What %age of your shots are GOOD shots

doubleoh7 · Jul 28, 2010

just got back from my first shoot with my new d3000 took 104 photos in various modes etc, just learning - and found about 6 or 8 that really looked great. so is that like 6%??

RobNZ · Jul 28, 2010

Depends on what I am shooting.

Sports etc maybe 2-5%.
Landscape maybe 1%, counting all the setup shots and waiting for the light.
Walkarounds, 0-10% depending on what I find.
"studio" work 20-30%, but what I like is much lower.

Im happy if I get at least 3 good shots per outting, and 1 really good shot a month. Sorry thats a flat out lie, I want 1 really good shot per session, but that usually doesnt happen haha, but I set the bar pretty high, makes me work harder.

Overread · Jul 28, 2010

Its a really small number and it never gets any bigger either

Because as you get better and better you set higher and higher standards for your shots. Its always something that I consider fun to know (1 in 20 I think was about my last count) and something to aim to improve but at the end of the day its honestly nothing to beat yourself over the head with.

Some days you'll come back and the camera will be full of great shots - the light was right the subject ideal and your shooting perfect - othertimes you'll come back and everything will be wrong (on those days I tend to leave things in teh computer a good few days and then have another look - often its them I find the few decent keepers)/

sleist · Jul 28, 2010

Currently about 1 in 40. As I get better, 2 things happen:

1. I have higher standards so I have fewer keepers.

2. My approach changes so that I need to take fewer shots to get what I see in my minds eye.

These 2 things tend to balance each other, but as Overread stated, some days are better than others.

sleist · Jul 28, 2010

I just wanted to add that I find other people have very different views of my photography than I do. Both good and bad. Shots I love get panned. Shots I think are marginal or even junk get rave reviews. I'm not just talking about requests for C&C in forums, but real people requesting prints from me saying how much they love this one or that one and I just scratch my head.

Weird ...

Overread · Jul 28, 2010

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

I have some pics of pets and family - they are nothing special and most people would not even bother to keep them - I do. Similarly there are shots that I have taken that I am not that pleased with, but which others do really like.
Heck I see this a lot in macro - insect shots can be very popular with other insect shooters - but show them to average people and its "ewww!" or "what the heck is that?!"

Different viewers will have different standards so its always important to get a nice distribution of them

AUZambo · Jul 28, 2010

sovietdoc said:
0.01% of my shots are good. About 1 good shot out of 100. And I don't tend to make many shots. A full day out might bet me about 500 shots at most..

Maybe it's the math teacher in me...but 0.01% is 1 out of 10,000, not 1 out of 100!

As for me...I'd say about 20-30% are keepable. The rest I delete.

About 5-10% are worth extra time in photoshop and putting up on facebook or flickr.

About 0.5% - 1% are pictures I'm extremely proud of and consider putting in a big frame.

misstwinklytoes · Jul 28, 2010

Well, as far as good IMO.... I'd say probably 15-20% - as far as the way people critique me here.... 1-2% :lol:

Hardrock · Jul 28, 2010

For me probaly 5% are legit keepers and have potential. The other 95% sit on my computer and I go back and check them out every so often hoping they are better than I thought :lmao:.

I do like fokker's idea 1 good one a month and 1 great one every year. I have some new goals!:thumbup:

Robin Usagani · Jul 28, 2010

I was going to say the same thing. YOu get excited and post them here. After you see all the comments, you go to the corner and cry (jk).

misstwinklytoes said:
Well, as far as good IMO.... I'd say probably 15-20% - as far as the way people critique me here.... 1-2%

stone_family3 · Jul 28, 2010

I'm super harsh on myself. I say about 3% my husband and family say about 50-60%.

ks0385 · Jul 28, 2010

sovietdoc said:
0.01% of my shots are good. About 1 good shot out of 100. And I don't tend to make many shots. A full day out might bet me about 500 shots at most..

I second this.

Taylor510ce · Jul 28, 2010

I would say that I was probably close to the 6% mark but have been making an effort lately to be more selective and careful. Getting 3 shots out of maybe 20. Depends how unpredictable your subject is though. I mainly just want to prolong my cameras life but its been a good exercise to study the scene more before putting the camera to my eye..

Gaerek · Jul 28, 2010

This is a bad question I think. The answer is so dependent on so many variables that makes it a difficult question to answer. If I'm photographing my daughter's 1st birthday party, about half are great shots, because of sentimentality, and because technical precision isn't really required as much for these shots. If I'm doing landscapes, I might get one shot I like in 500. For everything else, it's somewhere in between.

Josh66 · Jul 28, 2010

ks0385 said:
sovietdoc said:

0.01% of my shots are good. About 1 good shot out of 100. And I don't tend to make many shots. A full day out might bet me about 500 shots at most..

Click to expand...

I second this.

Your math is a little off though...

1 out of 100 would be 1%. .01% would be 1 out of 10,000.
1% = 1/100 = .01
.01% = .01/100 = .0001 (one ten-thousandth)

For me, I guess it would depend a lot on what it was. I rarely have 'technical' issues, but sometimes it's just a boring picture.