I’m new to the hobby and I thought this would be an interesting discussion question. Greatness is subjective, of course, so I’m not talking greatness in terms of being ranked against all photos taken in the world (unless that’s personally the benchmark you choose to rate yourself on). What I’m really asking is how often do you personally feel fulfilled with your photography? Whether you go out daily on photography walks, take your camera everywhere all the time, or just do a ton of professional gigs, what I want to know is how often do you think “Wow, I got a great shot there. I’m really proud of this one.”? Do you have several every time do take photographs, maybe one a day, or is it few and far between for you? How do you feel about coming home from a photo session and feeling that you didn’t really get anything good? For those that do professional client work, how do you feel if you finish a pro gig and don’t feel like you got anything all that special (even though it may be good enough to warrant your professional standards)? On a second note, if you do professional gigs like weddings and such, do you ever aim to get something unique and original or are you more focused on making sure you get everything on your standard checklist of photos your clients expect to have?
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Some of my best shots only came to be in post-production, having thought that I’d not necessarily got what I’d wanted while shooting. For me, i learnt to get as close as possible to the ideal final image while out with the camera to help speed up the editing process and to reassure myself that the photography skills were there instead of the editing skills. So when i took some of my best shots i was probably being hard on myself. That being said, I would take great shots very regularly whilst i was very new to photography because skills develop much more quickly at that point. Now, i can almost guarantee the photos i take will be good, and it’s often a matter of balancing various external factors to then get those great shots.
I shoot a lot of college sports. 1500-2000 shots for volleyball. 1000 for basketball. 500-1000 for soccer.
In any of those there are 75-200 that are good enough to edit and give to the team. Of those, 2, maybe 3 make me say “wow.”
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On my normal work camera shooting for clients, I always get several good shots and 1 or 2 great shots. More than enough to complete the project. I’ve been photographing my niche for over 10 years and using my current camera for about 5 years.
But I recently bought a new camera for personal use and I am not getting great shots. I guess the frustration comes knowing I have the ability and the camera has the ability but we’re not compatible yet. It takes practice to get your groove with a new camera so I’m trying not to be too hard on myself.
Regularly. It is usually the first one I take too. I try to shoot about 10 and if I can’t get it by then I move on.
Back when I started shooting and digital wasn’t a thing yet, it was considered pretty normal to have one good/usable shot per roll of film. So I’d say that if around 5% of your photos are decent, you’re doing just fine.
If we’re talking about actual great photos, 10 to 12 a year/one a month. Is doing pretty damn good.
I got one this year and was helped to it by the Olympus 12-40 pro. In 2021 I had more, being helped by opportunity, the weather and the Samyang 7.5mm. I got a very nice portrait shot this year. In 2022 I didn’t get any. In 2021 I had more opportunity and I got more. The weather was fab.
1 in… 1000 maybe?
for me i obviously get the great photo each shoot but i can only name 4 photos over my three years of photography that truly deserve greatness.
maybe like this
- 5% great shots
- 10% messing up settings (aperture, SS, focus etc)
- 15% standing on the wrong spot, having blocked view or being too slow to capture the action
- 70% bad lightning or being in mediocre environments, like friends places. Not a bad thing, but rarely do epic shots come out.
Back in the film days (of 24 shots per roll) there was a saying: “If you have one good shot on a roll, then it was a good roll”.
I recently had three weeks in Japan, I took 10,000+ photos and lots of them are good, but only a handful came out as great and worth sharing: https://flic.kr/p/2p8NTpb
Only been doing it for a few years…I have maybe 5 or 6 I’d consider printing.
My aim next year is to get 12 awesome ones for an end of year calendar for 2025
Once every 6 months maybe
Per shoot I am for 1 or 2 that the client considers great, as long as you have something they can lead with in the usage or campaign. The rest have to be up to your own professional standards.
But any photographer will get a bunch of “safety” shots which are bread and butter that hit the brief then you can start being more creative, different angles, apertures, shutter speeds etc.
How many shots do I get per year that I consider great?
None haha - my favourite shots are usually pretty technically imperfect or revolve around a technique that won’t garner mainstream appeal. I work in commercial photography and technical imperfections are only really allowed within certain constraints.
I think I get one great shot every day.
However, each time I look back at my “great” shots, they look that little bit less great.
Once The Great Filter Of Time has done it’s work, I reckon on 1-2 “Great” per year and a couple of dozen “I Really Like This One”.
Plus 10,000 I can’t quite bring myself to delete.