question to the Professional photographers

eyeguy · August 20, 2008

Hi All
I was looking at another thread of a person looking for feed back on his/her work, one of the suggestions was to be ruthless with selection and editing. I have also noticed looking at Smugmugs the pro's only have a few photos and all are great and people like me have lots of photos some good some not so good as i post most of my photos then track hits and over time will weed out the less viewed photos, as well by having lots of photos I think is hopefully shows my progression.
Now for the question: What is a pro's Capture ratio ? Ie: how many captures do you take for every one keeper. :scratch

Thanks
Eyeguy

pyry · August 20, 2008

eyeguy wrote:

Hi All
I was looking at another thread of a person looking for feed back on his/her work, one of the suggestions was to be ruthless with selection and editing. I have also noticed looking at Smugmugs the pro's only have a few photos and all are great and people like me have lots of photos some good some not so good as i post most of my photos then track hits and over time will weed out the less viewed photos, as well by having lots of photos I think is hopefully shows my progression.
Now for the question: What is a pro's Capture ratio ? Ie: how many captures do you take for every one keeper.

Thanks
Eyeguy

Well, I'm not a pro, but I do take the occational gig and take photography very seriously. I also like to weed out my galleries at least to less than 30 shots before I post anything. Sometimes I know going in that want to produce, say, 5 images in the end. Several art projects I've done for the challenges and otherwise always aim for exactly one image.

Now about the ratios I get.. I typically shoot 250-500 shots in a day.
Passable to good: one in ten
Really good: one in a hundred at best usually, sometimes as high as one in 30, sometimes none.
Wall hangers: one in a thousand?

So yeah, anything I ever show is just the tip of the iceberg, and portfolio class work is the snow cover on top of that.

InsuredDisaster · August 20, 2008

That's a great question! I was curious myself. I immediately delete 90% or more of everything I shoot (once I get home) and I was curious if I was only getting good ones on freak chance, or if this was normal. I mean, I think a bit about my shots before I take them, but still, I'm curious about the pros.

dlibrach · August 20, 2008

eyeguy wrote:

Hi All
I was looking at another thread of a person looking for feed back on his/her work, one of the suggestions was to be ruthless with selection and editing. I have also noticed looking at Smugmugs the pro's only have a few photos and all are great and people like me have lots of photos some good some not so good as i post most of my photos then track hits and over time will weed out the less viewed photos, as well by having lots of photos I think is hopefully shows my progression.
Now for the question: What is a pro's Capture ratio ? Ie: how many captures do you take for every one keeper.

Thanks
Eyeguy

Great question...and not an easy one to answer. Below is a reply that I made on another forum regarding a similar question....

As an artist, we tend to spend a lot of time deciding what to put into our portfolio. Which pieces will buyers like? Which ones do I like? Which ones do I think will be popular?  These are all important questions to ask yourself when trying to create a body of work to show to the world. Before we know it though, we have pages and pages of our work on display. This often results in confusion and disorientation for the viewer/buyer and can easily make things overwhelming and an unenjoyable experience for them.

Ever notice how many images are on display from any one artist at a gallery show? Quite often it is only a handful (or even just one). Even at some of the largest exhibits, it is rare to see more than a dozen pieces of work on display from the same creator.

Why is that?
Well, it helps keeps things fresh, allows for a more intimate experience for the viewer and puts the spotlight on individual pieces.

Your site may not be a physical gallery, but a lot of the same principles can be applied there. Coming across a portfolio with pages and pages of work is quite overwhelming for a viewer and lessens the impact of each of your images. You may have some great stuff in there, but viewers/buyers can be reluctant to sort through everything.

A good exercise to go through for any artist is to re-evaluate your entire portfolio every couple of months and cull it back by at least 10%. Not only does it clean things up, it also helps you create a more critical eye of your work as well as creating a better environment for your new works to be displayed. Plus you get a certain sense of freedom and a fresh start. Kinda like a good spring/fall cleaning.

As far as keeper rate...it all depends. Events (i.e. weddings, corporate shoots...etc) are a bit different than my personal 'art' crap. In a full wedding day (8+hrs), I typically shoot between 800-1500 images to get 300-400 keepers. The total shot varies depending on the lighting conditions, the flow of the event, ability to capture 'the moment'...etc. Sometimes the stars are perfectly aligned and it only takes one ore two clicks to get the shot that you are looking for, while other times you need to do a bit more experimenting and take more of a shotgun approach.

For my 'art' stuff, again it all depends. Some days, you just don't 'see' things they way you want. Hundreds of images later, you still have nothing to show. Other days, you may wind up with a 75%+ keeper rate.

I know that doesn't help much, but the best thing to do is not concentrate too much on your keeper rate. That's the great thing about digital. You can keep clicking away and it doesn't cost you anything (other than memory).

You will find that as time goes on, your keeper rate will improve the more you shoot. Remember, practice makes perfect.

Cheers,
Dave

InsuredDisaster · August 20, 2008

You know, I was thinking the other day how digital probably makes it a lot harder for a pro photographer. True, a pro will usually take vastly superior photos than the average joe with a camera. Better gear often shows itself in the quality improvements. Composition angles seem much difference. And of course, post processing gives the pros (or serious enthusiasts) a leg up over Average Joe.

But in the past, I'm sure that people simple couldn't afford to take all that many shots unless they were doing it for business. So each individual shot had to have a lot more thought into it.

Now I wonder how much a pro has to compete against lucky shots, or even average joe? I mean, you got millions of cell phone cameras, PDA cameras Point and shoots, and even affordable digital SLRs, all basically shooting for free. There are millions of photos out there taken by amatuers. Say at a sports venue. True the pro has 2.8 lenses to blur out the background, 8+FPS to capture that exact split second, and 500mm lenses to capture the glistening sweat off of Junior's brow, but how many mom and pops are going to go care when they've got 6 uncles blasting away with their cameras, in every angle and at every moment.

And truth be told, there are a lot of "pros" out there offering real crap. Would these guys be there if there wasn't affordable digital stuff? Does their presence make the market tougher for the good pros to shine through? Or does it muddy the water for everyone? I've heard some wedding photogs bemoaning the fact that people show up with their $500 DSLR kit, shoot a wedding for $200 and turn up with crap or sometimes decent photos, but of course, that drops the market down for even the pro's I'd think.

By "Pro" I'm refering to a person who offers exceptionally good photos for sale (whether on staff or freelance) and who probably has access to pro grade stuff.

eyeguy · August 20, 2008

Great input
Good Day
Great input so far "Thanks"
Now I am going to have to sit down and weed out some photos

I guess there is no substitution for getting out there and taking shots and more is better Practice,Practice ,Practice, Shoot,Shoot,Shoot. and your ratio
will get better with time if you analyze the good the bad & the ugly and learn from them all. Its kind of like the Olympics athletes train for years and on the big day it is all over in 10 seconds and if you have done it well and are the best on that day you get a Gold Medal

:ivar

Thanks for the comments and I am looking to hear more
Eyeguy
http://eyeguy.smugmug.com/

pyry · August 20, 2008

eyeguy wrote:

Good Day
Practice,Practice ,Practice, Shoot,Shoot,Shoot. and your ratio
will get better with time if you analyze the good the bad & the ugly and learn from them all.

Exactly

Add the things you can pick up from places like photography clubs and forums like DGrin and you're set for anything.

Scott_Quier · August 20, 2008

eyeguy wrote:

Good Day
Great input so far "Thanks"
Now I am going to have to sit down and weed out some photos
I guess there is no substitution for getting out there and taking shots and more is better Practice,Practice ,Practice, Shoot,Shoot,Shoot. and your ratio
will get better with time if you analyze the good the bad & the ugly and learn from them all. Its kind of like the Olympics athletes train for years and on the big day it is all over in 10 seconds and if you have done it well and are the best on that day you get a Gold Medal :ivar

Thanks for the comments and I am looking to hear more
Eyeguy
http://eyeguy.smugmug.com/

The one ingredient missing from the above bolded section is, "Think before you click!" If you can take the result of your analysis back into the field, I'm guessing (I'm still working on that part) your keeper rate will go up.

question to the Professional photographers

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