What percent of shots are “print worthy”?

dmccarty wrote in post #9475189
Back in the film days the number I heard was if you got 1 or 2 printable photos from a roll of 36 you were doing good.

If it was as low as that many of us would have gone out of business. The % of print-worthy shots was higher in film days. The MF camera I used allowed me 15 exposures per roll and for a wedding I would take no more that 10 rolls and possibly use less.

Similarly for sports I would spend a weekend at the track with no more than 10 rolls of 35 exposure slide film.

Due to cost and other factors there was no concept of a disposable shot or the freedom to "spray and pray" that we have today.

I was on holiday at New Zealand recently with my 40D, 4x 8GB CF cards full of RAWs, and another half-full, total of 1,740 images, went through everything, and those ones who are 'print-worthy' are maybe like about 20-25 images...

neil_r wrote in post #9480597
Due to cost and other factors there was no concept of a disposable shot or the freedom to "spray and pray" that we have today.

Spray and Pray . . . good analogy. Of course you refer to the "no cost" philosophy of reusable memory. Many of us used to take some time with the viewfinder and meter to increase the chances of an acceptable shot. But today, with multiple frames per second, bracketing, IS lenses, and everything else that has improved the world of photography, the "rookie" has a better chance of stumbling upon a very good if not great shot.

I still think a good relationship with your viewfinder and meter is an advantage though. You wind up using your time more wisely (not only with the camera, but in fewer exposures that you must wade through in the PP phase).

I do remember going to an NHL hockey game with a press pass and my tele lens. I took three rolls of 36 film, and shot every shot on goal trying to get that magic shot of a great goal. Game ended in a zero-zero tie. Got lots of good saves though . . .

Initially, about 5% of my photos I consider to be print-worthy - I always end up going back and upon 2nd look I usually find about 3-5% more that I can use. So, 8-10%, generally.

golfecho wrote in post #9434405
So, what percentage of your shots are “print worthy”?? By this I mean, you would print and display in a store front, fair booth, or other outlet . . . or you would include as a prime shot in a wedding package?

Let us know what you shoot (landscape, sports, etc) and what is your average “print worthy” shot percentage . . .

~1%, depending on the subject.

If I had an office/studio display area, I'd have perhaps 12 prints at most out of the thousands upon thousands of images in my archives.

I went looking for the number but could not find it. I read or heard years ago that 30,000+ photos where/are taken per National Geographic issue. Lots of photos in a National Geographic but the "print" percentage would be pretty low.

Anyone else remember this number? I searched the Internet and the NG website but could not find the info. I might have heard the number on a NG documentary.

I think my 1 in 36 number is in regards to wildlife photography. If one was shooting in a studio or a wedding they had better be getting a much higher success rate.

But what is "print worthy" has changed. How many images are printed now days? I would think far more photos are put on Face Book, websites, photo slide shows, screen savers or just passed around in email?

I have started doing photo slide shows because it is a away to share photos easily with the family. We are going to offer it as a package for people to buy for the sports photography I am doing. What I have noticed is that a photo that I would not bother to email much less print would work well in a slide show.

Last weekend I photographed six games over six hours. During the last game, which has the oldest kids, I got a series of photos that ran from half court to the goal. The series had a child dribbling with the ball, kids defending, a pass to another player, a shot or two of the new players taking a shot at the goal, and finally the defender blocking the shot. I printed two photos. One of the kid bringing the ball up court and the blocked shot.

On a slide show most or all of the photos could be very useful. Only a couple of the images where print worthy.

Later,
Dan