Crazy Question

[sheltiesmama]

Ok, I'm sure this has probably been discussed before and I know it's a crazy question. When you do a photoshoot ( personal or professional ) what is your ratio of good shots to bad? I went somewhere yesterday and I took over 200 shots and out of that only about 45 did I consider to be good and even less than that to be really good. Is that a low, average, or high percentage? I know I'm still a newbie and have a lot to learn but it seems like a very low percentage. Thanks goodness it's digital cause I'd hate to be throwing out that many prints. Thanks in advance for any information anyone can give me on this.

[RexK_Cozumel]

For me it depends on the type of shoot. Generally when I am working with a model in studio I will shoot about 40-50 frames per outfit. Of those I will only use 1 or 2. If I am working on location with a model and the picture depends on something outside of my control then I will shoot a lot more frames between 100-200 per outfit to make sure that I have a large choice of shots when I get back.

If it is just general photography I will only shoot at most 5 frames of a subject. Usually just 2 or 3.

If I am covering an event like a wedding then I will shoot 1000-2000 frames. And use about 200-300 for the proofs and maybe 40 for the album 10 or so for enlargements. really depends on what the client wants.

If I am shooting sports I will take thousands of frames since I shoot in bursts. The keeper rate in this is very low.

If I am shooting something for a client for an advertisement then I will take as many frames as needed till the client approves. I have taken as few as two frames and been done.

[DarumaBlue]

Out of a couple thousand photos, maybe even a few thousand, I've found about 50 I really like. Sort of like panning for gold, I guess.

[Quo Fan]

I don't think there is a real and true "keeper" ratio. Like others have pointed out, it depends on what you are shooting for, and what level of control you have over the environment.

While I was on my honeymoon, I shot over 200 while cycling (I did stop and get off the bike to shoot, though I have shot while riding) and am probably going to "keep" 50 or so, at this moment. For me, "keep" means that I'll show to other people besides my wife, even though all of my shots are resident on my server.

[Elmo]

In days of old (Film) you were considered lucky to get one good one for each roll of film (36 exposures). Today with digital and the shotgun style of shooting I suspect 1 out of 100 would be a good average. Ones keeper rate will be higher for various reasons but GOOD ones are far and few between.