# Percentage Of "Keepers"



## LarissaPhotography (Feb 9, 2009)

How many shots do you end up keeping vs those you end up never showing to your customer?


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## Big Mike (Feb 9, 2009)

Depends on the type of job...and too many other factors to list out.  For a wedding, it's coverage of an continuous event...so you may take a lot of photos but they might all be of some different part of the wedding....so you give them most of the images...if that's your style.  Some shoot weddings with the intent of capturing those 12 great images and the rest is unimportant.  

For a portrait shoot, I'm probably looking for that one great shot (or one great shot of each pose/group etc)....so I might pull it off in only a couple shots...or maybe it will take half an hour of shooting to end up with that one great shot.  So that, more than anything, will determine the percentage of 'keepers'.  

I read something good the other day....something like; "A good photographer is not measured by the size of their portfolio...but by the size of their trash bin."

Now, I don't take this to mean that you should blast away with your camera and shoot as many as possible...but that you should only show people your very best.  

Whether it's your portfolio or a specific job for a client...I believe that 20 great photos is a better product than 20 great photos + 30 good photos + 30 OK photos.


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## Seefutlung (Feb 9, 2009)

When I was shooting news professionally, back in the film-only days ... my rate was 1:36. For every roll I shot, one frame was worth publishing.

Gary


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## ksmattfish (Feb 9, 2009)

I make 1000 to 1200 exposures during an 8 hour wedding, and usually deliver between 450 and 500 finished photographs.


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## Iron Flatline (Feb 9, 2009)

1% if I'm good.


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## Iron Flatline (Feb 9, 2009)

...and to be clear, that's not supposed to be some kind of humble self-deprecation. I just find that of about 100 shots, there's one that I think "clicks". I definitely keep working a shot though. I will keep taking pictures of a scene or a subject until I'm satisfied, though whether I take three or forty pictures of something, it's usually Exposure # 3 that takes the cake.


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## JerryPH (Feb 9, 2009)

Actual keepers average out to about 45-50% for me out of the 4 weddings that I did last year.

When doing portraiture, becuase I have greater control over the lighting, posing and model positioning, I get closer to a 80% keeper pic ratio, and 20% are test shots for exposures, setup, blinkers, and just bad shots, etc...

Not sure why, but static scenes have the lowest keeper rate for me... perhaps 1 out of a hundred or two hundred.


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## Seefutlung (Feb 9, 2009)

Iron Flatline said:


> ...and to be clear, that's not supposed to be some kind of humble self-deprecation. I just find that of about 100 shots, there's one that I think "clicks". I definitely keep working a shot though. I will keep taking pictures of a scene or a subject until I'm satisfied, though whether I take three or forty pictures of something, it's usually Exposure # 3 that takes the cake.


 
Hell .. then next time just shoot exposure #3 out of the chute.  Or if you want to mess with the equipment for a while ... then just stop after exposure #3.

Gary


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## Garbz (Feb 9, 2009)

I am mostly an amateur so none to my customers 

But I keep about 70% of my shots when I get home, not counting the ones I delete in camera.

Honestly though less than 1% of my shots are WOWers which I consider printing and putting in my scrapbook.


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## Joves (Feb 9, 2009)

Om an amateur as well and average 50/50 alot of times. But great shots maybe 2% max. In the film days without being able to see them it was 40/60 but the same with great shots I liked alot.


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