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How many photos are necessary?
- Thread starter jwolf6589
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100 to get 1 keeper? Aye on a good day! Ha ha ha
@jwolf6589 It is your story, your vision, your memories. You take as many or as few as you want to to record your memory or to tell your story. This is one of the benefits of digital over film. If you want to take 100 then go for it, it doesn’t cost any more than taking 10 so use that to your advantage and don’t miss a shot
Usually I just start snapping, check the results later. I'll usually do a bunch of the same subject from different angles. If I take 200 shots on a given outing ill come out with 10-15 shots I post.
You don't have to take photos to "capture a history." Just memorize it or write it down on a piece of paper. You can also paint it, if you like. Regardless, the story is in your mind (your emotions).
A lot to unpack here.
First of all, the number of photos I take very much depends on the equipment I'm using.
If I pack my 4x5 gear out, I may take 4 film holders with me or two Grafmatics(although one of my cameras won't take a Grafmatic). Each regular film holder takes two sheets of film, while a Grafmatic holds 6. The latter are more compact for the number of sheets they hold, but are much more fiddly than a regular film holder to load, I'm not sure if their flatness is as good as a regular holder, and although I've never had it happen they can jam. Sometimes if I'm trying to pack lighter and not haul the entire case, it's one film holder in each back pocket, and I've returned with three sheets of film unshot. Whatever the case, though, when you potentially have $10 riding on each time you click the shutter, you sure as heck make them all count.
A couple of weekends ago, my wife and I spent the day walking around an nice little small town with plenty of interesting subjects. The weather was flat and dull, which made me avoid the sky as much as possible but it did give me flat light that illuminated a lot of things more evenly than they would have been in direct sun. I worked with it. I had my Hasselblad around my neck, shot one roll of film(12 shots), reloaded it while we were walking down the street(something that's a small point of pride for me given how fiddly they can be and how some people will only load them at home...I didn't think to stick a spare back in my pocket to avoid having to actually reload), and shot half the second roll.
On the other hand, the other day my wife wanted some pictures outside of our dog. Given that he has a mind of his own and she wanted a few specific things, when it was all said and done I imported to Lightroom and found nearly 300 photos to sort through. That was rather...arduous...but there were also plenty of photos with the potential to be good where I'd missed focus but then had a very similar one taken a second or two later that was in focus. Missing focus is easy with as much as he was moving around. Also, the light was decently contrasty and he's jet black, so even with the dynamic range the excellent if a bit dated 36mp Sony sensors in my D800 and D810(although I was only using the latter) sometimes a photo just wasn't salvageable but I took it anyway because in the moment I thought it would be good.
As for whether a scene is "worthy" or not-I can usually find something to catch my attention. If I don't, I'm generally not looking hard enough. Something like a shady lake often has some nice lighting interplay and good colors that the right light can make pop. Even if I end up dumping most of them, I at least hopefully have something.
Sometimes too, in a more general sense, I see a scene that I think has potential but looking through the viewfinder I can't decide on an angle or perspective that will look best, or whether to focus on a certain detail or not. A couple of different tries can get me something I might have otherwise missed.
First of all, the number of photos I take very much depends on the equipment I'm using.
If I pack my 4x5 gear out, I may take 4 film holders with me or two Grafmatics(although one of my cameras won't take a Grafmatic). Each regular film holder takes two sheets of film, while a Grafmatic holds 6. The latter are more compact for the number of sheets they hold, but are much more fiddly than a regular film holder to load, I'm not sure if their flatness is as good as a regular holder, and although I've never had it happen they can jam. Sometimes if I'm trying to pack lighter and not haul the entire case, it's one film holder in each back pocket, and I've returned with three sheets of film unshot. Whatever the case, though, when you potentially have $10 riding on each time you click the shutter, you sure as heck make them all count.
A couple of weekends ago, my wife and I spent the day walking around an nice little small town with plenty of interesting subjects. The weather was flat and dull, which made me avoid the sky as much as possible but it did give me flat light that illuminated a lot of things more evenly than they would have been in direct sun. I worked with it. I had my Hasselblad around my neck, shot one roll of film(12 shots), reloaded it while we were walking down the street(something that's a small point of pride for me given how fiddly they can be and how some people will only load them at home...I didn't think to stick a spare back in my pocket to avoid having to actually reload), and shot half the second roll.
On the other hand, the other day my wife wanted some pictures outside of our dog. Given that he has a mind of his own and she wanted a few specific things, when it was all said and done I imported to Lightroom and found nearly 300 photos to sort through. That was rather...arduous...but there were also plenty of photos with the potential to be good where I'd missed focus but then had a very similar one taken a second or two later that was in focus. Missing focus is easy with as much as he was moving around. Also, the light was decently contrasty and he's jet black, so even with the dynamic range the excellent if a bit dated 36mp Sony sensors in my D800 and D810(although I was only using the latter) sometimes a photo just wasn't salvageable but I took it anyway because in the moment I thought it would be good.
As for whether a scene is "worthy" or not-I can usually find something to catch my attention. If I don't, I'm generally not looking hard enough. Something like a shady lake often has some nice lighting interplay and good colors that the right light can make pop. Even if I end up dumping most of them, I at least hopefully have something.
Sometimes too, in a more general sense, I see a scene that I think has potential but looking through the viewfinder I can't decide on an angle or perspective that will look best, or whether to focus on a certain detail or not. A couple of different tries can get me something I might have otherwise missed.
My apologies! I could say, "I don't like to photo journal," but instead I will say, "I don't engage in such things." I prefer to enjoy the moments I spend outdoors, regardless if I have a camera with me or not. Those moments of "likes and dislikes" become memories. Also, there is no limit to the number of photos anybody should take. That is up to the individual to create an interesting story or one that is not.
That said, since this is a Photography forum, why not posting your photos in the Photo Of The Day thread?
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I'd add one more thing to this: sometimes, you don't find the value in a photo until years later.
I used to post aggressively to a photo-sharing site and was always trying to copy trends to expand my styling. I'd explore city streets to get photos of objects and urban landscapes. The vast majority of what I photographed was never posted, of course. But as was mentioned before, storage is cheap, and unless a photo was horribly, technically flawed, I generally held onto things.
I don't often go through my old archives, but recently I did. It's been over a decade since I lived in that city, and now those boring photos that were never posted and that seemed almost snap-shotty are the most valuable to me. They're a reminder of the paths I walked. Even photos of crowds are fascinating, because it reminds me of what the people were like, what the weather must have been like on that day, and how fashion has changed since then.
Now when I am out and about I will occasionally take a boring photo of the scene before me. It holds no value to me at present, but I take it for myself (and perhaps my children) ten, twenty, maybe even thirty years from now.
No "number" can be correct for everyone.
Some folks will take 10 photos on an outing.
Others will take 100.
Others will take 400.
Some might take 1,000.
Some photographers (certainly not me) are skilled enough in both "seeing" and actually setting up their shot and camera, that they may need only a few photos to "get what they came for".
Others (more like me) will have to take many shots, hoping that at least a modest percentage of them are satisfying both in composition and technically.
It depends on the individual, and what they're trying to accomplish.
The more you take, the more you'll have to "cull and edit".
Even today, I "re-edit" pics I took years ago... (sigh)...
Some folks will take 10 photos on an outing.
Others will take 100.
Others will take 400.
Some might take 1,000.
Some photographers (certainly not me) are skilled enough in both "seeing" and actually setting up their shot and camera, that they may need only a few photos to "get what they came for".
Others (more like me) will have to take many shots, hoping that at least a modest percentage of them are satisfying both in composition and technically.
It depends on the individual, and what they're trying to accomplish.
The more you take, the more you'll have to "cull and edit".
Even today, I "re-edit" pics I took years ago... (sigh)...
I have little need to edit these days since Mr. Powershot does such a good job at capture.
All images need editing in my opinion. Even when shot on the top of the line professional cameras.
My eyes don’t register this. So it’s either my eyesight or my 13 inch MacBook Pro monitor.
Given that you have posted only a handful of images and each of those to a different thread, there is no way to comment on your eyesight. The data is insufficient and tracking down what little is available is simply too time consuming.
Six, six is the correct number of photos for any situation.
well of course two of them are twins so they share a photoWhat if you have seven children?
I find it odd that people would seek an objective answer to such a subjective question. Some stories are told in a single sentence; some are told in 1,000-page novels. Similarly, some are told in a single image; others are told in a series of images, or in time-lapse photography, or by zooming in or out. Only you can determine the story you want to tell, the number of photos necessary to tell it, and the number of attempts necessary to capture those photos. Fortunately, we have devices in our pockets that can accommodate most of the possible permutations.
jwolf6589 media count: 27
mollyc media count: 1,380
I mean, I guess 27 technically is "many" compared to, say, 5.
Unless you - like me - have posted a lot of images from external sites (which I don't think you have @jwolf6589 ), that's not really a lot of images (27). I've posted from either Flickr, smug mug or Facebook in the past but am now posting from direct posts. Maybe some day I get to what others have done here
.
Sorry you sometimes come across as a master of exaggeration. Somehow 'a few' becomes 'many', and an 'OK image' becomes 'Grrrrreat'.....
That's just a personal observation, not at all intended to be anything else.
I have posted to FB far more. But in all reality I don't post my photos often enough online.Unless you - like me - have posted a lot of images from external sites (which I don't think you have @jwolf6589 ), that's not really a lot of images (27). I've posted from either Flickr, smug mug or Facebook in the past but am now posting from direct posts. Maybe some day I get to what others have done here