On average what would you say is your success rate when you go out to shoot? And what’s your experience level?
For myself who has a passion for photography but zero formal training and only purchased my first real camera less than a year ago, I’d say 1% of the pictures that I take are “good” or at least to the point to where I’d share them.
I know a lot comes from just going out and taking pictures but I feel like the gaps between when I go out and take pictures and actually sit at the computer and look at them is so spread out that I can never remember what I did or was thinking last time I was out shooting
I’m sorry, but if you really only have 30 keepers out of 1600 pictures taken, you aren’t practicing photography, you are just clicking the shutter, hoping against hope that the camera will do all the important work.
Not to single you out, but include everybody else around here who make similar statements. 1 out of 40 is just relying on luck, and from what I can see, you aren’t having any.
Comment accepted. I am not a great photographer. When you are travelling almost every day though, you don’t really have time to scope out locations and get back there at sunrise and sunset. It’s more, “Oh! That’s a lovely scene! Let’s see if I can make something of it even though it’s 2 pm and the light is crap.” Then get in the car and drive on.
That’s why I had such a high fail. Compositions were ok and they were sharp enough but the light made for disappointing photos.
Who says the light at 2pm is crap? Seriously. Somebody who is not there? Common wisdom? This is another myth of perfection. You can take great pictures in ANY kind of light if you are capable of taking great pictures. Some of the greatest pictures of all time were taken in the “wrong” light. Don’t let the mindless crowd tell you when you can and can’t take good photos. This is just as bad as letting your camera do all your thinking.
What shall we say about Gary Winogrand then?
‘He had an insatiable urge to be out and about, photographing life around him. In total (on the low end) we can be certain that he shot at least 5,850,000 photos in his lifetime.’
Pretty sure most of us saw maybe a hundred or so of those. On film too…
What we saw is no reflection on the ratio of good or bad photos. Nor does the fact that someone takes over 5 million pictures matter. If you take pictures, you are either thinking about it and taking good pictures, or you are relying on luck and taking mostly wasted pictures. The choice is yours to make.