How many pictures do you take/delete?

[TiffanyK]

I am a beginner who is loving the new Nikon D40 my husband got me for Christmas. I've taken more photos in the last few days than I thought was possible, but most of them aren't very good.

I have my kids pose for me so I can try different settings, flash, no flash... I tell them they can make any face they want but just let me take another picture. I've taken pictures of sunrise, sunset, food, books, barns, trees.... anything and everything.

We went to the ice skating rink the other day and I spent the whole 2 hours taking pictures with the 55-200 lens. It was great fun. I loved the sports mode that let me take so many photos quickly. I probably shot over 700 photos. I liked some of the different effects I got, but I felt like they were mostly accidents.

Here's one I really liked:

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I took pics while we were driving on the interstate. I probably took 100 or so, just trying to see what the camara could capture going 70 miles an hour (or more, husband has a lead foot ) Here's one that turned out:

Back to the question: is this a valid way to learn? Just taking so many pictures and seeing what worked and what didn't and sometimes just getting lucky?

 

[annnewjerz]

I probably shot over 700 photos. I liked some of the different effects I got, but I felt like they were mostly accidents.

Back to the question: is this a valid way to learn? Just taking so many pictures and seeing what worked and what didn't and sometimes just getting lucky?

I don't know if I can say whether this is a valid or invalid way to learn, but 700 pictures in 2 hours??!

I just got my first dSLR (a D60) in the end of September. I have found that on average, I probably take about 400 photos on any given "outing" (i.e. a trip to the Philadelphia zoo for a whole day, a few hours walking around town photographing buildings and people, a 4 hour trip to the orchard to photograph a co-worker's child, etc.) and I thought this was too much. Out of the whole group, I would end up with less than 100 of them that I actually thought were good enough to share.

Over the past month or so, as I have become more familiar with shooting in A mode, and as I have started using lenses that I have to manually focus (which limits me in how many shots I can just fire off in a row), I have found that I am taking many less shots, but coming up with lots more photos that I review and think are acceptable (with a very small percentage still being shots that I REALLY like a lot).

I think that spending more time thinking about your shot, thinking about the composition, the lighting, etc. will end up giving you a higher ratio of shots you like.. and they won't just be accidents. Although it may be silly, I also try not to "waste" shots. Since my dSLRs have some sort of shutter life expectancy, I would hate to waste hundreds of pictures just for the sake of trying to end up with one that is right.

Good luck and happy shooting!!

 

[wenrob]

What I do is go through and look at my EXIF data on the lucky ones and the bad ones. The only thing t won't tell you is your exact conditions but you can get an idea of what they were by looking at the pic. I make a mental note of what settings worked for me and what ones didn't and try and take it from there. Most everyone here will tell you the best way to learn is to take a lot of pictures. Even the best photographers take crap pictures at times, they just not going to show the world, lol. If you have a look at Mark's "Beginner to Master" thread, not many people feel that you ever get done learning. So keep taking pics, make notes of what you did right and what you did wrong and go from there.

 

[wenrob]

I think that spending more time thinking about your shot, thinking about the composition, the lighting, etc. will end up giving you a higher ratio of shots you like.. and they won't just be accidents. Although it may be silly, I also try not to "waste" shots. Since my dSLRs have some sort of shutter life expectancy, I would hate to waste hundreds of pictures just for the sake of trying to end up with one that is right.

I think the advice to slow down and think is solid. I took the 700 pics as since she got the camera though.
Anne-I think you will outgrow your camera before you reach the end of your camera's shutter life, I wouldn't worry to much about that. To me digital is the freedom to waste shots, I'll take a lucky shot over a missed shot any day, lol. I snapped 40 pics of my kids just because last night and said to DH, "Remember being limited to 24 shots and having to choose carefully?"

 

[Golf4food]

Well, during our 6 day trip this December I took around 2,300 and kept around 1,700. Most of the deletes were from taking multiple shots of the same subject to make sure one would work or else were of moving subjects or low light where chances of getting a good one are not great anyway (during a night parade or inside a show or ride - shoot and hope, right?). After a while you'll get used to what your camera/lens can and cannot do and will just know it isn't worth trying to get a certain shot because it isn't going to turn out, or knowing that with the lighting as it is the shot won't work with what you have, or the sun is in the wrong place, etc.

 

[annnewjerz]

Anne-I think you will outgrow your camera before you reach the end of your camera's shutter life, I wouldn't worry to much about that. To me digital is the freedom to waste shots, I'll take a lucky shot over a missed shot any day, lol. I snapped 40 pics of my kids just because last night and said to DH, "Remember being limited to 24 shots and having to choose carefully?"

First, would I be crazy to say I think I've outgrown my camera already. It took all of my sanity to put my Christmas money towards a new lens, new monitor, new software, etc. instead of just getting the D90. I plan to hold onto it for at least a full year (or who knows, maybe even two)...I think it's just another symptom of NAS. Lens envy, body envy...I've never been so green in my whole life!

Second, TRUST ME, I snap lots of pictures (DH will vouche for that )...just yesterday I took pictures of my Excedrin Migraine pills (to test out the new Micro lens I got since there isn't much in the way of pretty flowers outside at the moment in NJ). I probably took about 30 of them. I just mean if she really took 700 in two hours..that's just a whole lot of pictures. If you use 700 pictures each time you shoot for two hours, that will burn through the (average) life of your shutter fairly quickly

Third, I think a combination of slowing down while shooting to think about your shots, plus experimenting a lot and then taking notes as you advised would be smart.

With the D60, I have two lenses right now that are manual-focus only with my body...so talk about slowing down, I move at a snail's pace with those things, but I love them. I find that when I use my 18-200 AF-S, I do more shooting without thinking. The lens focuses on its own, on whatever part of the picture it wants to focus on and I click.

I think that when I use a lens that I have to manually focus, I spend a lot more time checking for proper focus and because of that, not only do I snap less shots but I also notice anything else about the shot that I don't like while I'm still getting the focus right (i.e. I might notice a weird shadow I don't like while I am focusing, whereas with an AF-S lens I would take the photo and not notice until I took 5 or so that the shadow was there, and have to re-shoot).

Does this all make sense - I find myself rambling quite often.

 

[PhotobearSam]

Sounds l a lot...but I take about 800 a day at Disney and that was before the DSLR...


Slow down a bit (which you will) but my only advice is to not delete in camera.

 

[TiffanyK]

Second, TRUST ME, I snap lots of pictures (DH will vouche for that )...just yesterday I took pictures of my Excedrin Migraine pills (to test out the new Micro lens I got since there isn't much in the way of pretty flowers outside at the moment in NJ). I probably took about 30 of them. I just mean if she really took 700 in two hours..that's just a whole lot of pictures. If you use 700 pictures each time you shoot for two hours, that will burn through the (average) life of your shutter fairly quickly

Not even I have taken pictures of my Excedrin Migraine pills, but I should because they are such an intricate part of my life. I may try a picture of Coke and Excedrin

Just for the record, I did shoot 700 pics at the ice rink. I was playing with that fast sports mode and taking lots of pics so I could hopefully get one to turn out. That was fun, but I had lots of similar shots, of course.

Normally, I don't take near so many shots and I do slow down and think about what's working, how to frame the shot, try different modes and settings etc.

 

[jann1033]

Back to the question: is this a valid way to learn? Just taking so many pictures and seeing what worked and what didn't and sometimes just getting lucky?

i think it's a great way to learn composition etc. imo it helps you develop your own style and eventually you will start understanding why it works and doesn't to you rather than necessarily according to what everyone else says. to me that is the number one benefit of digital... i think though anyone does need some "book learning " though to speed up the process of learning what aperture, speed etc to use.
i usually take a few shots of what ever i really want ( just can not get out of that "film" habit, i just have to take one more to be "safe" )so i delete a number and truthfully take fewer and delete even more now that i used to since i pick them apart but am happier with the ones i keep.

 

[wenrob]

First, would I be crazy to say I think I've outgrown my camera already. It took all of my sanity to put my Christmas money towards a new lens, new monitor, new software, etc. instead of just getting the D90. I plan to hold onto it for at least a full year (or who knows, maybe even two)...I think it's just another symptom of NAS. Lens envy, body envy...I've never been so green in my whole life!

Second, TRUST ME, I snap lots of pictures (DH will vouche for that )...just yesterday I took pictures of my Excedrin Migraine pills (to test out the new Micro lens I got since there isn't much in the way of pretty flowers outside at the moment in NJ). I probably took about 30 of them. I just mean if she really took 700 in two hours..that's just a whole lot of pictures. If you use 700 pictures each time you shoot for two hours, that will burn through the (average) life of your shutter fairly quickly

LMAO, Anne, you kill me!
I haven't tried manual focus since I first started shooting w/a DSLR. Maybe I need to slow down myself, go on a few outings just me and the camera. Anyone want to come baby sit?

 

[GrillMouster]

When you take 700 images only to wind up with a handful of okay shots, you're wasting time...time that you could be enjoying your family. Increase your "keeper percentage" by learning more about photography. You won't learn by taking a zillion pictures if you don't understand WHY the good ones are good and why the bad ones didn't work out. Read the following two books and follow the exercises in them: Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson and The BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Photography by Jim Miotke. Both of these books are available at Amazon for just $16-$17 each (buy both and get free shipping). Study and practice. Study and practice.

 

[TiffanyK]

When you take 700 images only to wind up with a handful of okay shots, you're wasting time...time that you could be enjoying your family. Increase your "keeper percentage" by learning more about photography. You won't learn by taking a zillion pictures if you don't understand WHY the good ones are good and why the bad ones didn't work out. Read the following two books and follow the exercises in them: Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson and The BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Photography by Jim Miotke. Both of these books are available at Amazon for just $16-$17 each (buy both and get free shipping). Study and practice. Study and practice.

I don't think I was wasting time. I'm not a great ice skater and it was much more fun to me to watch the family skate and get to play with the new camara at the same time.

The books are on my to-read list. First I want to finish working my way through the manual that came with the camara.

I was honestly shocked that I had taken so many photos at the ice rink, and even that I had been taking around 250 just playing with the camara during a day at the house. With other camaras I'd never taken so many before.

 

[DVC Jen]

For me - every single time I pick up my camera and take a few shots - I learn SOMETHING. So in my opinion yes it is an excellant way to learn. With digital - like other have stated - you aren't losing anything or wasting any money - shoot to your hearts content. The more you shoot and pay attention to what is working and what is not - the faster and better your photos will become.

 

[zackiedawg]

There are many ways to learn, and taking photographs for me has always been the best and most obvious. You learn by doing, more than most other ways...so in general, getting out there and shooting can be a great learning tool.

That said, there is also validity to the argument that just firing away can become indiscriminate and automated, whereby you try to get a good shot through sheer force of numbers. You don't want to become reliant on firing too many shots in order to get the right one, if it means that you aren't really learning from the shot that turned out well. If you study each of the shots, and determine which ones came out best AND WHY...studying the settings in the EXIF, seeing what the different aperture settings did to the depth of field, and how the shutter speed affected motion blur, etc...then you are learning, and potentially reducing your reliance on shooting so often in the future.

As photographers, we can still be prone to shooting far more photos than the average person. And there are still times when firing lots of shots is part of the requirements of the conditions (such as using a burst-shooting mode to photograph a flying bird or moving animal...then picking the best frames from the many). But in general, better photographers begin to pick up an instinct for the right settings in a given situation, and an eye for getting the composition and moment right, and often reduce the number of shots they take.

I do take a level of pride in trying to get the right shot with the right settings in one take - but it doesn't always happen, and I'm willing to shoot more if I need to. On my last Disney trip, I shot around 700 pics in 4 days. That might be alot of excess shooting if I ended up with 100 keepers. But I ended up with 520 keepers - the extra frames were probably 25% flubbed shots, and 75% duplicates or excess burst-mode shots.

As for deleting in camera - I tend to delete far less shots in camera than I do at home on my computer...mostly because it's hard to judge a photo from an LCD screen on your camera. What I tend to delete are the obviously failed shots...the ones I know as I took them that it was no good, or the burst mode I tried to rattle off to catch a fast-moving animal and know I missed entirely...or shots so obviously and horribly blurred as to be unusable for anything. But if in question, if slightly blurry, or if just a bunch of duplicates, I'll wait until I get home to clear out the unwanted.

 

[GrillMouster]

As amateurs we take lots of shots, hoping that a few will be good. After we've improved to the point that we know what we're doing, we take mostly good shots, yet we still take lots of shots hoping to get a few GREAT ones.

 

[MICKEY88]

When you take 700 images only to wind up with a handful of okay shots, you're wasting time...time that you could be enjoying your family. .

ouch that's kind of harsh... if your family is doing an activity that you don't participate in how is that a waste of time

 

[MICKEY88]

deleting in camera has been mentioned twice in this thread so I wanted to share thie info,

I have read numerous articles that claim deleting in camera can lead to a corrupt card, they claim it is best to leave all pics intact, upload to pc, then format card incamera..

 

[GrillMouster]

ouch that's kind of harsh... if your family is doing an activity that you don't participate in how is that a waste of time

Sheesh, I don't see how it's harsh to imply that someone might want to spend more time with their family rather than being frustrated trying to learn how to use a camera. As it turns out the OP didn't like ice skating and was having fun playing with her new toy, so it wasn't a waste for her. That's fine. No big deal. Chill.

Let me clarify. If you take a million shots like a chimpanzee behind the camera, then it's a waste of time. But if you learn from each shot, review your settings, EXIF information, you'll improve. You can speed up your understanding by referring to books and other resources, like the internet, and applying that knowledge in practice. You're not going to learn how to be a better photographer by studying without shooting or by shooting without studying. We want to improve to the point that we don't have to take so many shots just to get a few good ones. We want to become more efficient, so, the time we spend behind the lens is for enjoyment rather than necessity. Okay, so the OP doesn't like ice skating...there will certainly be times, activities, or locations that she wants to enjoy with her family, but would also like to capture in good photos. Let's say it's a family picnic or a day at Walt Disney World. Would you rather:
a) spend the entire day behind the viewfinder of the camera, not enjoying the time with your family and denying them the opportunity to enjoy it with you, with 1000 bad shots and 2 good ones to show for it, or
b) enjoy the entire day with your family and at several times throughout the day take short photo opportunities, and at the end of the day walk away with dozens of great shots because you know what you're doing. You're not guessing; you don't need to take 50 shots to get 1 keeper, you take three shots, two of them good, and you move on.

The goal is to get to option b, but you won't get there just by taking a bunch of pictures without learning from them. If that's all you do, you'll always be stuck at option a. Then you're not just wasting time behind the lens, but you waste time later going through all the images trying save them in post production and trying to perfect the few good ones.

 

[MICKEY88]

I didn't mean for it to be harsh. Let me clarify. If you take a million shots like a chimpanzee behind the camera, then it's a waste of time. But if you learn from each shot, review your settings, EXIF information, you'll improve. You can speed up your understanding by referring to books and other resources, like the internet, and applying that knowledge in practice. You're not going to learn how to be a better photographer by studying without shooting or by shooting without studying. We want to improve to the point that we don't have to take so many shots just to get a few good ones. We want to become more efficient, so, the time we spends behind the lens is for enjoyment rather than necessity. Okay, so the OP doesn't like ice skating...there will certainly be times, activities, or locations that she wants to enjoy with her family, but would also like to capture in good photos. Let's say it's a family picnic or a day at Walt Disney World. Would you rather:
a) spend the entire day behind the viewfinder of the camera, not enjoying the time with your family and denying them the opportunity to enjoy it with you, with 1000 bad shots and 2 good ones to show for it, or
b) enjoy the entire day with your family and at several times throughout the day take short photo opportunities, and walk away with dozens of great shots because you know what you're doing. You're not guessing; you don't need to take 50 shots to get 1 keeper, you take three shots, they're all good, and you move on.

The goal is to get to option b, but you won't get there just by taking a bunch of pictures without learning from them. If that's all you do, you'll always be stuck at option a. Then you're not just wasting time behind the lens, but you waste time later going through all the images trying save them in post production and trying to perfect the few good ones.

it's harsh because you are telling someone they are wasting time, doing what they have chosen to do, and deciding for them how they should spend their time..and if you read the OP's post she said she was having fun, no mention of being frustrated..

again harsh, why the need to call someone a chimp if they choose to take lots of pictures, for some people it maybe a once in a lifetime trip or event.

and yes progressing to the point of taking fewer pictures and getting more keepers is probably everyones goal, but there is no harm in taking lots of pics, so you have more to study and learn from.. the arguement can be made that by taking many pics one learns faster..and who's to say that the person taking 1000 pics is throwing a bunch away, maybe they progress to the point that they have 950 or more great shots...


as for B.

I can spend a day at WDW and take 1000 pics, while enjoying day, and rarely stopping my family for a photo op, it comes with years of experience and being able to capture the moment undisturbed and unposed... I can shoot on the fly, photojournalist style, and after the trip my family , will say, wow when did you take that one.., taking one or 2 , and only dupes to make sure all eyes are open..

and realistically not everyone on this board, nor in the real world, has the same standards, some strive to be the best, some are very happy with the memories and don't need a picture to be perfectly exposed nor composed, who are we to judge others..

I guess my point is, my instructors, never said anything negative, they pointed out the positive and made positive suggestions for improvment,

I don't see the point of telling someone they are wasting their time, nor that they are a chimp if they take hundreds of photos..

 

[GrillMouster]

Oh, please, don't be so overly sensitive. I didn't call anyone a chimp, but I'm close to calling someone a chump.

Not everyone wants to be an Ansel Adams, and that's fine. Most people are content to just be able to get a recognizable image, and that's fine IF THAT'S ALL THAT THEY WANT. But if someone WANTS to be a better photographer, and all they do is continue to snap thousands of pictures without EVER bothing to learn from them, then that person is photographing like a chimp, a robot, whatever you want to call it. Haven't you heard the saying about a room full of chimps on typewriters?

I'm not saying that taking a bunch of pictures makes someone a chimp. I'm saying that if you take pictures like a chimp would (without thinking or learning/adjusting), then no matter how many pictures you take, you won't improve. I never said that the OP wasn't trying to learn. I was just pointing out that some people just machine gun fire their camera and don't bother to learn why the images came out good or bad. Those people will never improve.