Comments on: Repost: Quality versus Quantity

By: Rich C

Rich C — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:58:12 +0000

Good one Jason! You know, I’ve noticed that my shots have been slimming down on quantity even on all day shoots. HDR takes a ton of space (3-6 frames for one image), so I’ve really keyed in on getting the right setup first, then firing.

I remember on my trip to Bisbee, AZ as part of my Ghost Town Quest I shot my favorite Taxi piece early in the day, and I knew that was my “it” photo for the day. Very few frames were shot after that, I knew I had what I needed that day. And putting the camera down let me explore the area more and get ideas for the next day.

By: Kevin Mullins

Kevin Mullins — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:06:32 +0000

An excellent article Jason. Wedding photography is a point in case. Clients ask questions such as “how long will you stay?” & “how many photos will I get?”. Well, actually, the time spent and the amount of photos are not relevant. Its the quality of the photos and the accuracy of the coverage that counts.

By: Tye

Tye — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:55:13 +0000

Don’t let the person who photo’d a friends wedding read this one, they took maybe 50-60 photos, missed all of the important shots, and over processed the ones they did take. There are some people out there that just need to take 40x’s more than everyone else (wish they would get off their high horse and actually give a damn & learn what it really means to be “pro quality”).

But you are definitely right, QUALITY is far better than quantity. If said “photographer” had actually taken 50-60 great shots, they might be forgiven for missing every shot the bride had requested.

I guess my main suggestion is to really learn how you are and shoot accordingly! Go for the quality and don’t worry so much about the quantity, because in the end the person paying for the photos is only worried about how good the photos are that they are paying for, not whether it took 50 or 500 photos to get it right!

GREAT POST!

By: sharon

sharon — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:15:26 +0000

Another thing to consider is that although pixels are free, sensor wear and tear is not. Camera sensors are not made to last a lifetime and throwing away lots of captures just because you can will wear down your sensor faster.

By: Rob Weiher

Rob Weiher — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:49:47 +0000

Nice article Jason. If I were to ever shoot portrait or wedding (highly unlikely) I’d fall into the less is more camp for sure.

Thanks for the mention…very much appreciate it

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:05:24 +0000

Hi William

I LOVE RadioLab! The most recent one was kinda creepy (The After life), but such a great show. I’ll have to go back and find that one. Thanks for the book info too – will look that up!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and the info in the comments!

By: William

William — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:23:05 +0000

A book that completely illustrates your point – The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz. Obviously it can be found on Amazon. There is also an amazing NPR radio show that podcasts called RadioLab that can be found at RadioLab.org that aired a show called “Choice” that discussed this exact topic.

A great point to make for photogs today. When you have to turn a profit based on the amount of time you spend working for/on each client, that includes postproc work. 500 images take significantly longer to work-up. Unless you are shooting a wedding with a massive wedding album expected at the end, 500 shots tends to deliver the same amount of quality proofs as 50.

I completely agree, once you have enough images to give the client a choice, stop! Ten images is a choice, 50 is debilitating.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:57:36 +0000

Good point Maria – more shots are needed as you dial things in while still figuring things out. I guess the only caveat to that is that you still wouldn’t process and work up all the ones where you are still sorting out exposure and composition, right? So, in the end, it’s still only a small amount you would show to the client…

By: Rob Jones

Rob Jones — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:32:05 +0000

Excellent article, Jason. The idea of quality versus quantity is a mentality that we as photographers need to promote. The alternative is for all of us will continue down this other path and get lost in a sea of “throw away” shots as cameras and memory allow for more and more folks to “spray and pray”.

By: MariaV

MariaV — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:17:59 +0000

Unfortunately, I have to shoot more because I’m not that good. I hope to get to where you are one day.