percentage of 'keepers'

[Jerry Cunningham]

I am very happy to get one out of eight. That is shooting 4x5. Oddly enough, I get about one out of three when I shoot 8x10. I am learning not to shoot unless the image really jumps out at me. Kind of like getting married. If in doubt-don't.
Jerry

[Mike Lewis]

I just returned from a trip to the Seattle, Washington area where I shot twenty 4x5 Quickloads. I have two that I like enough to have scanned in order to make large prints. I must admit I'm a bit disappointed in the yield, but the 1:10 ratio seems about right for me or even high for a trip to a new place. I think I do better on subsequent visits to a particular place as I have a better idea of where and when (time of year and time of day) to take photos.

[Henry Friedman]

I saw a major Ansel Adams retrospective here in Washington DC a few years ago. There was just about everything he was known for on the walls - perhaps 120 prints. How many negatives do you figure he exposed to get those 120 prints? Also, I seem to remember that Robert Frank drew from tens of thousands of negatives to produce "The Americans".

If you're satisfied with 1/20 of your exposures, be happy.

[Jon Wilson]

If I am lucky, I will 2 out of 10 exposures as keepers. However, I usually keep all the developed chromes and B&W negs be they 4x5, 5x7, or 8x10. I try to mark each with exposure records and identify the lens used. This gives me an opportunity to later try to visualize the abilities of the various lens, at different aperture settings, film, and photographic situations.....this is of course taking in consideration my LF limitations. I agree with others' comments, that the more time one returns to the same location, I find I am able to hone the quality of my exposures.

[lee\c]

Richard Avedon shot over 700 people for the "In the American West". Thousands of 8x10 negs. there are about 135 or so people in the show. Editing your work is good and hard at the same time.

leec

[Brian Vuillemenot]

Decent shots (well composed, nice light and exposure, suitable for stock submission or greeting card type uses, etc.)- about half

Truly moving, inspirational shots that I consider representative of my vision, and definitive of my goals as a photographer- 3 out of about 1700 sheets of 4X5 shot over the last 4 years

[Bruce Schultz]

An old, wise editor once advised me to "Kill all the puppies" in the final edit of a news story. What he meant was be ruthless and weed out the extraneous, even those little nuggets that don't really move the story along. I think the same thing could be said for editing fotos. Get rid of the ones that merely involved a pleasant memory or a nice day, or make you explain to the viewer "Guess you had to be there."
Eventually, you learn to be more discerning in what fotos you take, even after setting up a difficult shot. Sometimes I've felt satisfied with walking away from a shot without firing the shutter, knowing that I could better apply my time to more worthy subjects. But sometimes you just have to get things out of your system. If I were shooting 4x5, I'd be more inclined to fire away but 8x10's expense and weight makes you rethink.

[N Dhananjay]

Let me provide a counterpoint to the opinions above.

First of all, what do we mean by a 'keeper'? If it is a photograph that is successful based on some criteria established beforehand, then it is just a matter of a lack of discipline - one fires the shutter even though one knows the image on the GG does not satisfy the criteria that have been consciously established beforehand. Also note that this is likely a confirmation of things we already know about (in a visual sense) since that is how you can establish the criteria. If it is based upon a judgment one forms after looking at the print (and I do think it is worth printing every negative that does not have an obvious error in seeing or technique), then we are saying that the image does not satisfy something undefined inside oneself. One may not have a clear idea about why it is unsatisfactory, just that it is. Note also that this approach has a greater exphasis on visual exploration.

I do think the non-keepers are necessary for the keepers to emerge. And I use the word emerge carefully. I'm not interested in the carefully established criteria beforehand, although I agree there are certain areas where that may be a perfectly legitimate way to work. The most interesting work is the stuff that is an emergent phenomenon - the pre-defined stuff tends to become a little boring and I think this is because the pre-defined criteria confirm what we know already, rather than being a visual exploration - we do not experience any personal growth. We work on a lot of stuff unconciously, by doing. You work out visual ideas in pieces, and so a lot of photographs may not 'work', but eventually you get to the stage where all the pieces you have been working on fall together and suddenly you will find you are making new images of surprising strength. You can't get to that except by doing, by slogging through the work.

I'd also like to point out that the very idea of a 'keeper' encourages thinking in terms of images, rather than in terms of a body of work. It encourages thoughts of 'being in the right place, at the right time'. And it can very actively conspire to limit your seeing. The dice are already loaded against fresh seeing, because a part of us is wired that way, and our environment tends to encourgae that wiring. A part of your brain is always saying, "Don't waste your time - this is how you make sense of this thing." Which is great when you have to make a decision about something in a split second but is terrible when you are trying to see things in a new light.

So, do throw out any negative that has obvious faults in technique and/or seeing. Keep the rest along with one print that has been made as well as you can. Look at the body of your work every now and again look also at the 'non-keepers' and think about why you might have tripped the shutter. You might find your vision moves in interesting directions.

Cheers, DJ

[Ed K.]

The definition of a "keeper" can be a moving target. Seems like it is possible to get many keepers per session at times, however there are better ones within that group, and new insight. Sometimes I go out, with 20+ sheets and come back with only one or two sheets exposed...a sort of "air photography" one might say. I chalk those days up to scouting; take notes and at least enjoy the day. I think that if I end up with a dozen true classic keepers in my whole life, I'll be very satisfied indeed. Along the way though, using the same camera and taking less with me each time out in the field seems to help. It's all sort of like climbing hills and mountains - a climb, a fall, a pleasant meadow, then a steep climb again. At least the journey is good.

[John Berry ( Roadkill )]

for me about 2 out of ten that please me. I have some that I didn't think much of, that others looking at the contact liked. Mike Lewis, next time you come to Seattle get ahold of me and I will take you where the tourist don't go. Invitation open to anyone else also.