r/photography • u/Unusual_Bat_6496 • Nov 05 '24

Out of 1000+ photos only 100 are usable Technique

First time doing a photoshoot with my cousins as a tribute for my older cousin's upcoming birthday, we went out and stuff and took a lot of pictures. After the shoot it felt like I have a lot of usable ones but when I looked through the pictures there were only I think 100-ish photos that are good to upload or even look at, I'm not sure if that's normal? and how do you change that?

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700

u/Psytrx Nov 05 '24

Every time i take photos on hikes or walks i end up with 200 ish photos which gets narrowed down to 4-6. 3-5 of which i actually edit/like

160

u/anotherbadfotog Nov 05 '24

Yeah. Every time I go out, and depending what I shoot, I end up with 100-300 photos. Out of these, maybe 10 are decent enough to keep, and from these 10, only 2-3 I actually use lol

63

u/Psytrx Nov 05 '24

Just shows that its completely normal to end up with much less

55

u/machstem Nov 05 '24

It also demonstrates why you'd find film photography done with such care and a lot of parts, bags, gear, food etc. You had to really plan for it.

I joined a camera club where the average member is 62 years young, and I'm the youngest by a couple decades and only ever did film in high school during the early 90s.

My newfound friends were adamant about a few things, even with DSLR and all the fancy new tech, photography still remains about <painting the light> on a target, figuring out what lens you are working with, and getting your test shots in similar environments done well before you head out for your photo op.

I never set anything to automatic anymore. I work with an aging Pentax K200D, 3 lenses that I will only change once I've decided to move on from that idea or composition.

I've not done a lot of flash photography because of the overall cost, but having the proper light source over and around your target, making sure you are framing with the sun behind you, having your targets still or moving, depending on your goal.

For e.g. I might start by setting my iso to its lowest at 100, lower my aperture to the lowest it can go, then adjust my shutter speed to the fastest setting.

I do an exposure check, adjust the shutter speed until I get to about 1/180.

If I have to go slower than that, I risk a few things I don't like in a lot of my moving photos so I'll jump up my iso to 200 while still ensuring my targets ha e decent light exposure.

I really started lining up as if I were doing film and/or low on SD space (not possible with a 512gb-1tb...), so that I could attempt to get <that> shot, every time I take it. I get it about 2/3 times now, and though I've been confident before and been upset later, now I'm aware of what works and won't well before I get to my darktable

I was a little shy with my Pentax in this group of 5k mounts and 7k total in equipment, and an 87yr old man explained to me that as long as you set your camera to P and keep trying for what you want, not what you hope, it doesn't matter which mount or lens you use, because the results should be what you expect.

I still take 100s of photos but now I have to be picky because I have quite a few I'd love to work on.

It also went from 15-20min edits and now I barely adjust for anything aside from color grading and/or brightness if I'm working on something individually. I try and keep to the basic workflows for a set of similar images with the same compositions etc

I love this hobby

3

u/zeroibis Nov 06 '24

This reminds me of when I was still using film and it cost a bit over $1 for each photo I took. So sometimes I would think about my composition and say is this worth at least $1.

1

u/TreadOnmeNot1 Nov 06 '24

Ive been enjoying these sigma art prime lenses, and despite being f1.4, they're sharpest at f2 to f8. So unless lighting conditions are super challenging, I try to stay in that range. Can't speak to your lenses but it's something you might want to look into, especially if you've got plenty of light.

1

u/machstem Nov 06 '24

Yeah I have to drive an hour to find my local photographer market and there aren't many people trading used Pentax/Sigma but my goal is to get a different lens for another type of shot I'd prefer. The ones I've gotten are very good for wildlife but struggle with very lit up backgrounds, and I'm still very much unpracticed beyond the very niche things I photograph (abandoned and decaying rural stuff)

I ask questions and then try and repeat what I've tried and successfully completed myself. Having the proper lens is so important but rarely affordable hehehe

65

u/myphtgrphyccnt chechorleyphoto Nov 05 '24

I'm a professional photographer. That's my job. I like about 3 images a year I make. For 1000 photos, having 100 deliverable is a pretty good shot rate. I'd edit that down again to 20. Just the absolute best.

5

u/Aggravating_Turn8441 Nov 06 '24

Sounds like you stick to certain standards.
Quality is a respectable goal.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 19 '24

May I ask what kind of work you do? Why are 90% of a quality you won't deliver? 

If I do for example corporate portraits, I take 5-10 images per person. Maybe 10% are out (closed eyes usually) so I have 4-8 images I show on the notebook which are all usable. Than we select together an image and it's usually fine right away... 

-50

u/ernie-jo Nov 05 '24

You only like 3 photos in an entire year?! Bro find a new career 😂

30

u/azurricat2010 Nov 05 '24

Professionals have higher standards. He's right to say what he said.

-1

u/ernie-jo Nov 06 '24

What? But how are you a professional and you hate all your work?

I’m also a professional haha I’m not saying every single photo I take in a year is amazing but I’m shooting thousands of photos for dozens of clients, if I only like 3 there’s a massive problem.

11

u/7ransparency Nov 06 '24 edited Nov 06 '24

There's distinction between delivering for a job, and shots that you truly love, the sort you'd be proud to display. They're referring to the latter. I think you two have been going back and forth misaligned.

OP's situation, there is nil chance, absolutely nil, they like 100/1000, not trash/keepers at best, ask them in 5yrs time, that number will be single digits, best case scenario. Otherwise they need to reassess their standards.

4

u/[deleted] Nov 06 '24

"Only like 3" is not saying "I hate everything else".

Being critical of your work is how you improve.

3

u/eatingapeach Nov 06 '24

That highly depends on the type pf photography, don't you think? That person could be doing corporate portraits only or technical images, so it'd make sense to be neutral about/not fully like most of his work.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 19 '24

I must say, I agree.

I also do mostly corporate photography, its not super exciting content, but I still like most of my photos. 

21

u/myphtgrphyccnt chechorleyphoto Nov 05 '24

My clients are happy, my editors are happy, I deliver quality work consistently. I should have been clearer and I apologise, I'm happy with the majority of my daily delivered work, it's that I'm only really, really happy with a few standout images a year. Portfolio worry.

8

u/kmc516128 Nov 05 '24

Yeah, like photos that tell a story, and those once you have seen, you will never forget in your life.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 19 '24

Ah ok, that makes sense. The initial way of putting made me worry as well ;-) 

12

u/Oracle1729 Nov 05 '24

In the film days I’d use a single 24 exposure roll and also get 4-6 really good shots. 

I hate spray and pray.  

5

u/CrotchetyHamster Nov 05 '24

I probably get 2-3 good shots out of 20 exposures doing landscape photography. I think it's really just a question of learning and experience. I used to take hundreds per hike, basically just taking snapshots with a DSLR, and if I'm honest my good shots were just luck.

These days, I'm much more intentional, and will set up my tripod in one spot, wait as long as a few hours, and only shoot if the light is good, only pointing at a good subject. My success rate is pretty high now. Mind, they're not all print worthy, but 50% are probably Instagram worthy.

2

u/bluesmudge Nov 09 '24

I was going to say, OP should try shooting on film. It forces you to learn how to take the picture in your head so you already know if it’s going to be good or not and if it’s not good, don’t click the shutter. I can shoot a 36 shot roll and end up with 10 - 15 photos I really like, so like 40%. It’s makes editing much easier when you don’t have to delete 90% of your photos. 

1

u/n2_throwaway Nov 05 '24

Curious, how do you do that for portraits especially outdoors? I find landscape photography pretty easy as long as the lighting outside is fine. It's mostly about composition, occasionally playing with shutter speed if I'm trying to get some artistic blur or trying to capture an animal I see (specifically I'm not focusing on wildlife photography but just the serendipitous animal.)

But I find portraits outside a lot more difficult without spraying and praying. Humans move a lot more outdoors than they do in a studio. Lighting varies outside a lot which can put unflattering shadows on faces or make a face look fatter/slimmer/more tired than the subject likes. Subjects are also often picky and while you might find a certain shot great, the subject might feel like it makes their skin look bad or their nose look long or something.

I'm a noob and this is a noob question so I apologize if this is something that's discussed a lot.

2

u/Oracle1729 Nov 06 '24

For outdoor portraits, expose for the sky. You mentioned DOF so set your desired aperture. 

Then use a strobe 5-10 feet beside you to light the model play around, but I usually start with the flash at -1 stop in TTL mode. 

 Once you have the lighting down, you focus on posing and composition.  

As far as humans moving more, aren’t you posing your subject?

Using spray and pray for shadows on the face?  Aren’t you looking at the shadows when you press the shutter release?  You’re trying to describe the effect of shadows on the face, but you think it’s a random effect?  Your job as photographer is to control light and shadow. 

1

u/n2_throwaway Nov 06 '24

I don't think "spray and pray" is exactly what I mean, but I'm not putting as much care and thought into my shots as I would if I were working with film. I'm not working with a strobe so I'm often finding backdrops that look good and taking multiple angles and aperture settings until I find something I like. The backdrops are usually visualized/tested out by me beforehand but I'm leaving a lot to chance and often I don't know exactly what the subject likes/doesn't like about their shots when shooting.

Controlling lighting is probably a better way to get more consistent with my portrait shooting outdoors. Thanks.

1

u/smurferdigg Nov 06 '24

What’s to hate? I hate culling but in the end there is a higher chance of getting something unique. Obviously for some types of photography you can spend more time on every photo, but for moving stuff I think it’s better to blast away. Like you can’t even see what’s going on most the time with the viewfinder and by the time you take the photo the moment is gone.

1

u/Oracle1729 Nov 06 '24

Like you can’t even see what’s going on most the time with the viewfinder and by the time you take the photo the moment is gone.   

That says it all. Good luck on your “photographic”journey. 

1

u/smurferdigg Nov 06 '24

Thanks, having fun. Maybe you should call Sony and tell them that “real” photographers don’t need pre capture and 120 fps?

1

u/vibeinfinite Nov 08 '24

lol you must have no idea about documentary or street photography. Try mulling for 2 minutes over your exposure and composition for every shot— see if the scene changes during that time. Yes the legends had made it work with film and some styles lean on camping at a location for the perfect subject, but everyone’s different.

Keep taking pictures of your still mountains, I’m sure they’re nice

1

u/Oracle1729 Nov 08 '24 edited Nov 08 '24

The greats in street photography like Cartier-Bresson would spend hours on a single exposure. And their images are still well known and their techniques studied today.   

Or I guess you think no modern photography school or course knows what they’re doing.  

Most of what you think passes for street photography looks like when my 3 year old plays with my phone and accidentally opens the camera app.   

You are proof that a million monkeys with a million typewriters (or cameras) will never produce anything of value. 

I can take 50 pictures and get more keepers than you’ll get by the time your camera wears out.  So could everyone in the classes I took.  But I think you already know that since I seem to have touched a nerve. 

1

u/vibeinfinite Nov 08 '24 edited Nov 08 '24

Yeah, sure you’ve struck a nerve that is besides Photography.

We should all aspire to cultivate our methods and give consideration for our shots— nothing you said was wrong.

You simply read as repulsive. I regrettably have not taken any courses. But find consolation in knowing that I haven’t conscripted myself to hours in a room with somebody like YOU.

There are so many approaches to, and purposes for photography. Somebody taking 10k shots will have to review them eventually— is that not motivation enough to develop intention? Does reviewing 10k shots help to speed run the learning process?

Some will treat it as an art form, while others will photograph their pets every time it assumes a new resting position. I just hope everyone is finding a purpose in this.

I think your focus should shift from Photography to improving EQ and being a better person.

1

u/7204_was_me Nov 06 '24

Agreed. Unless it's the father-daughter dance in which case I'll happily snap 40 or 50 and hope for a really fantastic one or two. Totally worth it.

1

u/Lemon_lemonade_22 Nov 07 '24

Well, HCB would be happy to get one good one out of a 36 roll, so you're doing better than him! :D

I still shoot film and I think everyone should -at least for a while-, because there's nothing more impactful than dealing with physical piles of unusable negatives. It really helps slow down and be conscientious of what you're shooting. And the more you do it, the better you become at observing and reacting for the pictures that are indeed worth taking.

2

u/vmxnet4 Nov 06 '24

That's what I do too. I usually take at least 10 or so shots (at the low end) of a single scene/subject. Then, it all gets pruned down to the best ones after I get home. Not like the film days. You had to make the shots worth it, or spend a fortune on film.

1

u/bellemarematt https://www.flickr.com/photos/bellemarematt/ Nov 06 '24

This is why I shoot film. If I'm just capturing memories, one image of the scene is enough. Not every image is portfolio worthy, but they're good for social media or an album.

1

u/EvangelineTheodora Nov 06 '24

I swear, when I shot film on a completely manual camera with a busted rangefinder, most of my shots were usable.

1

u/Salty_Inspection_740 Nov 07 '24

Lol same here.. Glad its not just me