shot to print ratio

TurboRaddo · Feb 29, 2008

hello everyone. my first post on the forums even though i've been reading them for a couple weeks now. i used to shoot a lot of photos in high school through my frist two years of college (all black and white film developing everything myself), and then it kind of slipped away. just getting back into photography as a hobby after getting a canon rebel xt off of a friend for real cheap (he bought it and never used it).
well on to my question. i was basically just wondering on average, how many actual shots people are taking compared to the amt of actual prints/photos they work with. being a beginner i find myself really liking and working with 1 photo out of about 40 shots. and even then i may not like the finished product. it seems to me that with film i was trying to get 50% of my shots to work out as prints, but with digital i can just keep snapping pictures without going through that development process so i am scrapping way more pictures.
thanks for your input!!!

Meysha · Feb 29, 2008

I find it depends on what I'm shooting.

If I'm doing house photos it's take 3, use 1. Product shots on location I have a ratio of take 3 - keep 1. If I'm doing cars, it's Take 1 - Use 1, If I'm doing portraits it's more like take 10 - Use 1. If it's sport it's Take 40 - Use 1.

But then again, that just shows you what I take photos of a lot.

Don't worry about your ratio, just keep taking photos - but don't waste them. Try and learn something from each mistake you make.

Then you'll see your 'ratio' even out a bit.

AussieTimmeh · Feb 29, 2008

My keep-to-throwaway ratio really depends on what I am shooting, as Meysha said. I am extremely picky on my results, so if I do a car photoshoot of 50-100 shots, I'll only have 5-10 that will make the end game even though most will be decent shots. When shooting motorsport, I will easily take 200 or more shots in a day, and I'd say 70% will be good shots worthy in their own right, but I'll still only pick and publish 5-10 photos that will have that something special extra.

When it comes to actually printing photos, unless it's for someone else, I very rarely actually get them printed. One day I'll get my all-time favourites printed into a portfolio.

Timmeh

Drake · Mar 2, 2008

I am still a newbie and shoot a lot. It is pretty hard to tell the exact efficiency, it depends on the subject. It may be something like 50% for landscapes and 5% for macro shots. I don't shoot many portraits, but the ratio would be about 30-50%.

Stranger · Mar 2, 2008

for macro (reversal only right now) i will often go shoot 70 - 100 images and be lucky if i can keep 3 to add to my gallery. On a good day of 2-3 hours out doing macro i would have 4 new photos to add to my gallery...

Portraits, ive done sessions where i deleted all of them, but most of the time i will get about 10-15 keepers off a real shoot.

Im still learning though so its really trial and error.. I'm usually the one to go out and do a shoot, review them and see the errors and whats need to be changed. and then go out again and get it right. Thats where i stand right now

JerryPH · Mar 2, 2008

It really depends on what I am doing. When I am going for a look in the studio with strobes or playing to acheive a very specific goal, I can shoot a LOT before I am satisfied with that one pictue. I'm talking ratios of 100:1

However, I recently took a vacation and used the camera on 4 specific days. The total number of shoots taken was 2175. I have 2110 keepers and thats an amazingly high 1.03:1 ratio.

My vacation picture goals are a lot simpler in terms of goals:
- has to be tack sharp
- has to be properly exposed
- has to clearly tell a story about a moment in my vacation.

My non-vacation shots are way more strigent in comparison. Besides being technically as good as or superior to my vacation pics, it has to meet the goal of what I am going for at that particular moment.

I was curious and did a fast calc from last year's vacation pics. I saw something that made me smile... last year my ratio was 2.14:1 meaning slightly less than half were keepers and thats with my lower personal standards to boot.

To me that means that in the year between the 2 vacations, my hours of photography practice and study really make a difference in the quality and quantity of shots.

Besides seeing how much better my pictures look between now and last year, this is another very obvious way for me to see just how much I have progressed, and I hope to continue learning and improving.

table1349 · Mar 2, 2008

My shot to keep ratio is very high. My shot to print ratio however is a different matter. I only print what I or someone else is going to display.

For me that is one of the beauties of digital over film. A quick scan with Thumbs plus of my saved files is sure faster than plying through negatives on a light box.