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03/11/2004 10:38:27 AM · #1 |
How many shots do you take ?
How many do you keep ?
How many do you show people ?
Editing is one of the key skills to making you a better photographer - and here I don't mean using photoshop, or advanced masking. I mean using the DELETE key.
I think it is important to learn how to let go of an image that is 'almost there'. You have to learn how to look at it, recognise the good, learn from the bad, and throw it away - metaphorically or physically - that's up to you.
On numerous occasions I've been directed to online galleries, to be faced with shot after shot of the same thing, from slightly different angles or slightly different exposures. Which one did the person want me to see ? Am I supposed to make up my own mind which are the good and the bad ? I'm left with a feeling of boredom and indifference. If I'd been shown one great image rather than 1 great image within 9 mediocre ones you would have a much better opinion of the overall collection.
I try to edit heavily. I try not to even show bad images (unless for the purpose of feedback or discussion)
From a good days shooting I might get 200 or 300 exposures. Maybe 50 of those make the first cut. (duplicates, alternative angles etc) From that maybe 5 to 10 ever make it to basic editing. One out of every few outings might be good enough to print.
So how do you edit ?
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03/11/2004 10:51:01 AM · #2 |
Well my 1GB card take 120 and if I am shoting one subject I will take around 60 shots and keep just 1 (unless the light/angle) is totally different.
If I am in a city for example I always fill it up and max my card out. Of that I expect to keep around 20 or 30 if it was a good day ;) And that includes taking several shots of the same thing - reviewing and adjusting exposure accordingly then deleting the test shots.
I worked out last week that I must have taken around 6000 final shots with my Nikon, yet my folder contains only 347 photos.
The more I take the fussier I get about quality - exposure etc, but also the number of good ones increases over time. Arbeit slowly. |
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03/11/2004 10:58:22 AM · #3 |
Challenge shots are sketched first and then a proof of concept is done to check perspective, lighting, etc. If the setup is tricky, I might run a 2 stop bracket by .5 stops. Typically, I do less than 20 shots.
Every shot I take is saved to the HD and all those shots are save to CD every month & the HD record deleted.
ONE image/shot/photo is released - period. How many 'alternate' shots have you seen from the pros?
If I get one or two images per 50 shots of grab shooting, I'm doing okay.
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03/11/2004 11:18:24 AM · #4 |
Originally posted by Gordon:
...From a good days shooting I might get 200 or 300 exposures. Maybe 50 of those make the first cut. (duplicates, alternative angles etc) From that maybe 5 to 10 ever make it to basic editing. One out of every few outings might be good enough to print...
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Yep, that's about my speed as well. |
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03/11/2004 11:39:53 AM · #5 |
My public DPC portfolio contains approx. 1% of my total images made. These I consider good enough to show (other than family shots).
I probably consider 10% good enough to print (haven't really counted, still in the process of doing that).
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03/11/2004 11:42:47 AM · #6 |
I go through a bit of a process when deciding what to keep and what to 'trash'. First of all, I never trash anything. It just gets archived. I never know when I may have a use for an image that I would normally not keep for myself.
1. Does the photo achieve the goal I set out for?
2. Is the image free from bad technical problems?
3. Is the composition good?
4. Are the colors and contrasts good?
5. Is the image free from distracting elements?
6. Is the subject sharp where it needs to be?
7. Is the exposure within a +/- 1/2 stop of where it should be?
8. Does the image have visual and/or emotional impact?
If the answer is yes to ALL of these, the image makes the initial cut. In general, this will eliminate over 80% of my photos.
After the cut, I go back through the remaining images. I make any image adjustments that I feel necessary. These include level adjustments, color saturation, sharpness, and contrast most of the time.
The next step is to group the photos of same/similar subjects and pick out one or two that I like the best overall from the smaller group. If the day's shoot is a single subject, this will usually allow me to eliminate down to 2-3 photos from a 200-300 photo set. Occasionally there will be shoots where the conditions are so good that I could get 100 good images from a 200 image set.
After the final few images are picked out, I complete any post processing that may be required and then decide if the image is worthy of printing or offering as a print.
One thing I shy away from is posting my images to ask someone which they like better. Part of the creative process, for me, is deciding on my own which images are the best of a set. I want them to meet my criteria rather than someone else's. If my image fails because I chose the wrong one, I have learned something that I am unlikely to repeat.
From my photographs that make my 'final cut' and are worthy of printing, I possibly show about 10% of them. So, in general, the selections from my photos that appear online make up 1-2% of what I shoot.
Some photos that I post online are 'just for fun'. They have no particular merit.
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03/11/2004 12:06:40 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by Gordon:
...From a good days shooting I might get 200 or 300 exposures. Maybe 50 of those make the first cut. (duplicates, alternative angles etc) From that maybe 5 to 10 ever make it to basic editing... |
This used to be quite close to my stats as well, with, perhaps, 200 exposures daily max. It appears, however, that I've become more selective about what I point the camera at. Instead of recording a scene or thing and collecting exposures for later review, it happens that a subject appears to dictate a reasonably definite angle, approach and composition in a less haphazard way than ever before. As a result, I seem to take less photos than ever before, while spending more time walking around with my hands cupped before my eyes. When I finally take my shots, others may have filled a whole memory stick!
What has not changed, is the number of shots I delete: about 90 % to 95 %. Trashing shots, I have to admit, is my absolute favourite part of editing. The sheer sense of confidence and liberation that comes with it is just too incredible to pass up. :-)
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03/11/2004 12:19:52 PM · #8 |
| I take 200-400 a day when I go out, I trash anything that has obvious technical flaws. I then keep the shots for a week or so look at them periodically, if they bore me after 2-4th look I toss them, if I am bored so soon must not be much there. I do a quick editing job on those that are left and then I take favorites and (or dpc challenge prints/shots) and take bit more time on them. |
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03/11/2004 12:44:21 PM · #9 |
i do all of my editing (deleting) of obvious bad shots in camera. everything else is burned to a cd as a digital negative. from there i do all of my post-processing and store the finished images on my hard drive until i have enough accumulated to fill a cd.
unless i'm just documenting an event, i rarely shoot enough pics to fill a 256 mb card. i usually find a shot that i like shooting 2-3 shots of a subject. of course, i don't have a dslr so my files are only around 2.5 mb.
there are subjects that i love shooting, though, and i'll go back to them every few days to get different lighting, different angles. |
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03/11/2004 01:27:12 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by Gordon:
How many shots do you take ?
How many do you keep ?
How many do you show people ?
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I like to shoot a lot.
I keep a lot of the family type shots, less of the more creative work.
I show a lot of family pics, just because my family is my main subject and relatives are my main audience.
My editing method depends on the audience, for family pics and things like that, I'll generally take one pass through to toss out the obvious bad ones (missed focus, exposure way off etc), then take another pass to toss out anything else that I don't like (bad expression, awkward pose etc.) The rest I'll keep.
For my own work, I try to be much more ruthless. I'll take a lot of shots of the same thing, but all slightly different. Usually the shot will evolve, and I'll toss most of the early iterations. Any variations that just don't work, get the boot as well. I try to look at it from the POV of a paying client, and take that approach.
Message edited by author 2004-03-11 13:32:30.
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03/11/2004 04:01:41 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by sfalice:
Originally posted by Gordon:
...From a good days shooting I might get 200 or 300 exposures. Maybe 50 of those make the first cut. (duplicates, alternative angles etc) From that maybe 5 to 10 ever make it to basic editing. One out of every few outings might be good enough to print...
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Yep, that's about my speed as well. |
Sounds like my patern as well. :-)
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