Your Photo Shoots ...

[echoyjeff222]

I'm curious about how other photographers' photo shoots go -- not a professional in studio one, but simply going out and about on a photo adventure. I am wondering a. how long do you usually take b. how many pictures do you take and of how many subjects and c. how many do you actually keep.

For some reason, when I go out ... I take a long time -- like an hour -- and end up shooting one or two subjects. I end up with like 1 or 2 that I like.

Is this normal? :mrgreen:

 

[pic_chick]

I take a lot of photos when I am out on the street but I live in New Orleans where the oddballs live and I always have my camera I will spend 2-3 hr walking around at a time... easily longer and I take somewhere around 100-200 photos the keepers are about 7%

 

[Jaemie]

I go out 3-4 times a week and spend about an hour walking around town, perhaps in a park, or around my neighborhood. I generally go in the early morning, or early evening before the sun sets. My 256MB CF card limits me to less than 80 jpg images or far fewer RAWs, so I try to be careful and selective in my shots. I almost always get that flashing "CF CARD FULL" before I want to finish. Usually, I get 0 to 2 images that deserve PP and blog consideration, so I often come home and review and have nothing worth working on further.

 

[Farmclicker]

I am just a hobbist, but I found I go out a few times a week and after 2-3 hours start looking to go home and doing something more productive. I am a farmer so I am always out early in the morning instead of sunset. I have found that my photos are between 78-88 for some strange reason, of which I get 2-3 that might get posted on here, about 20 that I consider "good", and the rest uneventful even if they are in focus and all that. About a dozen get deleted instantly just because I suck and don't always get things in focus, camera shake, and the like.

 

[tirediron]

It`s perfectly normal. When I have the time to do it, there`s nothing I like better than dragging out the MF kit and spending the whole day shooting a single roll of 120. I might get 1-2 that I like out of that, if I`m lucky.

 

[PhotoWrangler]

The more you shoot, the better you get, and the better you get, the more you keep. The amount of 'keepers' will grow and the amount of time it takes you to shoot will shrink.

 

[PhotoWrangler]

It`s perfectly normal. When I have the time to do it, there`s nothing I like better than dragging out the MF kit and spending the whole day shooting a single roll of 120. I might get 1-2 that I like out of that, if I`m lucky.

That leaves you with what? 10 left over if you're shooting 6x6? LOL

 

[sm4him]

The answer for me is, it depends. My outings vary wildly, depending on circumstances. The three most common outings I make are:
1. An early morning trip to the backyard for some macro work. Usually 30 minutes to an hour, tops, and how many shots depend on how many cool creepy-crawlies I find. Sometimes, I come away with absolutely nothing, sometimes I shoot 50 or 60 "frames" and come away with maybe 4 or 5 real keepers, and several others that I keep anyway.

2. Lunchtime photo shoot. May have to do one of these today. About an hour, since that's what I get for lunch. I work in our downtown area, so I can either walk around downtown, maybe go to our "Market Square" area if there's a farmer's market or something going on. Or I can walk down to the big park area which was the site of the 1982 World's Fair, OR I can head slightly north instead and walk the greenway down by the river--all within pretty easy walking distance of my workplace. Generally shoot anywhere from 100 pictures up--might end up with 2 keepers or 20, depending on what I find.

3. Day photo shoots: My preference is to plan out a half-day or day trip. Might just be to the local nature center, or it might be up to the mountains, or even up to Kentucky or the northeast corner of TN (little town called Jonesborough, where I used to live, great photo ops!). When I do this, maybe twice a month, I head out early and spend as much of the day out shooting as I possibly can. Obviously, I come back with a whole lot more photos then, usually a couple of cards worth (shooting raw), but I have NO idea how many "keepers" I get out of that.

Oh, there's a fourth kind, too--My indoor shoots. Those are usually at least an hour, sometimes two or three hours. Might do water drop photography, or smoke photography, or just experiment with some abstract or macro stuff, maybe some florals if I have anything to cut and bring in. Absolutely no idea how many keepers I generally have from those--enough to keep me doing it!

 

[KenC]

You'll get as many answers as there are people on here. I usually do one of two things: walk around the city or visit an arboretum or some kind of park. In either case, I usually feel that 2-4 hours is enough; after that I want to do something else, either process the images, or something non-photographic. As for "keepers" someone had a thread about that a couple of weeks ago, with a poll, so if you're curious about that aspect, look it up. For me, if you define keepers as images that I either print or post, I guess it's about 5-10% (just a guess, maybe even a different one than I made recently).

 

[MLeeK]

It all depends on what I am doing, who I am with, if there is a goal in mind or about a million other things.
It could be a 15 minute adventure or it could be all day. I could take 5 images or multiple cards full. How many do I keep? For just an adventure maybe 25% to half. If I am shooting something in particular with an actual vision and goal in mind it's much higher. What I do or anyone else does has no bearing on what you do. This is YOUR journey and it won't be like any of ours at all.

What you are doing now is teaching you. So, if you keep NOTHING from an adventure, you are just fine. You learned what you didn't like and what didn't work. That's just as valuable as the ones that work like a charm. Those throw away images are INCREDIBLY valuable. Do exactly what you are doing, learn what you are learning.

If you remember when you go to THINK and not just shoot and you will learn even more. LOOK at what you are shooting and THINK about what you see and what you want the photograph to show to someone else later. LOOK at what you are shooting and think about ways that you can make the image different. Different compositions, different settings change the image immensely...

 

[gsgary]

Most of the time im out for 2 hours minimum, if im shooting film i try to make it 100% keepers (me making every shot count)Derbyshire - Curbar Edge August 2012 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[12sndsgood]

yeah, just depends. i can go out and shoot a friend or model and maybe go thru 200 photos in a couple of hours, or i can go out shooting a race where i can go thru 200 photos every 30 minutes how long i stay out will depend on the event, how much im enjoying it, how much time i have before i have to be back home with the family.

 

[tirediron]

It`s perfectly normal. When I have the time to do it, there`s nothing I like better than dragging out the MF kit and spending the whole day shooting a single roll of 120. I might get 1-2 that I like out of that, if I`m lucky.

That leaves you with what? 10 left over if you're shooting 6x6? LOL

Baby MF - 645

 

[spacefuzz]

such a complicated question!

If I am shooting seascapes, I will shoot 100-200 shots as I am trying to capture the correct wave pattern by varying shutter speed. Usually 3-4 compositions a night as the light changes. An hour of shooting on the beach, 3-4 hours drive time. I may get 1 keeper out of the group but very light dependant.

If I am shooting models: 300-400 if its an all day even. Who knows how many good shots, really model dependant.

If I am shooting general landscapes, its maybe 20-60 shots with 2-4 different compositions. About a third of those shots will be framing trials just to see how it looks on the LCD and make sure I have the histogram captured. 1-2 hours shoot time usually with 1-12 hour drive / hike time to a location.

Ive found that in general, the more experienced I get the fewer shots I take.

 

[amolitor]

These days I almost always shoot to make a single photograph. I see something, or I have an idea, and then I got attempt to make something of that. Anywhere from 2 to 20 exposures later, I either have it, or I don't. I do sometimes wander with a camera, but rarely - I have a 2 year old, so I have to be a lot more efficient.