Time Spent on a Single Image - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

03/14/2008 10:42:24 AM · #1

After watching this video, I got to thinking:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLgSF1v6xCE

I realize I don't spent enough time creating a singular image that I'm REALLY happy with. I spend lots of time shooting, not much time editing, and zero time refining (as in my technique, in the field or at the computer). How can I possibly be happy with an image if I never put in the time required. Perhaps if I started creating large-ish prints (11x14 or 16x20), I'd slow down a bit and go for that single great image ... rather than a series or set ... or quickly moving to the next thing without every giving an image a chance.

What's the longest amount of time you've ever spent on ONE final image? (start to finish)

Was it worth it?

Do you have it printed?

Tez

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

03/14/2008 10:44:51 AM · #2

i've spent ages. If it's not right, it's not right. I've probablyu spent about 4 hours on a single picture form raw conversion through to final saving.

And there's no such thing as "enough time", if you're happy, it's enough time, if you're not, work until you are.

whiteroom

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

03/14/2008 10:53:37 AM · #3

i took two photos of this, it was candid at an art gallery but i spent the whole weekend editing it,
at least 100 edits. (i still wasnt happy with it)
i dont do that now however, thankfully.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

03/14/2008 11:27:39 AM · #4

was it just for dpc, or did you print it?

i dig it, by the way

:)

Originally posted by goodman:

i took two photos of this, it was candid at an art gallery but i spent the whole weekend editing it,
at least 100 edits. (i still wasnt happy with it)
i dont do that now however, thankfully.

Dirt_Diver

Nikon D3s

03/14/2008 11:38:18 AM · #5

This guy is amazing. I have never spent more than 8 hours editing a picture at the level of PS I am at now but one time I did spend abnout 3 days making a magizine cover from scratch for a digital scrap book I started. (I only have 2 pages) hahaa. If I were do to that exact page today it would take me about 2 hours.

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

03/14/2008 11:38:42 AM · #6

A couple of hours on each of these. Different edits, different approaches etc.

Mostly now I spend a few minutes at most on any given image in my flickr stream. Prints get a lot more time spent on them, spotting, selective colour adjustments etc. I don't print much :)

ErikV

Nikon D7000

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR DG IF-ED

03/14/2008 11:44:27 AM · #7

This one took me about four hours, and was entered in the time lapse contest a few months ago. Most of the time consumed was figuring out how to best merge the three heads and make the intersections look OK.

scarbrd

Leica M10

Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux M Aspherical MF - Black

03/14/2008 11:51:19 AM · #8

This one, at least 15 hours

This one, 30 minutes, tops.

Davenit

Canon EOS-1D

03/14/2008 12:25:41 PM · #9

Planning, setting up and shooting? 2 months. Actual shooting was about 5 days with 3 people helping me at any given time. //www.pbase.com/davenit/image/34335642

I did a series that from beginning to end was about a year.

Those are both studio examples.

Outdoors I've spent as much as a week in a blind to get one good one but it's one helluva shot... :-)

Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro

03/14/2008 12:30:44 PM · #10

you win :)

seriously, thanks for sharing ... helps me to curb my need for instant gratification

Originally posted by Davenit:

Davenit

Canon EOS-1D

03/14/2008 12:45:48 PM · #11

Originally posted by hopper:

seriously, thanks for sharing ... helps me to curb my need for instant gratification

In the end it has nothing to do with time. The shot will take what it takes whether its time in the field or time spent behind a screen. I would rather have one absolutely amazing image than 100 mediocre images any day. If that means I only produce 10-20 keepers a year, so be it.

People say "oh wow" to an ok image and forget it in a day. They remember the really great ones forever. That's always been my goal at least. I'll get there some day.

Ann

Olympus OM-D E-M1

03/14/2008 12:58:06 PM · #12

About 20 hours planning, building, and shooting, then another 2 hours editing, a combination of trying different versions and learning enough PS to make it look right.

About 30 minutes shooting, and 5 minutes editing. Rotate, sharpen.

I put a lot of effort into getting the shot to look right in camera, but I've also spent hours trying different things in PS to see what will work on a particular shot. I have a couple of shots in the bag that have a lot of potential, but I haven't quite got right yet. I pull them out every once in awhile to see if I've learned enough PS yet to improve them.

03/14/2008 01:02:11 PM · #13

I'm starting to think me too

Originally posted by Davenit:

I would rather have one absolutely amazing image than 100 mediocre images any day.

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

03/14/2008 01:04:59 PM · #14

Originally posted by hopper:

I'm starting to think me too

How is the search for your personal style going, btw ? (hopefully not to derail the thread)

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

03/14/2008 01:08:47 PM · #15

winter's tough for me .. so slowly :)

also, the wife got me the canon 2x extender for xmas and I can't stop using it (speaking of mediocre images)

I'm in a wierd place (mentally) with my photography ... it's bring me down actually.

thanks for askin' gordon

Originally posted by Gordon:

Originally posted by hopper:
I'm starting to think me too

How is the search for your personal style going, btw ? (hopefully not to derail the thread)

Telehubbie

Canon EOS-40D

03/14/2008 01:33:22 PM · #16

LOTS of hours in concept/design, buying all the stuff, building, and then about 4 hours shooting trying different things. Editing was only about an hour or so.

The setup:

These took many many hours in setup and shooting as well:

hihosilver

Nikon D200

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

03/14/2008 02:24:18 PM · #17

This image is the most time I've spent on any single photo which probably isn't very much given some of the spectacular examples already given:

About two hours at the beach, and about two days of editing since it was for an "expert" editing challenge, but I don't think I did anything very expert. I almost did not submit it because I was so tired of it after I was done.

No, I did not print it, and yes, it was totally worth it to enter this challenge because I learned alot about processing. For a long time, I had to explain to my friends and family why a large rock with bird poop all over it was my highest rated photo...:-\

digitalpins

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

03/14/2008 02:31:09 PM · #18

This is the image I spent the most time on........many hours then turned into days. This image needed alot of work because one it was a panorama and two since being a panorama many people were moving around in the different photos that make this one up. I really just lost the amount of hours spent on this image, I did so much work on this image but I am really happy with the turnout

jdannels

Nikon D300s

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM for Nikon

03/14/2008 03:17:05 PM · #19

I will often spend at least an hour or so on an edit. I can't help it really, I want to get a sky just right, or skin tones the way I want. Then there is the overall mood of the photograph that I want to have. Anyway, I will go a long way to get what I want once I get an idea in my head.

I think this may be one of the longest though. I wanted to shoot the eclipse as a time lapse. It involved three separate shoots. One in San Francisco, a few days before the eclipse, for the foreground elements at the Cliff House. Two hours round trip plus shooting time which is another hour. I also went out the night before the eclipse and shot some night shots, which I didn't use because I couldn't get the moons to layer nicely without looking cutout, so those were scrapped, but another few hours. Then the actual eclipse which went from about 1-5 in the morning. Shooting with two cameras every five minutes. Then came the editing, which meant getting each moon in its phase cut out and pasted over the finished edit of the cliff house. CS2 couldn't handle the files size I was running at and kept crashing. Once after about an hour of work that wasn't saved, so I had to redo it. A day or so of this, in a few hour spurts. In the end it is a 41 shot composite image. I have no print...

Message edited by author 2008-03-14 15:17:15.

faidoi

Pentax K10D

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

03/14/2008 05:30:38 PM · #20

The reason I don't enter anymore is because I spend too much time editing :(