| Author | Thread |
|
|
04/06/2009 04:41:15 AM · #1 |
I am a Digital Photographer,
I take 500 images,
and discard 100 for under exposure or over exposure,
I delete another 100, spoiled for camera or subject movement,
Yet another 100 for poor focusing,
50 for incorrect white balance,
Another 50 because the composition is not to my liking,
Yet another 50 for ‘noise’ beyond repair
Of the remaining 50, I edit 30 better ones,
And again select 10 best,
Hoping...
that two or three will be really outstanding,
and at least one will be a masterpiece!
This cycle goes on and on,
till I am able to create a work of art.
And I call myself a digital artist!
|
|
|
|
04/06/2009 06:41:53 AM · #2 |
And your point would be.........8>)
|
|
|
|
04/06/2009 07:04:18 AM · #3 |
| Does this happen to you too? |
|
|
|
04/06/2009 07:12:30 AM · #4 |
Originally posted by kbhatia1967:
Does this happen to you too? |
Not very often, no. I only have a 1Gb card and I almost never fill it unless I'm on a longish trip. Nearly everything I shoot gets worked on, basically. Except challenge pictures, where I sometimes try more variants and then in the end know one of them is "the one" and ignore the rest.
R.
|
|
|
|
04/06/2009 07:17:09 AM · #5 |
Originally posted by kbhatia1967:
Does this happen to you too? |
To me, the digital aspect allowws me to shoot a zillion images and cherry pick the stuff I like.
I went out for about four hours Saturday afternnon and shot 200 images looking for a Textures entry.....I actually have six that I like.
With film, it cost money, and since I didn't feel like going to the time, expense, and trouble to have my own darkroom, I was much more selective about how I shot.
Now, there's no reason NOT to shoot a zillion images.....so I do!
|
|
|
|
04/06/2009 07:36:54 AM · #6 |
The only time I do something like this is when I'm at the park with my kids or just goofing around. If I am on a photoshoot I usually take 2 consecutive shots of the same subject just in case they blink or something but out of 100 images I shoot I could generally use about 90 of them. However because I take 2 shots I use about 30-40 images.
|
|
|
|
04/06/2009 08:34:07 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by NikonJeb:
Originally posted by kbhatia1967:
Does this happen to you too? |
To me, the digital aspect allowws me to shoot a zillion images and cherry pick the stuff I like.
I went out for about four hours Saturday afternnon and shot 200 images looking for a Textures entry.....I actually have six that I like.
With film, it cost money, and since I didn't feel like going to the time, expense, and trouble to have my own darkroom, I was much more selective about how I shot.
Now, there's no reason NOT to shoot a zillion images.....so I do! |
Doesn't it cost you more time picking through those zillions of images than it would if you'd edited with your shutter finger in the first place? |
|
|
|
04/06/2009 09:57:25 AM · #8 |
Originally posted by NikonJeb:
Originally posted by kbhatia1967:
Does this happen to you too? |
To me, the digital aspect allowws me to shoot a zillion images and cherry pick the stuff I like.
I went out for about four hours Saturday afternnon and shot 200 images looking for a Textures entry.....I actually have six that I like.
With film, it cost money, and since I didn't feel like going to the time, expense, and trouble to have my own darkroom, I was much more selective about how I shot.
Now, there's no reason NOT to shoot a zillion images.....so I do! |
..and I think the truth is that nothing is really free, after all the zillions of shutter-usage, how much does it cost to replace the shutter? And how much for the space? And then the time factor. But then, I am using a Canon and just maybe the Nikonians do not have the same problems... ;-) |
|
|
|
04/06/2009 10:20:49 AM · #9 |
Originally posted by kbhatia1967:
I am a Digital Photographer,
50 for incorrect white balance,
|
Shoot in RAW then. |
|
|
|
04/06/2009 10:23:09 AM · #10 |
If you did that each shoot for months on end, then I'd say you are not learning from your past mistakes. If you are deleting 100 each for focus issues and over/under-exposure, then you need to stop doing that! :)
Better you select a subject and shoot it with different settings to learn what works and what you like.
Same goes for post processing.
In the meantime, enjoy what you are doing / learning! Have fun with it.
|
|
|
|
04/06/2009 10:28:22 AM · #11 |
Originally posted by Simms:
Originally posted by kbhatia1967:
I am a Digital Photographer,
50 for incorrect white balance,
|
Shoot in RAW then. |
Originally posted by kbhatia1967:
...and discard 100 for under exposure or over exposure... |
RAW will save you here as well, assuming you didn't miss by more than a couple of stops. ;-)
|
|
|
|
04/06/2009 10:31:08 AM · #12 |
| Personally, i have a love/hate affair with digital. I love being able to "practice" until i get it right, but hate the fact that so many people overuse editing programs. My goal is to get it "right" in the camera, and only use minimal editing to get the final result that i desire. |
|
|
|
04/06/2009 10:32:57 AM · #13 |
Some things change as you are shooting, like sunsets, or when you are traveling and shooting as you ride. I may shoot 50 or 60 of one sunset, and only one or two will capture the "moment". When traveling, the scene changes every second, so I shoot a lot of images that don't make the cut, but I also get a lot of excellent snapshots by doing the shooting.
I used to shoot film, and develop it, and archive the negs ect. but those days are about over now. I only use film now for a specific thing, and that is for when I want to shoot super wide in one shot, as with the 15mm Sigma fisheye. I can't afford to buy a 10.5 or 10-20 mm just to get those shots.
I archive about 2/3 of my camera files, and put about 1/8 of them in my working files. I then only keep the couple of each scene that look the best in my working files.
Sometimes it is fun to go back and look through the archived ones and see what I was doing, and to pick out a few to edit.
Some of my best images were shot at 60 mph. Traveling is when the open ended click count really makes a big difference for me.
|
|
|
|
04/06/2009 03:17:14 PM · #14 |
When I'm shooting for personal reasons, I rarely shoot any more images than I would have shot with film. I spend more time considering what I'm doing before I do it. I could use the brute force method and shoot a zillion images and hope I got one or two I liked, but I find that shooting less and getting what I want to start with works better.
|
|
|
|
04/06/2009 06:06:38 PM · #15 |
Originally posted by Balko:
If you did that each shoot for months on end, then I'd say you are not learning from your past mistakes. If you are deleting 100 each for focus issues and over/under-exposure, then you need to stop doing that! :)
Better you select a subject and shoot it with different settings to learn what works and what you like.
Same goes for post processing.
In the meantime, enjoy what you are doing / learning! Have fun with it. |
Well, I shoot a lot because I am constantly striving to get better, I don't have to pay to develop them so why not, and since I am still learning, I will continue to shoot a lot because I am constantly trying new and different things that I never had the chance to because of the limitations of film.
I can correct, or change up, settings on the spot to get a different effect that would have been impossible with film simply because I couldn't look at an image on the spot.
I'm not sure why some people equate shooting a bazillion images with either inadequacy or carelessness.....to me it's the biggest gift of digital to be able to shoot and make corrections, or change up effects on the spot. Half the time I go out shooting, I don't necessarily have a hard and fast idea of what I want, and I know I can wing it and experiment.
The best part of it all is I can do what I want, when I want, and nobody can take that away from me.
I constantly hear people telling others how to do this or that, often regardless of whether ot not they even asked, and IMNSHO, you shoot however you want, 'cause it's your camera, and your thing, whatever that may be.
You'll always be able to find help for what you want when you ask, but generally the unsolicited direction is projection.
Shoot......enjoy.......
Repeat.....8>)
|
|
|
|
04/06/2009 06:15:38 PM · #16 |
For me, it depends a lot on what I'm shooting. If I'm shooting landscape or still life, then I use a pretty high percentage of what I shoot. I generally can take my time & shoot it right the first time.
If I'm shooting people (portraits, models, wedding, etc) then I use perhaps 5-15%. People move, close their eyes, sneeze, shift from the light, etc. In a rush to catch an unexpected moment, glance, hug, etc. I'll shoot quickly & make many mistakes, hoping to be able to fix it later. If there's time for a second shot, I'll do quick adjustments & shoot again. I'm definitely not good enough to use even a large fraction of my event shots. |
|
|
|
04/06/2009 06:36:43 PM · #17 |
I think this is the nature of art, not the exclusive burden of digital photography. When you paint you sketch, then you refine your sketch, then you move to color studies, then you start you work on your canvas. Weeks or years later you may be done and many many paintings are gessoed over and you begin again.
The difference between art and craft is the winnowing process. If I'm making chairs or pots, they are all keepers. If I'm shooting for the kids soccer games I'll have dozens of good enough images in an hours shoot. Trying to make "art" is a much tougher standard. Ansel Adams said that one good exposure was a good day shooting, why should I have a higher success rate than he had? |
|
|
|
04/08/2009 07:54:31 AM · #18 |
Originally posted by Simms:
Originally posted by kbhatia1967:
I am a Digital Photographer,
50 for incorrect white balance,
|
Shoot in RAW then. |
All cameras do not support RAW format. Editing in RAW is also more cumbersome, and perhaps takes more time.
Message edited by author 2009-04-08 07:54:44. |
|
|
|
04/08/2009 09:43:53 AM · #19 |
Originally posted by kbhatia1967:
Originally posted by Simms:
Originally posted by kbhatia1967:
I am a Digital Photographer,
50 for incorrect white balance,
|
Shoot in RAW then. |
All cameras do not support RAW format. Editing in RAW is also more cumbersome, and perhaps takes more time. |
Top cameras do support RAW and in my experience, editing RAW files is no more cumbersome or time consuming that working with jpeg files. There are more options for sure with with RAW, but it's not really the burden you're making it out to be. |
|
|
|
04/08/2009 12:34:41 PM · #20 |
Originally posted by kbhatia1967:
All cameras do not support RAW format. Editing in RAW is also more cumbersome, and perhaps takes more time. |
All decent cameras support RAW, and cumbersome editing?????
You can surely salvage most issues in the RAW converter with much more speed and ease than in jpeg......at least from my experience.
|
|
|
|
04/08/2009 12:37:41 PM · #21 |
Shoot, edit, and enjoy your photography any way you see fit.
Of course, you're doing it wrong, but do it anyway ;)
(I'm kidding!) |
|
|
|
04/08/2009 08:23:40 PM · #22 |
Wow, I'm really pleased with my ~10% hit rate, then! :)
Also, RAW has increased the speed of my workflow. A lot! |
|
|
|
04/08/2009 08:27:23 PM · #23 |
Originally posted by Mousie:
Wow, I'm really pleased with my ~10% hit rate, then! :)
Also, RAW has increased the speed of my workflow. A lot! |
Agreed. It's MUCH simpler to work out of the RAW converter for basic issues like color balance, exposure, shadow fill and so forth. My workflow got faster when I got comfortable with RAW. There's a learning curve for sure, but...
Payoff!
R.
|
|
|
|
04/09/2009 04:08:56 AM · #24 |
| I am surprised at so many people telling that working in RAW is less cumbersome. Makes me rethink. |
|
|
|
04/09/2009 04:31:00 AM · #25 |
I think most amateur photographers are in your shoes. It's the lazy man's way... take hundred's of pictures, put less thought in the composition, lighting, etc., look at them later to see what's "good." The "work" is to transition into learning composition, how to use lighting, how to adjust the camera settings, etc. You'll either keep taking hundred's of snaps, or put more thought on how you want the end result to be prior to pressing the shutter.
Here's a suggestion. On your next jaunt, limit the number of exposures/pictures you take like if you only had a few rolls of film. See if that forces you to put more thought into the photo. My 2 cents. (I'm still lazy most of the time, running out of HD space.)
I just re-read all the posts, everyone has good opinions. But it sounds like you're tired of filtering through hundreds of pics, so I would say, more thought into the image before pressing the shutter=less pics to filter through. [To all the veteran DPCers, don't beat me up, I'm just a newbie amateur :) ]
Message edited by author 2009-04-09 04:46:55. |
|
