Percentage of keepers/surprise good shots

[RodinalDuchamp]

Guys when I was shooting MF I would get maybe 1-5 good shots on a roll.

This week I went out with 2 shots in mind and captured them but before arriving on location I found a new picture and captured it. Out of all three shots this was and is my favorite. I think its the most successful.

Then as I left I found another unpredicted shot and took it, again it works better than the shots I envisioned.

My question is what kind of success rate should in be aiming for realistically. This outing has changed my perception about finding shots and returning. Rather I am approaching my work much more organically now if I see it I shoot it then and there.

I know this is impossible to quantify but I'm interested in your experiences.

[invisibleflash]

Don't know what % I keep. The vast majority of my stuff is trash. I can't predict when I ill get a winner. But for me, my trash is as good as the best of the average forum photog. A great shot for me is one that is going in a museum or at least a top portfolio pix.

[RodinalDuchamp]

I like what you are aiming for. I'm hoping to hear this a lot. It will temper my resolve. I have been thinking since LF requires so much more thought the success rate should be higher but I'm finding out that's not the case or my standards since moving to LF have been raised significantly.

[bob carnie]

Richard Avedon took 17000 8 x10 negatives and settled with about 140 for his In The American West series.

[RodinalDuchamp]

Thank you for that stat they aren't easy to find like how many shots of Yosemite did Ansel take and how many made the final cut, Robert Adams, winogrand for sure was the consummate spray and prayer though on 35mm. We are talking about less than 1% for Avedon which although daunting is in some sick way making me feel comfortable. Thank you for sharing his work I did not know it and googled it to my delight.

[bob carnie]

Sometimes on large projects it will take you years to even understand or appreciate the winners... too often the first round of selects are the obvious and the real winners take time to appreciate.


Jeff Wall on the other hand contra to the numbers I gave you for Avedon has taken very , very few images in his career.. sometimes it takes him 6 months to set up one image.. google his working methods very interesting.

[Ken Lee]

it will take you years to even understand or appreciate the winners...

+ 1 + 1 + 1

Contrary to the notion of previsualization, IMHO it's often a good idea to make proofs and then put them away, not printing in earnest until we can see them fresh, as though they were someone else's shots.

[Kirk Gittings]

Seriously, if I get a dozen great b&W images a year (that is ones that I think will really bear the test of time-not images that just help fill out a theme but ones that truly sing) I'd think it was an extremely productive year-half a dozen and I am satisfied. Less than six and I resolve to work harder the coming year. That's from some 300-400 sheets of film a year (sheets-not separate shots). That doesn't mean the rest are trash by any means, they are just not the truly memorable ones-ones that are judged by my own satisfaction-not whether they are exhibited or published.

My standard for commercial work is different. The ratio of keepers is much higher.

[Oren Grad]

...winogrand for sure was the consummate spray and prayer though on 35mm....

No. He was paying very close attention to what was in his viewfinder, the exact opposite of "spray and pray".

[sanking]

I agree with the thoughts expressed by Bob Carnie, Ken Lee, and Kirk Gittings. The concept of a "keeper" in fine art work is subject to change so sometimes it takes many years to appreciate an image, and in some cases changes in one's work flow, or mastery of certain aspects of our process, make it possible to "craft" the print better than when the image itself was first captured.

That said, if I get 6-10 images a year that satisfy my personal understanding of a "keeper" I feel fortunate.

But, the more time you spend with both image capture and printing, the better you become. Hard work, if directed and smart, can make almost everybody improve.

Sandy