Nothing worth keeping

[cletusjermal]

How often do you go out shooting and come back and you have nothing worth keeping?

 

[tirediron]

Shooting for myself? Probably 6 out of 10 times.

 

[pgriz]

All the time. But in some way's it's like fishing. A bad day fishing is better than a good day at the office.

Jokes aside, my own "keeper rate" increases when I spend some serious prep time researching what I want to shoot and when. Of course, in any form of success, luck and serendipidy play a big role. But if you've put in the prep time, the success dial gets tilted slightly more in your direction.

One other way to increase the "keeper rate" is to lower your standards. This is a very effective strategy, if you have the marketing/"BS" skills to compensate. Then that "missed focus" shot can be upsold as a deliberate "soft focus" shot. Yada, yada.

Don't think I'm telling you anything you don't already know.

 

[JasonLambert]

Depends... Print worthy or facebookable? Man... My Facebook is loaded... My walls, on the other hand, are not.

 

[RauschPhotography]

Really depends on the situation and how long I've been out working. I haven't done many professional shoots other than weddings with the studio I'm at, but the shoots I have done I'd say I keep about 70-80%

 

[jackiejay]

Not many I do deleate alot of pics but I take so many still have pics I keep alot because I enjoy them even with their slight flaws dont sweat over it.Im so new to it that Im my own worse crittic

 

[ababysean]

I feel if you get ONE saveable image per hour of shooting, you are off to a good start. By Saveable I mean honest to goodness a pretty flawless image. I might take 10-20 pictures that are editable per hour session, but I usually have only ONE that I am ok with as a photographer.

 

[Robin Usagani]

I always have something to keep every session LOL. If you got nothing from a whole session, that is just bad IMO.

 

[pgriz]

I always have something to keep every session LOL. If you got nothing from a whole session, that is just bad IMO.

I think the OP was referring to outside shots when you go forth and find what's out there. If you've seen the shots he posted in another thread, you would see lots of nature and landscape shots which require that the weather cooperates.

 

[Gaerek]

"Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop."

-Ansel Adams

Take that to mean what you want...

 

[Robin Usagani]

Ahh gotcha LOL.. I thought he was refering to a photo session with a model or family and got absolutely nothing. But I agree with landscape especially if you are super picky.

 

[Phranquey]

"Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop."

-Ansel Adams

Take that to mean what you want...

I think that may need to be revised.... Ansel didn't have high speed burst with bracketing.

 

[cletusjermal]

I always have something to keep every session LOL. If you got nothing from a whole session, that is just bad IMO.

I think the OP was referring to outside shots when you go forth and find what's out there. If you've seen the shots he posted in another thread, you would see lots of nature and landscape shots which require that the weather cooperates.

Yeah i was referring to going out and getting nature/landscape shots.

 

[Overread]

Sometimes you do and sometimes you don't - the light and weather can make such a big difference to this.

My view though is to always keep the shots - sometimes I find that (esp after a dull day) I just don't have the willpower to see any good shots. My mind will be full of "you should have done such and such in that shot" and "the light is just all wrong". So I leave them in the harddrive for a few days and then come back and face them with a more impersonal eye. Now that I haven't got the 1001 things I didn't do so much at the forefront of my mind I can focus on the things I did get right as well as see where a little editing here and there can take a shot that's not that impressive as a RAW and make it into something far more enjoyable*

In the end I don't really bother deleting - it takes forever and sometimes there are shots worth having as a memory - either to remember a place, event or person.

* that does not say "turd polishing" its about bringing the most out of a digital negative in the digital darkroom.

Ps with wildlife/insects one can often come back with nothing worth showing - I've loads of days where all I've seen is a few distant seagulls, a duck and a pigeon

 

[Gaerek]

As far as landscape and nature shots are concerned, a good day gives me one keeper per outing. Usually, it's less than that though. But then again, I have very high standards for my own work. Landscape photography is hard. It's about being in the right place at the right time. Referring to the quote I posted above, shooting landscapes today isn't much different than when Ansel Adams was doing it 80 years ago. There are two components to a good landscape photograph:

Skill - 20%
Luck - 80%

Don't sweat it if you aren't getting many keepers. Just keep trying, and you'll get something. Everytime you go out and don't get something, you should at least be learning something for next time.