, and not yours.
And with that defination, Scott has a 95+% I'm betting.

RightAngle · 02-18-2007, 03:47 PM

for me it depends a lot on what I am shooting. For sports I tend to take a lot more frames then normal because I have more chances of getting the "perfect" moment, obviously there are people who can achieve this a lot more of the time than I do though. For other stuff I tend to keep about 30-40% of what I shoot depending on what kind of lighting I have and how in control of the shot I am.

Duffy Pratt · 02-18-2007, 06:35 PM

Quote:

A keeper should be in the customers eyes, and not yours.

That's a good rule of thumb for professionals. I, on the other hand, am my main customer.

Duffy