How many do you shoot out of interest. I know it's not a competition, but I do like to think I'm keeping productive
I'm not a high volume person.
In 2024, I stored 4,767 RAFs in the place where I keep everything.
Of those, 4,158 are still in my LR catalogue; the rest I culled because there was something technically wrong with them. This number includes LCC exposures for my 35mm, so they will be deleted eventually. I don't flat stitch a lot, but I did a few times so some of these are also component images from a flat stitch; they'll be deleted too.
Of those 4,158 files, I assigned a lens and aperture information to only 359. That means the rest were either total failures, or versions that weren't as good as the ones I assigned lenses.
I rated 245 of the 359; the 114 I didn't rated are likely heading to the delete bin when I get around to cleaning up 2024.
Of the 245 that got a lens and a rating (which means good enough to process), 67 are rated 1 or 2 stars, which means they're not strong; I may "promote" some of these, so I won't delete them until I'm sure. The majority (145) are 3 stars -- good enough to use and show; these are often "workmanlike" images. There are 28 photographs I rated with 4-stars, which means I think they're very good. I only rated 5 images with 5 stars; based on past practice, some of those will be demoted. My entire catalogue only has 10 images that I rated with 5 stars.
This volume is typical for me when I have a big project on the go.
Looking at my library, these days I shoot about 200 fully edited keepers per month.
This is not the same as portfolio grade images, but pictures I'm sufficiently happy with to want to keep in my library. I put white borders around my finished images to remind myself which ones I've finished editing.
I delete all the variations and alternatives once I'm happy with the keepers, as I find I'm overwhelmed with too many images and I don't want unused frames, failures and duplicates cluttering up my library.
I'm the same. I cleaned up 2023 so there are only 281 pictures from that year.
I like to be to review my images knowing that everything that is there is worth hanging on to. I sometimes find that with the passage of time even some of the weaker of my keepers gain some value. It's interesting how an image can be too fresh in your mind shortly after shooting it and maybe you don't appreciate it at first.
One of the reasons I like using LR is the database functionality. It helps me sift and sort and review. I find it very useful to do regular reviews of what I considered to be the stronger work.
I can't think of many occasions where I've gone back to finished images and promoted them after years have passed. Much more common is demotions! Quite a few images that I rated 5 stars have dropped a star or two with the passage of time.
