Atherton & District Amateur Photographic Society

Here's a bit of an open question ...

How many (maybe in persentage or a fraction) pictures from a photo shoot would YOU consider a good haul .. for example would you expect 100% of the photo's you take when out (or in for that matter)on a shoot or would you expect 50% to be a good haul ? or as Mr Adams below is quoted

Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.

So, what is it ?

This is open to the likes of Paul as well as the likes of Bert .. I would also appreciate Mike-E's input, I know he is a wedding photographer so I guess his output will be scued in terms of getting quality volume but in that mind I would also like to understand from a career photographers point of view too ... And any input from The Gill's, Lesley's and Traceys of the world I have worked with all three of them but never really asked how they make the cut ....

thanks for any imput and no this is not for some college course its pure curiosity

Hi Brian, from a beginners point of view....

I have just spent 7 days in North Wales and taken approx 500 photos! Admittedly, I did not go specifically to take super shots but to record my holiday. However, I have still had some very disappointing results. If I had gone out to take 'the' shot, I would have been gutted! Having said this, I have learned a lot, have a great deal of questions to ask and a hell of a lot more to learn. Most of the photographers I have spoken to say that if they get a handfull of shots out of a full days shoot, then they are very happy. I think we need to understand that even the pro's can't just produce every time they press the shutter button. My philosophy is keep on trying, don't give up, and when that shot finally appears out of the camera - PARTY!!!!!

Living the challenge
Janice

Janice Freeman wrote:I think we need to understand that even the pro's can't just produce every time they press the shutter button.

Janice,

Thanks for your feed back and I totally agree with the bit I have quoted above .. but like I said this is generally from a curiosity point of view more than a "I need help and advice" type of thing. I also understand that your photography needs this time round were in complete contrast to say Paul doing a paid shoot with a model or Mike doing a wedding .. all input is greatly appreciated no matter what your needs or direction of the shoot

Ooo and thanks for letting me know how many you took I guess that too has a bearing on how many make the grade so if you get 50 out of 100 that could be a good call but 50 out of 500 would be a little worse :S

Janice Freeman wrote:I have just spent 7 days in North Wales and taken approx 500 photos!

And where are my manners ... :S ... I really hope you had a great time over in Wales .. you will have to tell me on Thursday where you went

Brian,

I went away for the weekend with my wife and kids, I took 14 photos and they are all keepers.

On my recent shoot of Olivia (girl with the blue hair), I took 118 photos, of which 38 were keepers and I finished 28 of them, the other keepers were repeats. I shot tethered in the studio which means I take less 'just in case' photos, if you get what I mean.

On my last outdoor shoot, which was only 1.5 hours long, I took around 80 photos, of which around 30 were keepers and I delivered 18 to the model, but I only kept three for myself.

I think, as Ansel's quote depicts, at the end of a year, you pick your twelve best, or rather, they should pick themselves.

LOL sorry for stealing your signature quote there Phil

My last big shoot was Salford Quays early May, arrived Monday, left Wednesday so we had approx 2 full days & one evening. I shot around 150, my wife about 100, around 75% were acceptable for AV use which is our main focus (no pun intended). IMO the weather is the big factor in getting good acceptable pictures. Usually in Elements or NX2 we can get the best out of the borderline images. I also shot some video which is a new venture in digital. I still need to experiment, some were good some awful, however there isn't as much control as still photography. In my 5 years as a serious digital photographer, (DSLR) I think I have taken around 50 shots which I could show anywhere.
Regards Eric.

Brian wrote: How many (maybe in persentage or a fraction) pictures from a photo shoot would YOU consider a good haul .. for example would you expect 100% of the photo's you take when out (or in for that matter)on a shoot or would you expect 50% to be a good haul ?

I've never really given it much thought to be honest. Each shoot is different. Some models are more photogenic than others. Some shoots flow better than others.

It's different if you're shooting images for yourself or for someone else. If you're providing images for a model / client the thing to do is to under-promise and then over-deliver. It also matters whether you are shooting to produce "an image" or "a set of images".

In an average 4 hour model shoot I might take 300 - 400 images or more. I would hope that all of them would be technically OK, eg well lit, well exposed, well composed, sharp, etc. But I'm quite ruthless with deleting / not using images that don't make my own personal grade, eg the model is pulling a look that I don't like, etc. On that basis, I suppose anywhere from 50% - 80% keepers would be a good result.

Lately, I'm enjoying shooting stuff for myself. From a shoot I might choose to just use one or two images on my website as I don't want it to become too cluttered.

I recall a magazine interview with a photographer who shot for the Pirelli Calendar. It was stated that he took over 10,000 frames in order to choose just 12 images for the Calendar.

Hi Brian

Like Paul says, it's difficult to summarise, it depends on what you are shooting and why.

Paul Jones wrote:Each shoot is different. Some models are more photogenic than others. Some shoots flow better than others

I'll give you some stats from a recent shoot I did with Phil, I took 59 shots, I wasn't tethered up like he was so did take a few "just in case shots". Out of those 59 I highlighed 14 for potential keepers, but only ended up working on and keeping 5 that I'm really pleased with.

It does make a difference though being tethered up to the computer, while Phil was taking his shots, I was sat looking at them on the PC and I could see straight away how the shot could have been improved and made suggestions about lighting or poses etc.

Hope this helps.

Tracey

Tracey, you made a lot of suggestions, and all of them valid!

Hi Bri. to give you an idea of my recent attempts -

In the studio when I do a family shoot I usually take 200-300 images and the family usually end up with 100 pics on a CD.

With Chloe, again in the studio, I took around 80 shots but am really only pleased with 20.

The Victoria Baths shoot I was really disappointed with and probably only really think 20 out of 180 are okay. Struggled with the lighting and something I have not done a great deal of.

It depends, with the family shoot you have set images the family want, a bit like a wedding, one of both parents with children, one of grandparent with children, children with dog etc. With a model in a studio you may have a basic idea but it is how that unfolds during the shoot itself.

If I get 20% or more then I have had a good day!

Brian -
If I am taking still life photos with studio lighting then it will be three transparencies of the same set up [left over from the days of not wanting to 'dupe' a good shot, instead taking several at the time] and a RAW digital image for filing [will also use the digital as a preview if I am unsure of the composition - and save myself some film!].

Out and about for urban/ buildings photos usually in black and white, if I am confident with the metering then again three or more shots if I am experimenting with depth of field - if not so confident then I will bracket either side.

Landscape pretty much as for urban/ buildings except if using colour transparency as well, then I will bracket anyway.

In short - for one 'image' then one shot at metered exposure with another two to be safe, although I may replicate the 'image' at different exposures and if I think it's a tip top shot then I will take a few. If on the other hand I'm not convinced of the shot I won't bother firing the shutter.

W

I don't know if this helps but in the days of film if I shot a roll of 36 exposures I would be happy with 2-4 keepers - i.e. about 8%. But in today's 'snap-flash-thank you ma'am' digital age I would reduce that percentage substantially to nearer 1-2% unless you are very determined and can pre-visualize the scene and get what you want - something like the method Charlie Waite uses.

Barry

O.K. so I asked the question and I guess if I dont reply then it does look like I am fishing for input LOL ....

When I was heavily wandering round the country taking photography for my account on DeviantART I would take about 200-300 images (sometimes more) but I guss about 50 or so were keepers, ok you have to understand that my photography requirements back then were completely different to what they are now and in general to what most people on here would expect from their photography .. in time I would go back though my old pics and find more that I would "Use" thus raising the 50-75 up to around 100 ... In hindsight I would say there are more than this 100 that you could consider as technically sound but as i was taking the shots to be used in digital art as stock or inspiration then the image is not what most would consider as "photogenic".

Over the last few years (for one reason or another) my actual volume has decreased massively and my confidence in my post production (as well as my old D80) has wained .. i hope now this is all turning around .. when I actually look back to the last few shoots I have done with Gill, Les and Danny then I could say that realisically I could get about 75 % as usable shots but as said above my heart hasnt been in it over the last few months so 75% may seem a lot but I have not been taking a raft of photos on the shoots .. so i guess 75% would mean I am happy with the end result if it has not been a huge amount of actual photos.

I hope with the d7000 (and the fixed D80) I will be able to get out and start taking photos in the 100's again and building up my skills again

Paul Jones wrote:Each shoot is different. Some models are more photogenic than others. Some shoots flow better than others

Tracey McGovern wrote: Like Paul says, it's difficult to summarise, it depends on what you are shooting and why.

Hi Tracey

I'm reminded of the shoots we did together with Raphaella and then Christie. I believe we both got better photos with Raph.

The quality of the subject matter (be it a person, an object, an event or a place) has an impact on the end result.