How many photos do you usually get out of a photoshoot?

Out of every 20 pictures taken, only about 2 or 3 are usable. For that reason, I always take multiple pictures of any single pose, just in case. Thank God for digital cameras!

 

I get one or two out of 20+
Yay for digital because now I'll take a crapton of photos to ensure one good one out of the shoot.

 

Hello!
I am going to assume you are using a regular compact digital camera and not a fancy one.
The camera's trying to compensate for low light by keeping the shutter open longer. That's what's making the blur. : ) The tripod will help you out immensely.

I usually take over 20 images, and come out with 4 to 6 usable ones.

This is the joy of digital. You can just delete the bad ones. Try to write down what made the others so good. that will help with planning later shoots.
There are always factors that affect photographs. Maybe to your eye the angle looks fine, but what your camera 'sees' can be different due to lighting or even lens distortion. sometimes you don't see that thing in the background until you've taken 10 images. oops!

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A good way to beat the night time thing is to use a 'daylight' florescent bulb in an adjustable neck desk lamp. setting up something light colored or reflective on the opposite side of the light will reflect light back onto the doll, making the shadows less harsh. With a desk lamp, you can adjust where the light is coming from, and get different effects. Go for blue light, rather than yellow when choosing a bulb. Your camera will think it is in outdoor sunshine and react better.

It's a good, inexpensive way of getting some better reaction from your camera.

 

I think it's true of photography in general that you take many, many photos to get a few good ones. When I went on vacation in New Zealand I took about 2000 photos and wound up putting 150-200 on Flickr, and I was not being very picky about what I kept.

Similarly, with doll photos I'll generally take 30-40 photos at a time and actually post between 3 and 8. And again, sometimes I'm not as picky as I should be. The great thing about digital cameras is that this doesn't cost you tons of money for film and developing!

 

I've actually gone out and taken about 80 pictures. I'm crazy critical though, and I only used about four or five of those eighty. It's not unusual to take a ton of photos and only use a few of them. I've made it a habit to pick my four best (mostly because on my dA I update with four or so pictures every few weeks) and just edit those four(or six) and upload those to use.

Like Krissy said, I take multiples of a pose or angle I really like and then trim down to the few that are the best. And as it turns out, most of those will be blurry, fuzzed, or strangely cropped. That's the joy of a digital camera, take as many as you want, use as many as you want.

 

I make a day of my photo shoots, so it's not uncommon for me to walk away from the shoot with anywhere between 200 and 400 pictures (I have a 10 mp Rebel and an 8gb card that holds about 1600 pictures) yet only end up keeping maybe four or five. The reason behind it is simple for me. I have to get into the swing of things, which basically means faffing about with the doll/ subject until I find "the magic pose" that photographs really well, and after I find that elusive first great pose, more spring up. It takes approximately half of my pictures in the photoshoot just to located the great pose, and the other half is experimentation with the later poses. After I get the pictures to a computer, I weed out the ones that are blurry/too dark/too light/awkward, then I take the ones who survived the cut (maybe 20) and pair like pictures together. They then go through a check for necklaces hanging the wrong way/ too many flyaways/ hands positioned funny until only one of each pose is left, and then if I'm not satisfied with the remaining pictures I eliminate them as well and end up with about four, which then get watermarked and posted in their respective places. The best ones always go to dA, and all of the final ones go to the DoA gallery, unless they are inappropriate, in which case they go to my Livejournal and Controversial Doll.

 

I find that even when I'm just planning to snap a couple pictures (like when a doll's just arrived and I need a nice pic to go in my sig or something) I end up taking a HUGE amount. I take many of each pose, and I find that usually the first pose or two end up not being as good as the later ones. If I'm at my house I also usually get an idea and end up grabbing a doll I hadn't intended to photograph that day and taking a few of him, too.

I then take those 60 - 100 or (many) more photos and open them 10 or 15 at a time in Photoshop, and do the arrange - tile thing and get them so I can see them. Then I close the ones that are obviously blurry or too dark, open ones that are good but similar side by side and compare them and pic the best of that pose. Then I leave the best one or two (if there is one) open, and open the next batch. Eventually I end up with probably 10-15 photos, then I go through and look at those larger and compare them, eliminating ones that are blurry, too similar, have hair/clothing/awkward looking issues, etc. I typically end up with 3 - 6 good shots in the end. Sometimes only one, though, and sometimes maybe 10 (that's usually if I was shooting more than one doll, though).

 

I was told by a pro when I did a landscape photo shoot hike, that it's pretty typical to take a couple hundred shots and end up using very few. What they look for is that one "perfect shot."

When I'm out on my own doing the photo shoot I typically take about 200 shots in a day. But only about a dozen are any good. In fact on any given photo shoot of 200 I count any more than 10 great shots to be overly optimistic.

And you hear it on America's Next Top Model. They have 50 shots for each model. But all they are looking for is that one shot where everything comes together. And sometimes they barely even get that.

So 40 for every 1 isn't so bad.

I have a Canon Rebel xTi with two cards... about 1600 pictures worth of space combined.

 

I usually end up with 100-400 photos for each photoshoot. And I usually end up with less than about 10 pictures that I can actually use. It might be because sometimes I do double shots just in case there's a shake that I don't see on the camera's LCD screen. Or that I take a photo from almost every possible angle or adjust the doll's posing just so that I can have many options for editing. I also experiment with different types of light just to see which ones look best and that's how I usually end up with a mountain full of photos.
I think even in professional photoshoots (such as for magazines), the photographer will come out with a few rolls of film and only a handfull will actually be edited and usued.

 

My photo instructors always told me to shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, SHOOT - you can always delete the bad ones, and the ones you expect to turn out? Won't. So be sure you take plenty so you have lots to fall back on when you get home.

I take at least 30 shots every quick photoshoot - 50 on a longer one - and I usually keep about 6-10 of them (10 on an extremely lucky, non-picky day XD ). It goes without saying when I pull my camera out, I'm not expecting to keep even a quarter of what I shoot. But that's why I love digital cameras : )

 

Oh I have taken I am sure every 3-4 I get one ideal one, but only due to 2 years of practice taking pics of BJD as well as a newer camera, but still mess up as at my age I tend to shake to much, but soon as I can manage to haul a tripod more will get that issue taken care of as well. Thank goodness it's digital, so if no good, in trash it goes. Better then the time film was wasted.

 

I always get carried away... I'll end up taking over 100 per shoot. ^_^() Out of that, I'll only save the ones that stand out. So I'll end up keeping maybe 20-25 and only posting the top 10-15. It's not that the other ones are bad... they just aren't the best.

My mom got me a tripod at the dollar store that I use. It's kind of a table top tripod, so it's really small. It gets really low and is super portable. It even fits in the little accessory pocket of my camera bag. And a really good deal at only a buck.

 

About 2 or 3 out of 300 is the usual for me. ^_^;

I usually take repetitive pictures of one theme or pose and and choose via process of elimination. I find that is the best method to get the 'okay' results. :]

 

My camera hates night too, orat least my old one did, havn't tried my new one at night.
I can come out with nearly..18-100 was my last biggest maybe? I lost count. XD It was from diffrent angles of course, but usually I'll only like a few out of the many that where taken. Although sometimes I ask my fiance and family on what they think is the better shots. XD

The shots are usually good, it's just I like to pick what looks good to me or better out of the bunch. Lol.

 

I haven't done any doll shoots (yet. I need a doll first) but I do a lot of general photography, usually nature. I've got memory cards practically filled with pictures, but I always weed through them and choose the clearest and sharpest pictures possible. It's all personal preference, really, and sometimes depends on my mood too. I can look through a folder of pictures one day and like only a few, then go back through them a week or even a month later and find more I like.

 

This is a dilemma that my photo teachers have argued about over the years. What's more important: taking a ton of photos and choosing only a few or really taking your time and only taking a handful of photos.

For me personally, I get about 1 good photo per 50 photos taken because I take a lot. However, this is because I know how to edit down to the 1 absolute best photo and I spend a LONG time getting it down to 2 photos and then flipping between the two to decide. That usually takes me about an hour all together. You have to know when to throw out one that is almost great, but not good enough.

For people who have trouble picking the best (and this in no way means these people aren't good photographers. In fact, they could be pros with tons of good photos and because of that they can't pick their faves), my teachers have always suggested using a film camera. This forces you to take your time and make sure each shot counts because there's no going back once you've exposed the film. If you don't have a film camera, you can limit yourself to 20-30 shots per photoshoot. This will ensure that you double check your lighting, pose, and angle.

Hopefully this helps you (or anyone) who might want to improve their editing skills. Yay!

 

Oh man... Typically when Allura and I go out for a shoot I'll do 5-15 poses... And for each pose, there are maybe 10 angles... And for each angle, 2-3 shots, to make sure I get at least ONE clear shot. (I've mastered the art of not-breathing so I can take pictures quite well, since I just have a crappy digital camera @.@)

Of those photos though... Sometimes I'll get 4-5 photos... I believe the most I've ever gotten (from a huge shoot) was 9. o.o
Recently, we did our first inside shoot and I had a lot of issues with the flash, fighting with indoor lighting, etc--And NONE of the photos were good! *sigh* It was such a pain.

It's definitely not just you though! As far as choosing the best photos go... I always look for the sharpest and most 'artistic' looking ones. >.> I'm a big fan of crazy angles, so a lot of the time my photos just look like crap. (Recently I had a LOVELY (not) photo of nothing but Allura's butt and leg) I think about editing a lot while I pick out my photos too; 'What can I do with this in photoshop? What sort of shadows/lighting changes does it need?'
If there's going to be TOO much work involved for what I want and it may not happen anyways, typically I don't choose that photo.

 

I usually take around 200 pictures in one shot, and maybe 40 I feel are usable, but in the end I end up chosing around 10 to edit, and post 5.

 

Depends, on trips that last about 2 weeks we are talking 300+ of my guy in all the spots we stop at I feel comfortable taking him out. For a photo story, about 25 just to be safe. For fun like new clothes, wig or overall look about 10.

 

For my first shoot that we did, we took about 15-20 photos and most of them were quite usable. Why I do not know, but I am looking forward to taking more and more.

 

sometimes you have good shoots and sometimes it seems like nothing you take comes out right. but despair not! for you will only learn and get better. that one that did turn out is great btw

 

I usually take about 20-30 and get around 4-6 that are ok.

 

When i shoot i take plenty between say 20-50 and use under 10 but this is really just a digital thing, in the past photographers wouldnt be just taking and taking and taking, things were a little more thought about? My photography tutors at uni tried to encourage us to take many photos but that every one should be perfect or near perfect, i think its a film thing, if you use film every shot is costing you money so you want every shot perfect. I think in many ways digital makes us lazy but like i say im guilty of this myself.

 

Of the approximately 200 pictures I take only 2-5 will make it.
Usually about 40 are usable, 10-20 pictures will be edited in photoshop and after that I will make another selection of pictures I'll post. Every picture that looks similar will be discarded.

 

In a normal shoot I take maybe 70-100 shots...narrow that down to maybe 30 or so and narrow that down to 15 and from the 15 I usually end up with a good 10 or so.

TC

 

I kind of delete as I go for photos I know won't turn out, so I'll finish with about 25-40, but I probably deleted a dozen or so just after looking at them on the camera screen. Most of them are usable, since I try to work around the best times for lighting at my house. There are good days and bad days though. Sometimes nothing at all will come out properly. I usually keep about 8-10 for here and 20 for my flickr.

 

I usually get 2 or 3 worthwhile pictures out of every 40 shots... but I'm also not the best photographer. XD

 

I know my camera already, there is a special time of the day when my camera will take very good pictures of my boys without using flash, lamps and photoshop (I don't even have one). I usually take more than 300 pictures per photoshoot and while not all of them come out good, I'm very happy with the outcome (200 out of 300 is not bad, yes, I upload them all in my photobucket album) there are also times when my camera doesn't feel like seeing my boys xD but I had to learn (it wasn't easy! I'd take only horrible pictures at first) how to use my camera since I don't have any program to edit them(except the "paint" program that already comes free in the computer), it took me several sessions but it was worthy.

I love my camera in the end. I don't need to spend thousands of dollars for a 'good' camera, we only have to know a few tricks and how it works ^^

Example of what i call a good picture: http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q11/kirika20/kyoshi/IMG_0396.png it has real life colors, I can see his face up in detail (the original size is even better)

 

There have been occasions where I deleted every single picture I took. I didn't realize it until I read this thread, but I take comparatively few pictures during a shoot - perhaps in the 25-35 range. About half of these never make it to the computer for obvious technical faults and looking similar to the one before it, but not as good. Because I only have MS Paint, I flip through the remaining ones on the windows image viewer and weed out mainly on what tickles my fancy/what I was trying to achieve. Then they go into Paint for additional cropping/resizing. I usually end up with somewhere between 5 and 10 photos.

I think a lot of it has to do with rapport with the doll...I always take more pictures and delete more pictures of dolls I haven't bonded with. That's when I end up deleting every picture. Thus, I really just do photoshoots with my favorite doll, and that's why I can take 20 and end up with 7 good ones. I get him, and my camera does too (somehow).

 

I usually take 15-20 of the same pose and always have 2 or 3 really good ones. With my old camera, I used to get 4 good ones out of, let's say, 100.
My skills improved in time but camera is an important factor too... :/
I, too, need a tripod for night photos...I think everyone does...Especially if you don't like using flash. :P

 

If I'm just taking some random portrait snaps or I only have a single image in mind I take twenty to fifty shots and keep one or two. If I'm exploring and just following where the doll leads me I can take 300 or 400 shots in an evening. Then I select the best representation of each pose and then pick out the best compositions and then clean them up in PS. I get ten or twelve reasonably good images that I would post here and two or three that are worth crossposting on my LJ and maybe one that I would print.

 

I have to agree, of all my photoshoots, about 1-2 out of 20 are usable, and I'm particularly proud of even less. ^^

I've never tried a night photoshoot. I suspect it would be utterly catostrophic for me though. I don't have a camera, so I have to use the photo setting on my video camera. It's awful, but what can you do?

Editing is a big thing. I'm weirdly in love with contrast. >>

It all depends on whether you're happy though. I once did a photoshoot for about 2 hours in my front yard. I think only one of those pictures was usable. I was okay with that though, since I had so much fun with my boy.

 

Heh, I'm a bad photographer, I've known that for a few years. I won't take a picture unless I think it's gonna turn out well. At least, with my SLR. With camera phones or whatnot I'll be a little more "shoot first," but I've got an unhealthy addiction to actual physical rolls of film, and I don't really like having to deal with too many rolls at once. So, I tend to prefer getting the angle and the exposure as close as I can before I even TRY to take the shot.

Eh, long story short, I'll usually get about one photo I like, maybe not quite love, per every 5-8 or so.

But...... that's not specific to BJD's... *is currently doll-less* T_T

 

when i take around 30 pictures, there is only about 8 to 10 pix that turns out looks best.
as i do not know how to use photoshop, i can only try to improve my skills through taking photos, using the proper lighting, choosing a nice background etc.
at first i didn't have a proper camera, until i got into the bjd hobby. then i bought my first digital camera, and found that taking photos of my dolls is fun.

 

How many photos do you usually get out of a photoshoot?

I usually take about 30....and I keep roughly 12-15...I do tend to delete as I shoot...this narrows it down for me, I can tell when I take a crap shot!
My photo shoots are very quick...I don't like messing about...it's all over in about 20-30 mins!........

xen

 

For doll stuff if I'm on a good roll, have lighting worked out and am really pushing composition I can get about 3-4 out of 50. But on a bad photo day it can be 4-5 out of 100. I go through phases where I'm really picky too so sometimes I get even less out of giant batches.

 

Ok hun, the PROFESSIONAL number for getting 1 good photo is 60... that's right 6-0 SIXTY!!! It used to be 34 or 32 back int he film era which means you used up an ENTIRE ROLL OF FILM to get 1 good photo. (I know this because I took photography classes and I know quite a few amateur and professional photographers since I like to model lol)

People always say stuff liek "i look bad in all my photos" but the truth is that it's the same for everyone... including models XP But models have a makeup artist and perfect lighting and a photographer taking 200 pictures of them before picking 1 to go photoshop.

So honey, just take as MANY as you want ^-^ chances are you are going to throw out a lot.

 

I think I usually take 40-50 pictures at a shoot or meet-up. There is usually about 10 that I like and think are good, but only 1-3 are really good. I'll put the 10 or so good ones on flikr, but only pic out the best ones to share on DA, or here on DOA or the local forum i post on.

 

usually 1-5 out of every 150 ^^;;
but i am very picky about my photos.

 

I usually make around 200 pictures, and pick out of them...hm, maybe 15-20.
Then I went through the pictures again and end up with maybe 7. I usually upload only 1 or 2 on DevArt and maybe 7 or 6 in forums like doa :3

 

It usually depends on how the first 10-15 go. if those turn out good then I will take about 60 more. If they don't go that great then i will usually take about 30.

 

Photoshoots, usually around 200. I pick selectively and end up with maybe 20, then pick again to end up with 5. I take a similar number at meetups, but pick 'til there are about 30-50, at least one of each doll.

 

Usually I take somewhere between 50-100 photos for a shoot, and I'll get maybe 5 I like at the most. But then again there will be times where I can take 20 shots and get a heap I love, or 200 shots and get nothing.

 

For one session, probably only about an equivalent roll of film, i.e. 24-36 shots. Maybe up to three equivalent rolls. Most of my time is spent setting up rather than shooting. Of these, I'd say 20% or less would be suitable for presentation, though I actually only publish (print or upload) about 5 images (not %).

I only spam shots if using longish-shutter speeds handheld or if I am not confident of proper focus. I should probably spam more though.

 

I think that it depends on what u like and what kind of pics u r going for in your photo shoot. I know that I am still really really new to all of this. So I am still messing around with my canon to get the best shots with this particular camera. Obviosuly with digital it is easier to erase pics as u go so that u can get the most of the best shots somtimes u just know that it sucks. Or that you got bumped when taking the shot and will have to reshoot. I don't know maybe thats just me. I tend to think all my stuff sucks.

 

Normally only 5-10 out of 300 of mine from a shoot will ever be posted. I'm really picky about the pictures I'll post and a lot of the times I'll take a few that look rather alike and adjust the angle and lighting a bit for each one, from those pick my very favor to post.

When I post a lot of similar shots it makes even I think the shoot was boring and not worth looking at, so I don't do it. It's like "Whoo! Look at this! A picture!", "And here's one of the doll in the exact same pose, but I moved the camera down a fraction of an inch, I'm such a great photographer, lawl!" Not exactly what I strive for...

I like my shoots to be interesting, so I mess around a lot, get different angles and poses, and never post pictures that look too similar, unless it's a slow-movement sort of shoot. You know, like a picture of a doll looking down with their hands in their pockets, then looking straight ahead with their hands in their pockets.

 

It depends on the shoot, but usually 5-10. I take over 200 photos during one session, trying to make 4-5 frames with the same subject from all sorts of angles first just to see which looks best. Then I erase the unnecessary / ugly looking angles and reshoot the object from the places that seemed best. Out of those frames, only one will be used.

I remember completely reshooting one story (that's usually a 15-framed comic) because I forgot a screwdriver in the background, and it managed to end up in each and every photo -___-"" Only good thing was - I already knew where I should be standing, so instead of 200-300 shots I ended up with 50 ^_^;

 

FAR TOO MANY. I second, third, and fourth the salute to digital picturetaking.

But yeah, multiple shots of each pose or from each direction. Especially indoors, the light might not be as strong as your eyes are reading it, or your arm may twitch, or even the motion of the button going down may be enough to jiggle the image when you're working at lower light levels.

Figure 1 out of 4 or 5 or 10. (I always also overtake when I like what I'm seeing.) And then with photostories, as the plot and dialogue start to get going, more pics have to be excised for flow, or being not quite as good as another shot, or being redundant, or they have to get dumped to tighten up things. All pix are in service of the story. If I get 50 final pix for a photostory, there will have been about 200 or more in the folder. Occasionally some extras may end up in a separate gallery thread, if I'm still enamoured of them at the end of all that work!

All hail digital.

 

In any given set, I'll take something between 50 and 200.

For a Meet thread... I might post 20 or 30 of them, depending on the number of dolls present. I try to have a picture of each one that was brought.

For personal threads... NA, these days. I don't post personal photo sets on DoA or DoD anymore. I typically only put them on my LiveJournal or dA. LJ sets are limited to no more than the best 5 or 6 images; the dA gallery only gets single shots.

Back when I did post personal pictures here, I tried not to have more than 10-12 at the absolute most. Often, it was less.

 

i usually seem to get too many - and then it's hard for me to decide. but - i'll probably take around 40, and like maybe half of them?

 

On average, I'll generally take around 200-250 photos per shoot. I usually try and trim that number down to something which will fit in 2 posts here on DoA (so, 24 or fewer) but on occasion when I'm taking group pics of all my guys together I'll indulge myself and bump the limit up to three posts' worth or so

 

30 or less. And i cut down to the final 10 for posting online. And just maximum of 3 to post up on deviantART.

The key is not to post to many repetitive shots. They look nice yeah but that's pretty much it. I don't like that. I strive for individuality in each photo.

 

Uhm. . . I usually wind up with around 100 shots per shoot. Eh. . . I usually get 1 or 2 per pose. I LOVE to use burst mode, but I think my memory card hates me for it. It helps me catch a few extra shots of each pose. I take 3 shots for every 1 shot and I usually take 5 shots per pose x.x"

Mmmmm Gigabytes XD

 

I take about 25 to 35 shots in a shoot, sometimes a little more. The majority of my shots are great shots and I take my time looking at the shots, deciding which ones I like best, but then again I am a photography student and I use a manual camera with film (when I'm not taking pictures of my dolls) so I'm sort of trained to use the 25 to 35 shots wisely, but honestly, training yourself to think that you have only 25 to 35 frames to shoot will really make your eye for whats a great shot increase. You won't waste your time with taking useless shots. ^^

 

It's the same with everything. No matter what you're taking a photo of it always seems that there's a great quantity that aren't to your expectations. I guess it's just normal.

 

I usually take a good hundred shots or so and get about... 15 good-looking photos at the most. It's mostly because I leave my camera on that continuous shooting setting and hope my hands will stop shaking and twitching at just the right moment to get a clear shot. I need to get a tripod. :/

 

I've had times where I took maybe 10 photos and over half turned out fantastic but normally it was I take 50+ and I'm lucky if I can salvage 3-5 out of them. It's ridiculous!