Photo Shoot (Page 2): You could afford to buy film?! :D...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

SteveR wrote:

At about 50 cents a shot, it was expensive. When we were living on a shoestring, I had rolls of film I couldn't afford to develop.

You could afford to buy film?! :D

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Duckberg wrote:

What percentage of great photos should you expect when photographing. I took photos for about an hour of a friend, about 200 shots, and got about 15 that are very nice. Is this to be expected?

A new hobby for me....

Analyze the images that disappointed you, and ask yourself what is it about them that you are not happy with, what went wrong, and what you should do differently next time to avoid the same mistakes. In other words, learn from your mistakes!

Set your goal to be able to shoot 90% keepers (under normal circumstances), and take every shoot and every shot as a challenge to achieve this goal. Get a feel for knowing when not to trigger the shutter. Not only will you become a more skilled photographer, you will become a more efficient photographer.

Pictxterowner 3 D sbs

jerryc41 wrote:

That's not unusual. I was shooting with a group this weekend, and one guy said that about three percent of his are "keepers." I did an online course with lynda.com, and one session was about "work the shot." Shoot it from every angle and vary everything. You're not paying for film, so you can shoot two dozen images and pick the one that's best. I don't like to get back from a shoot and regret not taking a shot from the one angle I missed.

I cringe at the thought of a person traveling across the Globe without stepping left for a 3 D photo.
The Grand Canyon, Stone Hinge.
People live in New York that use this sight to post the new Tower.
For Gods Sake people I and so many others can not go to New York.
Will you Please take one extra moment to move left 6 inches and take the same photo again, just one time so the world can see that in 3D.
You need no special skills or gear.
Post them and I will process them if you can not or do not want to and post them back on your topic or explain exactly why not in a private message.
You will be credited . :roll:

wilsondl2 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

On a Senior shoot I take between 25 and 100 shots depending on the plan and number of outfits. 90% or more are saleable. Most are poses that I have done severel times and those that are not are ones planned in advance or poses that have been swipped that the Senior has shown me and want one like it. In film days on a shoot or doing a Wedding always thought "films cheap" so I was never afraid to try something differant. - Dave

Joecosentino Loc: Whitesboro, New York

Every click is money or time, if you are in business if you take 200 shots of a model you then have to take the time to look at each one. With a model and a controlled situation take your time slow down make every click one that has been thought out. You will be spending a lot less time in front of a computer screen.

The time for a spray and pray might be shooting a rodeo, a stock car race or any other fast moving subject.

Hope this helps

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

Duckberg wrote:

What percentage of great photos should you expect when photographing. I took photos for about an hour of a friend, about 200 shots, and got about 15 that are very nice. Is this to be expected?

A new hobby for me....

Lots of good info so far, my test is a little different, after the initial cut, about a week , month or year, take the adjusted and cropped shot, put it on your computer screen and look at it for a couple of days, that's when I decide if it's good enough, do I need to reprocess or just scrap?, but my days of answering to clients is long gone,
Bob.

durph Loc: Long term assignment in Europe

I read somewhere in the past that Ansel Adams was asked how many pictures he takes before he gets a good one. His answer was 1. He then explained the importance of planning and exposure calculation (Zone System). I've never been able to achieve that level and probably never will but since hearing that I try to plan out each shot.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

durph wrote:

I read somewhere in the past that Ansel Adams was asked how many pictures he takes before he gets a good one. His answer was 1. He then explained the importance of planning and exposure calculation (Zone System). I've never been able to achieve that level and probably never will but since hearing that I try to plan out each shot.

When you're shooting with a twenty pound camera on top of a forty pound tripod and using 8 x 10" plates, you take your time. :D

George II Loc: Fayetteville, Georgia

donrent wrote:

Hate to sound like an old recording playing, but back when, we to taught to "plan" our photographys before clicking the shutter... Today, its click, click, click and pick the good ones out and hopefully some good ones...

Not to hi-jack this thread but in the old days with film we were very aware of the cost of film, developing etc. Now people are to lazy to set up, plan and shoot not knowing the outcome until after the fact. The term that comes to mind is.....LAZY! something that has been said today already..." and the band played on"

George II

cspear42 Loc: New Mexico

I am an novice at photography and I have taken "a lot" of pictures and after reviewing those photos of the pro's I think I might have a couple that I can say are "really good" photos. I hope the 10% is somewhere near the neighborhood once I have a good working knowledge of my camera, settings, pp, etc. I just love to take photos and some day I will get lucky and get that one or two that are outstanding. My problem is that I read a lot about photography and don't do enough actually taking pictures - that is going to change!!!!!

nitrophil Loc: Dayton, Ohio

You are ( or should be ) your worst critic. I believe Ansel Adams once said that the most important thing you can have in your darkroom is a very large trashcan. he was right. I once spent a week on a photo trip, shot 30-40 rolls of film ( 24 exp each roll) I got 3 pictures that I loved. You do the math! The best thing about digital is that you don't have all the expense of developing all that film and pay for the processing. Your delete button is cheap in comparison. Sorry for the long rant, but a short answer to your question is YES! It is to be expected. Have fun with it anyway!

Duckberg wrote:

What percentage of great photos should you expect when photographing. I took photos for about an hour of a friend, about 200 shots, and got about 15 that are very nice. Is this to be expected?

A new hobby for me....

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

donrent wrote:

Hate to sound like an old recording playing, but back when, we to taught to "plan" our photographys before clicking the shutter... Today, its click, click, click and pick the good ones out and hopefully some good ones...

I did the same thing back then with film, I tried to get it right in camera, but I still shot maybe between 200-400 pictures and then I kept the best ones. So, not much has changed.

windshoppe Loc: Arizona

Duckberg wrote:

What percentage of great photos should you expect when photographing. I took photos for about an hour of a friend, about 200 shots, and got about 15 that are very nice. Is this to be expected?

A new hobby for me....

I would suggest that this question cannot be answered absent a definition of "great photos." And the only person that can define that concept is the shooter.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

Duckberg wrote:

What percentage of great photos should you expect when photographing. I took photos for about an hour of a friend, about 200 shots, and got about 15 that are very nice. Is this to be expected?

A new hobby for me....

I often shoot 100 or so, depending on the subject, and I may get 5 or 6 keepers. I suppose there's lots of us that have this experience.

ole sarg Loc: south florida

Don I fear that the admonition even a blind squirrel finds a nut in the forest is the philosophy of many a new digital shooter. Film was relatively expensive to both buy and process so oldsters like ourselves plan. The rest just shoot away!

donrent wrote:

Hate to sound like an old recording playing, but back when, we to taught to "plan" our photographys before clicking the shutter... Today, its click, click, click and pick the good ones out and hopefully some good ones...