Shots taken vs Shots used/usable

mani

Suspended / Banned
Messages
470
Name
Imran
Edit My Images
Yes
How many do you take and how many do you use/like?

I'm quite critical and i go a bit manic on the delete button.

so what kinda ratio do you roughly shoot/use at?

business/wedding togs too :)
 
At the weekend I shot in the region of 70-80ish, after a bit of time with the reject key in Lightroom I was left with 12. That's probably fairly typical for an hour or so togging. Keep far more on family trips.
 
I saw a big leap in usability vs trash when I started shooting tethered for my studio portrait work. Now I shoot a lot less in a session but get more keepers. Before I'd shoot off a lot of extra shots to make sure I captured good expressions etc and to get the lgihting right, now I take a couple of moments to show the client the raw captures and see what they feel too. It really helps, and in the long term I'll probably save money in replacement flash tubes etc too!
 
typical i will shoot around 250 shots in an hours family photoshoot keep usually between 60 and 80 of those, sometimes have a good day and keep 100+
 
Depends what I am shooting.
Travel stuff has a pretty high keeper rate as generally I have time to actually think about what I want/am doing - probably ditch a third for one reason or another.
Motorsport is generally low, interesting shots really low (got the hang of panning but all look the same) - in 5-10% area.
Nature stuff also pretty low if it is fast moving - again around 10%.
Horse stuff (mainly jumping) is better - once I dump out duplicates of rider/horse/fence I keep probably half.
 
As i'm new to photography and travelling at the moment.
I shot almost everything i like, I usually get around 150 - 200 pictures a day, but in the end I have around 20 pictures which are my favourites and the rest... 'not so bad' or 'meh'.
 
I go to Rally's ( motorsport )

Usually shoot in JPEG ( because of no of pictures ) and get over 2000

Keep maybe 100
 
Depends on the mag I shoot for; on the mags that feature loads of step-by-steps then aside from doing a bit of machine-gunning when some action happens, I know that 75% of what I shoot gets used.

On magazines like our flyfishing mag, where it's led by larger (but fewer) quality images I'd say that 20% of what i shoot makes it into print but I have greater say-so over what i want to see, as I can submit what I want to the editor :)
 
As others have said it really all depends on what and where your shooting. In a studio setup my guess is the percentage of keepers is high as everything can mainly be pre arranged, ie lighting- backdrops- props etc. Out in the field can be a different ball game if shooting moving subject against static like buildings/landscapes. Therefore the give a reasonable answer to your question is not easy without you being more specific.

Now if your asking how many of mine I actually make prints of as against saving electronically is about 1 in 500

Realspeed
 
Last edited:
Have to be boring and agree it depends on what you're doing! And also what you're doing it for - memories, good keepers, a fantastic collection, or to sell.

Wildlife photos, a few hours and lots of attempts for a good few photos isn't bad - unfortunately the interesting wildlife doesn't pose so well!

When I was at the zoos... 80% were acceptable, maybe half were good shots - including test shots for settings. That being personal work.

I'll expect when initially doing pet portraits around 25% to be saleable - simply due to looking away, badly timed blinking etc.

Oh and taking photos of my brother, 1 in 100 being good would suit, he has a sixth sense for when my camera is near him!
 
Possibly between 10-50% depending on what is being shot, as framing and nailing focus on kids can be tough, but family shots or groups of workmates is a lot easier...
 
With me that has to be subject dependent. Greater %age for people and landscapes. A lesser one for the faster stuff.
 
Rather depends on what the use is.. how many shots do you actually need for the end result?

Do you need half a dozen photos for a newspaper article, of which they might use one or are you trying to put up 500 shots of every competitor at an event to sell to the competitors themselves or are you looking just for a few shots to post to flickr or to add to your portfolio?

You just start with your best and work backwards until you achieve the amount you need...
 
As other have said, depends on the subject.
Archtechture, vehicles, 'non moving type stuff' I'd say 50% were usable and I'd be really pleased with 2 or 3 out of 100.
At BBQ's with friends etc ('casual' shooting) I'm much less critical as it's more about capturing a bit if the day/evening than arty stuff or technical brilliance, I usually share about 80% of those.
Trying to capture my son, I'll usually use maybe 7 out of 100 shots. He moves fast, is usually indoors and I'm most critical of these shots. the 'hit to miss' ratio is annoying but the good shots are priceless!
 
Back
Top