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Gautam Desai

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I have been shooting digital for a little over three years now, first with a Nikon Coolpix 990 and with a D30 since. I'm curious about the ratio of good "keeper" shots / total shots that people tend to have shooting digital. I know it may vary significantly with style, but I just want a sense of 1:5, 1:10, 1:50, etc..
 
Gautam Desai said:
I have been shooting digital for a little over three years now,
first with a Nikon Coolpix 990 and with a D30 since. I'm curious
about the ratio of good "keeper" shots / total shots that people
tend to have shooting digital. I know it may vary significantly
with style, but I just want a sense of 1:5, 1:10, 1:50, etc..
Click to expand...
I have shot around 50,000 images with my old 1 megapixel camera.

Im not a photographer but Im trying.

I get about 1 good picture for every 200 that I take. (And my wife usually says "No, I took that one sweetie not you"

Murph
 
I thought 990 didn't come out until two years ago tho.
Gautam Desai said:
I have been shooting digital for a little over three years now,
first with a Nikon Coolpix 990 and with a D30 since. I'm curious
about the ratio of good "keeper" shots / total shots that people
tend to have shooting digital. I know it may vary significantly
with style, but I just want a sense of 1:5, 1:10, 1:50, etc..
Click to expand...
 
That's a bad question, man.

Unless you're prepared to judge the results of those people responding, any number you get from them is rather moot. If might say i routinely keep 50% of my snaps. But, when you look at my pictures, you might decide that none of them are worthy of keeping.

Perhaps you were trying to ask a different question? The way it's phrased now, it all depends on the sensibilities and aesthetics level of the shooter, right? Their numbers would have nothing to do with what YOU should expect.

Too many factors to consider. Someone with semi-pro or pro experience woud probably be much more critical of each captured frame than someone who is just happy that the picture 'came out.'

rk
 
I am up to 85%+ of photos that are technically sound, meaning good focus, exposure, and no major compositional errors.

The number of what I consider good photos is much less, around 5% of the technically sound ones. My number of outstanding photos (I call them "printables", because they're images I just HAVE to print off on my S9000) is about 10-15% from the "good" group.

It's interesting how what I felt was "good" a year ago (when I started photography) looks like cr@p to me now, though! My standards are getting higher, which I feel is a good thing. However, because of this sliding-scale that my skills are on, it's hard to give totally accurate numbers.

My main subjects are zoo animals and my kids soccer games, as well as the occasional family event. I don't do still-life or portraits or architecture, and I haven't had a chance to take my D30 on vacation yet, although my Pro90 served me well for that last year.

Brent
Gautam Desai said:
I have been shooting digital for a little over three years now,
first with a Nikon Coolpix 990 and with a D30 since. I'm curious
about the ratio of good "keeper" shots / total shots that people
tend to have shooting digital. I know it may vary significantly
with style, but I just want a sense of 1:5, 1:10, 1:50, etc..
Click to expand...
 
In case it wasn't clear, the "two numbers" refers to the 85% that are for the most part technically sound and the 5% of that number that I feel are "photographs" and not "snapshots."

Brent
Brent DeShazer said:
The number of what I consider good photos is much less, around 5%
of the technically sound ones. My number of outstanding photos (I
call them "printables", because they're images I just HAVE to print
off on my S9000) is about 10-15% from the "good" group.

It's interesting how what I felt was "good" a year ago (when I
started photography) looks like cr@p to me now, though! My
standards are getting higher, which I feel is a good thing.
However, because of this sliding-scale that my skills are on, it's
hard to give totally accurate numbers.

My main subjects are zoo animals and my kids soccer games, as well
as the occasional family event. I don't do still-life or portraits
or architecture, and I haven't had a chance to take my D30 on
vacation yet, although my Pro90 served me well for that last year.

Brent
Gautam Desai said:
I have been shooting digital for a little over three years now,
first with a Nikon Coolpix 990 and with a D30 since. I'm curious
about the ratio of good "keeper" shots / total shots that people
tend to have shooting digital. I know it may vary significantly
with style, but I just want a sense of 1:5, 1:10, 1:50, etc..
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
This is a good point about a person's standards. I've seen myself do this also. My standards for a good photo are higher now than a year ago. I would say that my numbers aren't quite as impressive as Brents. I am probably at about 33% that are technically sound and about 10% that I like. Out of that I might have 1% that I would want to print. But its all about that 1%, isn't it? The photos that you really like makes the time and effort worth the other 99%.

I personally wouldn't get hung up about the percentages as long as you are still getting photos that are great to you. But, it is an interesting statistic, even if it isn't very relevant.

Joo
Brent DeShazer said:
The number of what I consider good photos is much less, around 5%
of the technically sound ones. My number of outstanding photos (I
call them "printables", because they're images I just HAVE to print
off on my S9000) is about 10-15% from the "good" group.

It's interesting how what I felt was "good" a year ago (when I
started photography) looks like cr@p to me now, though! My
standards are getting higher, which I feel is a good thing.
However, because of this sliding-scale that my skills are on, it's
hard to give totally accurate numbers.

My main subjects are zoo animals and my kids soccer games, as well
as the occasional family event. I don't do still-life or portraits
or architecture, and I haven't had a chance to take my D30 on
vacation yet, although my Pro90 served me well for that last year.

Brent
Gautam Desai said:
I have been shooting digital for a little over three years now,
first with a Nikon Coolpix 990 and with a D30 since. I'm curious
about the ratio of good "keeper" shots / total shots that people
tend to have shooting digital. I know it may vary significantly
with style, but I just want a sense of 1:5, 1:10, 1:50, etc..
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
You're right of course. I should have been clearer and specified film with an EOS before the E990. I guess I counted all my years not just digital.
EricF said:
Gautam Desai said:
I have been shooting digital for a little over three years now,
first with a Nikon Coolpix 990 and with a D30 since. I'm curious
about the ratio of good "keeper" shots / total shots that people
tend to have shooting digital. I know it may vary significantly
with style, but I just want a sense of 1:5, 1:10, 1:50, etc..
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Hey, I thought no question was a bad question!?! :) I knew there are a lot of personal factors involved, but I feel that 1 to 2 out of a hundred pictures that I take are extremely good, I was just getting sense for what other people thought. I guess I could have worded my questions better.

Thanks for the reply.
RolandKorg said:
That's a bad question, man.

Unless you're prepared to judge the results of those people
responding, any number you get from them is rather moot. If might
say i routinely keep 50% of my snaps. But, when you look at my
pictures, you might decide that none of them are worthy of keeping.

Perhaps you were trying to ask a different question? The way it's
phrased now, it all depends on the sensibilities and aesthetics
level of the shooter, right? Their numbers would have nothing to do
with what YOU should expect.

Too many factors to consider. Someone with semi-pro or pro
experience woud probably be much more critical of each captured
frame than someone who is just happy that the picture 'came out.'

rk
Click to expand...
 
I didn't get a "framer" until I hit the 200 mark with the D60. A great deal of those 200 were just test shots and learning curve. Hopefully the ratio improves exponentially.

Michael
 
Gautam Desai said:
Hey, I thought no question was a bad question!?! :) I knew there
are a lot of personal factors involved, but I feel that 1 to 2 out
of a hundred pictures that I take are extremely good, I was just
getting sense for what other people thought. I guess I could have
worded my questions better.

Thanks for the reply.
Click to expand...
That is about where I am at so far (1 or 2 per 100 shots). I've been shooting digital for about 10 days. One thing I've noticed is how much more volume I shoot. I can rip off a rolls worth of digital in no time flat. Would have never done that with Velvia.

Michael
 
Gautam Desai said:
I have been shooting digital for a little over three years now,
first with a Nikon Coolpix 990 and with a D30 since. I'm curious
about the ratio of good "keeper" shots / total shots that people
tend to have shooting digital. I know it may vary significantly
with style, but I just want a sense of 1:5, 1:10, 1:50, etc..
Click to expand...
 
Just wondering, do you rush your shots now that you are using digital?

I just came from Yosemite last weekend shooting with my Elan 7e and P&S. For three days I only shot 4 rolls of slides, 1 roll of print. Even though I carried 12 slide/8 print rolls with me I took less pictures than anticipated. It has nothing to do with film development cost. I just felt like some view are just not worth taking. I knew that if I took such pictures they are not worth keeping at all. I think once I get my D60 it will be the same. I look at the scene, visualize what picture I want to take, then match it with the suitable lens, and take the picture.

Is it a tendency for digital shooters to rush their shots because it is free? Unless you are shooting action then that is understandable.

GreenArcher
 
This is a good question that you ask and I'm curious to how what everyone else does. I read in a photo magazine that one pro photographer will shoot 3 rolls of film to get on perfect shot. What's that 1:100? It's totaly subjective, but I'll define a keeper as something I would be proud to print to 14x17 or larger and display in my home or in a gallery.

All I can say is my ratio has gone up tremendously since upgrading to the 1d from the d30. This is because I don't have to throw away so many out of focus shots. Usually my first pass on inspecting the pics once they are in the computer is to check for focus and toss the ones that aren't. Then I would start to look at the remainder for printable pictures. You can fix a lot with photoshop (or whatever software you like) but you can't fix focus. I used to get a sharp focus on only about 15% of the d30 pics and an acceptable focus on about 50%. So right away I would toss half and from those only about 1 in a hundred would I consider worth printing large for a possible show or sale. So with the d30 the ration was about 1:200. I would say that with the 1d now I am keeping about 80% of my pictures. and my standard for what's sharp focus has changed a lot. Keep in mind that I have more experience now and that helps with the 1d, but i am getting 1:50 'keepers' with the 1d.

Seems like the extra experience brought the keeper ratio from 1:200 to 1:100 and the 1d got it down to 1:50. Maybe with more time and shots I can get it down to 1:25???
David Livingston said:
Gautam Desai said:
I have been shooting digital for a little over three years now,
first with a Nikon Coolpix 990 and with a D30 since. I'm curious
about the ratio of good "keeper" shots / total shots that people
tend to have shooting digital. I know it may vary significantly
with style, but I just want a sense of 1:5, 1:10, 1:50, etc..
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
It depends. My d60 is coming in a few days. So far with film 90% ok technically with 20-30% keepers. With d60 I expect the figures to drop dramatically but I will end up with better keepers hopefully.

For comparision I believe in National Geographic there is 1 printed for about 55000 or 65000 shots.
Gautam Desai said:
I have been shooting digital for a little over three years now,
first with a Nikon Coolpix 990 and with a D30 since. I'm curious
about the ratio of good "keeper" shots / total shots that people
tend to have shooting digital. I know it may vary significantly
with style, but I just want a sense of 1:5, 1:10, 1:50, etc..
Click to expand...
 
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