How many images a photoshoot?

kellyanne1703

kellyanne1703

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Name
Kellyanne
Edit My Images
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What's the norm amount of the images do you take a shoot?

Wedding?
Christening?
Portraits?
Baby?

Etc...

Just trying to see if I'm taking a norm amount of images to give clients.


Thanks
 
It always depends on the length of the wedding, the amount of time they have booked you for and stuff like that.

I offer between 50-350 edited images in my packages but they can purchase more as extras afterwards if they wish. As for portrait shoots I tend to retouch about 25-30 but I know that some photographers retouch a lot more. It's upto you and your style really, and how much you charge.
 
Ok...Someone needs to ask the question.
Are you sure you should be doing paid jobs.
Looking at most of the previous threads you've started, they are mainly to do with asking about how to do the basics...

• How long to edit pictures before sending to client - http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=468132
• Raw Vs Jpeg - http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=468160
• Christening Photography http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=467372
• How to save images on cd for clients - http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=466922
• Photoshoot poses - http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=464738
• Charge Rates - http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=464766

and now this thread where you are asking how many pics is enough.

If you need to ask any of the above questions, then you are not ready.
Sorry, but it's that simple.

If you don't know how to do something as simple and basic as saving images or files to a CD/DVD for clients let alone pose people for portrait shoots, there is no way that you are even close to being ready to ask for payment.

Stop, take stock of where you're at and when, and only when, you know exactly what you are doing and are able to cosistently produce excellent work should you be asking for payment.
Someone's wedding or christening where you are being paid are not the kinds of places where you should be practicing your photography.
You should be proficient and enough before you take their money.
 
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I'm afraid Phil has a point - whilst we aim to give out whatever information people ask for, this isn't a substitute for experience and knowledge.

IMO there's a clue in your question (images for a christening) once you're charging properly, you'll find people won't book you to shoot christenings, because they can't justify the cost. Even for an affluent client - the choice between some good Christening images vs a newborn shoot and some brilliant wall art is a no-brainer.

Photography as a business isn't just photography as a hobby but with payment - it's a lot more complicated than that. In fact it's running a business with a bit of photography involved.
 
Phil V said:
Photography as a business isn't just photography as a hobby but with payment - it's a lot more complicated than that. In fact it's running a business with a bit of photography involved.
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This is so true!

You really need to get to grips with the business side of photography until it's second nature, because there's a lot more to it than just these basic starting points. Perhaps attending some business and photography workshops, or studying 'the modern tog' until your face turns blue?

It's not just your clients you have to consider when running a business, you need to protect yourself as well.. and like you said in your other thread you haven't considered any legal documents or paperwork yet which is a big mistake if you are charging for a service.
 
Hello


I get what your saying, I don't charge for my services as like I've said I'm still learning but you can't learn with out experience, alot of the questions I've asked are to see how other people are doing things,

I.e saving to Cd, I know how to do these from a young age but wanted to see other people's views on saving them and what sizes they put them on as? As I usually save them in as a big file so the images can be made large as possible if they want to put on a canvas, so to speak!

As to poses, I do alot of research before attending a shoot but was looking to see what other people do incase there's poses i might of not seen or that might be good for me to use.

As to Jpeg & Raw - I'm currently learning this in college as wanted to see if someone could explain it in quick and simple terms!
 
Looks like the word "client" has led to misunderstanding. For pro photographers, a "client" is someone who pays for a professional service. For a novice, a client is someone for whom you take photos. In the novice's world, payment is almost always entirely secondary, if it is a consideration at all. However, both uses of the word "client" are legitimate, and pro photographers don't have exclusivity on it.

I see the pattern repeated on this forum often, where it is assumed that the novice is misleading the client, pretending to be an experienced photographer when they're not. It's a shaky premise, yet it's repeated often. Instead of establishing on which basis OP photographers are taking photos, responders assume the worst.

I don't know if this reflects badly on the body of photographers out there, or just the frequent posters here, but either way I find the failure to ask fair questions before condemning OPs for presumed fraud rather off-putting.

It does NOT serve this forum well.
 
"Client" being someone who pays for professional services is a general term not just a photography term. Legitimate or not it can lead to confusion when talking about clients or doing professional shoots if you're not actually charging for those services, but it's all been cleared up now and it makes more sense.. so it doesn't really matter.

To the OP, if you are doing it purely for portfolio purposes it's a great time for you to measure how many images are achievable for you and how many you are happy to retouch. I generally go through my shoot and rate each image from 1-5 on how great I believe they are, how much they stand out and how much I would love to see them on my website... any that have major flaws are scrapped straight away. I edit the images I rate as a 5 first, then 4 and if I have time or not as many images as I'd like to show I'll also edit some of the 3's. This is just my little system and it works really well for me. :)

As for the business side of things, I'd recommend this blog; http://www.themoderntog.com/ It's great for both beginners and people who are already running a business. Brand Camp is another one that's worth looking up but is not specifically targeted to photographers but works perfectly for the photography business.

As for the poses thread, I really love Jasmine Star's little videos, she has some about posing couples or wedding parties and how to get natural smiles etc. They are about 6-7mins long each and cost around £2-£3 I think.
Also pinterest is amazing for inspiration, I repin tons of pose ideas on my pinterest boards and print them out and study them before a shoot to give me some starting points. It's great to have some fail safe poses but you should also aim to do something different for each shoot :)

Good Luck :)
 
SimonH said:
Looks like the word "client" has led to misunderstanding. For pro photographers, a "client" is someone who pays for a professional service. For a novice, a client is someone for whom you take photos. In the novice's world, payment is almost always entirely secondary, if it is a consideration at all. However, both uses of the word "client" are legitimate, and pro photographers don't have exclusivity on it.

I see the pattern repeated on this forum often, where it is assumed that the novice is misleading the client, pretending to be an experienced photographer when they're not. It's a shaky premise, yet it's repeated often. Instead of establishing on which basis OP photographers are taking photos, responders assume the worst.

I don't know if this reflects badly on the body of photographers out there, or just the frequent posters here, but either way I find the failure to ask fair questions before condemning OPs for presumed fraud rather off-putting.

It does NOT serve this forum well.
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Sorry Simon, I don't want to drag this thread off topic, but Kel is right 'client' adds a lot of weight to what ought to be described simply as a mate or subject. Client infers something which just doesn't exist if I'm taking pictures of a mate or even if as a pro I'm shooting for my own portfolio.

So when the 'pro's assume the novice is misleading the client' it's because the novice is misleading the forum. We don't have clients until we're charging. If novices want honest advice free from suspicion they should use honest language regarding their relationships with their 'subjects' or 'mates' or even 'mates, mates'.

Dictionary has nothing to suggest a less than professional relationship.
This is no reflection on the OP. Who's had plenty of good advice already regarding where she ought to be aiming on her way to being a 'pro'.

There are entire threads regarding just the number of images delivered from an all day wedding (off the top of my head, between 200 and 1500, so not a lot of help).
 
Client is one side of a client:service relationship. The issue is the service charge.

What I take issue with is the vile presupposition that members of this forum who ask basic questions are actually defrauding clients by charging them exorbitant fees and providing a deficient service. My issue is with the attack-dog-style approach to these threads that making this presumption directly causes.

You know it's true. :shrug:

Meh. Never mind.
 
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Maybe we stick with the dictionary definition of 'client' or 'customer' and then you'd see that the pro's are right.

Or you can stick with your made up version of the word, and all the pro's are 'vile':cuckoo:

You could check out all the help and advice that those same 'vile' pro's give to members of this forum every day. All over the forum. It's only when they feel they have to defend standards in their industry that these issues start. I'll bet you don't go and look.;)
 
Can we keep it civil and not argue the semantics please.

A lot of other industries refer to people as clients also and certainly don't receive payment. If they were I was missing it when I worked in careers guidance!
 
Phil V said:
Maybe we stick with the dictionary definition of 'client' or 'customer' and then you'd see that the pro's are right.

Or you can stick with your made up version of the word, and all the pro's are 'vile':cuckoo:

You could check out all the help and advice that those same 'vile' pro's give to members of this forum every day. All over the forum. It's only when they feel they have to defend standards in their industry that these issues start. I'll bet you don't go and look.;)
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I've no problem with the dictionary definition. I suggest you go and re-read it for greater comprehension, though. And check a thesaurus, too. I referred to a vile presupposition, not pro photographer. You'll find that those two words are not synonymous.

I stand by my point. And you're making it for me.
 
Sorry, Kelly.

Phil, I'm sure that there are a lot of charlatans out there posing as pro togs. I'm sure it gets you riled up, and I totally understand that. But it's a flawed process of inductive reasoning to assume that, because you've seen that it happens a lot, therefore it's near certain that it's happening again.

It's not fair on an individual to tar them with the broad brush of a generalisation, and it can be avoided by a simple process of establishing the premise before berating the photographer. And it's nicer, too.
 
Many years ago I worked for the DHSS. We called our 'customers' clients.

Nowadays benefit claimants are demonised, so they probably just call them scroungers instead.
 
kellyanne1703 said:
What's the norm amount of the images do you take a shoot?

Wedding?
Christening?
Portraits?
Baby?

Etc...

Just trying to see if I'm taking a norm amount of images to give clients.


Thanks
Click to expand...

I agree with Phil and Phil - but there's no harm in answering the question so coming back to the OP

Weddings - the last wedding I did I provided about 300 shots from getting ready to first dance, the one before that was about 100 (much shorter day) etc - as phil said there's no usual number as it depends very much on client requirements. The most ive ever provided for a wedding ( I say I , it was actually as second camera with my mate ben, so we is more accurate) was circa 500 , but that was from a masive do that lasted two days.

Christening - Ive only shot a couple of christenings (both for freinds unpaid) as phil said its not really economic to do as a paid tog - I provided about 50 shots on a CD

Portrait and Baby - I don't do that type of work so ive no first hand experience, but in very general terms its a very different business model and more of the money comes from upselling prints , so you wouldnt be providing a CD and the number of prints provided would be determined by what the client wanted to order
 
philwillmedia said:
There is no "normal amount"
You take as many as you need to satisfy the brief the client gave you.
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^^^
This.

How many you deliver is a different question. You'd almost certainly never give a client (of whatever definition) all of the images. It is still going to vary though a large, full coverage wedding might be 1500 images with 500 delivered, a small wedding with coverage up-to the wedding breakfast might be 800 taken and say 250 delivered.

The same applies to portraits of all types and christenings.
 
big soft moose said:
Christening - Ive only shot a couple of christenings (both for freinds unpaid) as phil said its not really economic to do as a paid tog - I provided about 50 shots on a CD
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Well the Christenings I have shot have been very economic to do as a professional. I wouldn't have dropped a wedding for one, but you can easily make as much as decent portrait session.

As always it is a case of finding the right clients. For those it isn't a case of a christening or a newborn shoot, it could well be both, and a whole lot more.
 
meonshore said:
Well the Christenings I have shot have been very economic to do as a professional..
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sorry, both phil and I meant it wouldnt often be economic for a client to hire a pro for one, :bonk: as per

Phil V said:
IMO there's a clue in your question (images for a christening) once you're charging properly, you'll find people won't book you to shoot christenings, because they can't justify the cost. Even for an affluent client - the choice between some good Christening images vs a newborn shoot and some brilliant wall art is a no-brainer.
.
Click to expand...
 
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big soft moose said:
sorry, both phil and I meant it wouldnt often be economic for a client to hire a pro for one, :bonk: as per
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Well I lost that in your quote and response....

Christening - Ive only shot a couple of christenings (both for freinds unpaid) as phil said its not really economic to do as a paid tog
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But the fact remains, like all professional photography you'll have a set of people who don't see the value in having a pro cover their event (be it a wedding, awards ceremony or christening), they'll be a demographic who would like to have a pro but can't afford to pay a professional rate, and there will be clients with either sufficient disposable income, or an absolute prioritisation on having professional coverage who will find a way.

The trick is to market to, and work with the latter set.
 
SimonH said:
Sorry, Kelly.

Phil, I'm sure that there are a lot of charlatans out there posing as pro togs. I'm sure it gets you riled up, and I totally understand that. But it's a flawed process of inductive reasoning to assume that, because you've seen that it happens a lot, therefore it's near certain that it's happening again.

It's not fair on an individual to tar them with the broad brush of a generalisation, and it can be avoided by a simple process of establishing the premise before berating the photographer. And it's nicer, too.
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Yeah Sorry Kelly
I don't want to further derail this, but in answer to your post Simon, I was merely defending the supposition some might make - I didn't 'tar anyone with a broad brush' in this thread. In fact it is a rare occurrence - even when people believe it's happened, the accusers have rarely read entire posts.

Most of the suppositions on this board are suppositions that the Pro's will behave like a******es. I've been accused of being nasty in a thread where I'd invited the OP to call me and ask whatever they want:shrug:. The reason I was 'unhelpful'? because I told the OP if he wanted to 2nd shoot for experience - he'd have to travel because a local photographer won't 'train the new competition'. How dare I be such an obstructive a**e:cuckoo:.

And like I said earlier, you'll find Pro's on here giving out great friendly advice day in-day out. When threads turn sour it's not simply a case of 'vile supposition' on behalf of a pro.
 
I shot a christening late last year, I gave 150 processed images on disc, and they were delighted. That was church and group shots after. I didn't cover their reception after.
 
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In a full day event, wedding, christening etc I would expect to take around 800-1200 images. Of that I would probably recycle bin about half straight away and make my final edit from about 60-70% of that to make the set.

I have known a photographer that took 5000 images on a wedding day. That kind of hit and hope attitude is not the way to get a high percentage of "great" shots IMO.

In a more controlled studio environment, say an hour shoot...

I'd probably take around 100-200 depending on it being a family / couple / single person etc and then I would delete around half, edit a few and then go through with the client to make the final collection from about 1/2th - 1/3rd of my selection.
 
Portraits I usually go 10-15 but weddings are always different depending on the day. :)
 
Gary.D said:
Supply the amount of photographs that you thinks tells the story correctly of there event. It is very difficult to put a number on this :)

Gary
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I know what u mean about putting a number on a shoot, the family only wanted a group shot of mum, dad & baby, baby & godparents, and few other sets, so never got what I would consider enough to tell the story, plus wasn't allows to take images of the baby when they pour the water over the top of head which I think would of told the story better! But they want the images in a album, but as there's no storyline with the images it's just going to look like a boring album with group shots!
 
I'm afraid you're staring the answer in the face. How many images do you deliver?
As many as the customer expects.

Of course, if we were doing it properly, we'd have discussed this beforehand, the customer would have chosen you for your style and vision, and you'd have buy in to create that.

We've all been here, when you're starting out people put no thought into why they want you to take pictures for them. It's not your fault, and you shouldn't worry about delivering your vision if you didn't take those shots.

A bit more confidence and you could have got what you wanted to shoot and delivered what the customer wanted too.
 
kellyanne1703 said:
...plus wasn't allows to take images of the baby when they pour the water over the top of head...
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I do a video with my dslr (set the WB to tungsten) set to the highest image quality and do screen caps from there. They always let you take video.

At weddings if you can get positioned where you can see the couple well, videoing the proceedings is more tolerated than grabbing snaps. I did one where the groom and best man had a little laugh and I was able to select a series of frames that told this little story and it looked brilliant in the album.

Good luck
 
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