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.

My advice would be to win the lottery and buy all the above that you desire. Kills two birds with one stone, kinda

Always think quality over quantity.

300 usable photos is a solid amount. When I started shooting sports, I felt like I HAD to have as many photos as possible of as many people as I could, that was until I got some advice from a seasoned sports photographer I knew and he told me that you’re the only person who a) sees/knows how many photos you took in total and b) gets to edit the good photos and delete the bad ones. This means that even if you only have one good shot of each player on the volleyball court, you’re the only one who’s going to know, and nobody is going to care if there’s a good shot of everyone.

The beauty of sports is that it’s highly repetitive more often than not, so you have hundreds of attempts to get the good shots. You’ll pick up bad shots at every event you shoot, even the best photographers do (you just don’t have the privilege of seeing them!).