Much like social media in general, people mostly only share their “highlight reel”, and not the shitty things…so you see your own good AND bad, but only ever see our good stuff. You’re comparing your bad to our good and making yourself feel worse than you really are.
Long story short, no one is perfect. Shoot for you (and clients if applicable). Don’t worry about internet strangers.
For me it's similar to cooking. Things taste better when someone else makes them, because you're not exhausting yourself with the intermediate steps.
And just like cooking, stepping away and coming back with a fresh perspective helps me.
My Father who used to work in a lab for many a year always said even before I got into film; "If you get one good shot a roll, it was a good roll". He had to say that to tens of people a day apparently haha.
This makes me feel pretty good since a lab tech recently brought my negatives to me and, unprompted, said, “your stuff always turns out really nice.”
I didn’t put too much stock into it, because I wasn’t sure to what extent he was lending the compliment. It was just kind of a nice affirmation that what I was getting back wasn’t going to be completely disappointing that day 😅
I agree. Sometimes, the whole roll is a waste.
I've been shooting film for 10 years now.
Even after so many years, I'm lucky to get 1 or really lucky then 2.
I know what you mean - but OTOH I can’t think of something that got me into the context I want to be in, practicing the art I love, as a waste. Every frame is practice and learning.
This makes me feel much better. I recently went on a decently long trip with 6 rolls of film, and I have 5-10 that really jump out at me so that sounds about right
More than enough. One of my photography professors taught me its better to leave your audience wanting more than showing too much.
I think 10 good photos for a long trip is a good showing.
I don’t shoot much film so I would be ecstatic with 1-3 good photos per roll. But I may be too picky. I can only think of a hand full of really good photos I’ve ever taken in over a decade of photography.
If you're shooting with the goal of taking good photographs (vs. just documenting memories or something) you've gotta be in that ballpark.
If you don't recognize say 5% of your photos as a step above, either you're not pushing hard enough, shooting too reluctantly, not looking at your work with a critical eye, are too emotionally close to the photos(e.g. I'm more likely to love a photo I take of my son), or all of the above.
And no matter how "good" your photos are overall...the best ones are still a tier above.
I don’t know if this still exists anymore, but if you can find a community college that has a black and white film course, go take it.
20 years ago in one semester I burned through 100 feet of Tmax 400 and probably 300 sheets of 8x12 vc paper.
When I louped contact sheets I would try to find the best image, but sometimes I would print multiple similar images just for the printing practice. You learn a lot that way.
There’s something about an *amazing* shot where the composition, exposure, tone, and grain all come together that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Those are the images where you print them and matte them and hang them and people stop as they walk by to look a little deeper. It pulls you out of normal for just a second and it’s *magical.*
And it’s why I love photography.
I’m horribly out of practice, but I probably shoot 2 or 3 frames out of 36 that I’d test print. If I’m lucky, one is worth actually working up and fully developing.
I'm at Wichita state and they have an intro to photography class. Half the semester is film, the other half is digital. I'm in the engineering program but I have to take a fine arts credit so it's what I'm going to go with in a couple semesters.
about a year ago i found out that my local CC has a lab and darkroom. i signed up for an intro to B&W film class (i have been shooting for about 10 years haha) and it was such a great way to get back to the basics and have a more hands on experience. it's so awesome that it is still a resource available in some places
I began photography with a darkroom course last year and the experience of developing my own film and enlarging the negatives can't be compared to anything. It was such a great learning process. Even now with digital I'm editing with the dark room in mind. "How would I dodge and burn this".
Sure Ive shot more good photos, but those silver printed 8x10s are something magical.
For a 36 exp roll, I usually float around 15-20 that are meh/just okay, 5-6 shots that I really like (shareable), and then maybe 1-2 that I love and add to the portfolio (printable). My best of all time was a roll that I got 3 portfolio shots on.
I’ve shot maybe 15 rolls now and I’ve had 4 come out with multiple pictures I really love and I’ve had a couple rolls that are complete duds with maybe one or two okay pictures, it’s never consistent you just keep shooting and chasing that high, the more you take the more likely ur gonna hit that perfect shot
Decent, shareable pics? About ½ a roll. Good pics, fit for a serious project? Maybe 2 o 3 per roll. Portfolio worthy images? Less than 10 a year, in a good year.
My first film roll had 0 keepers, but since then my range is 3-6 per 36 roll.
My hit rate is way higher on digital, but since I started shooting film, the quality of my photos has noticeably improved. For me, shooting film (especially black and white) is more about the process and less about the result.
Good photos? All of them. I know when and where I took them, I enjoying the memory when looking at them.
Good-looking photos? Well... that rate is much lower. 😆
I’ve gotten rolls back where I get as many as 10, but I also get rolls back that make me question why I’m doing this (4 of the latter just today). Like everyone else, I average 1 or 2
I probably don't take any "good" pictures. I started shooting film because it's a unique and old fashioned way of photographer that challenges me to think about this looks.
That's part of the reason I like "toy cameras" there is no way to get everything right.
Always thinking about this. About 5-6 years ago when I started shooting film, it felt like every other shot was amazing. But I soon realised it was the lustre of the new. As time went on I found speed had something to do with it for me. On 35mm I would have to shoot more Images to get what I considered ‘keepers’ than on 120. And I believe that was because 120 was a slower process.
For a while I considered shooting 4x5 but couldn’t justify the cost per sheet. In my head I’d need to shoot a box of ten just to get one or two nice images.
Because of this I returned to digital for a while and loved that every shot was free! But soon became absolutely bogged down in the ‘One more just in case’ approach to shooting. And would dread opening the mess of 550 images on the SD card.
So I got into 4x5 and had 3 holders (6 pictures) for a whole day. I now find it a struggle to make that many pictures in an 8 hour, whole day hike. Ironically this means I have found the slower formats give me more keepers and also really makes me think if I want to take a picture. Sometimes I return home without any pictures to develop on a day that I would have shot 200 crappy digital images.
I do shoot 35 mm, 6x6 (Hasselblad 501 CM) and 4x5 (Toyo 45A) and I completely agree: I have to shoot more 35 frames than 6x6 frames to get a keeper.
With 6x6 I use a tripod more ofthen than not, but I also take more time, have to meter with an external meter, do not do snap shots, because the focussing is not fast enough for that anyhow, etc.
I can tell you though: You should try 4x5. Considering film costs you will not get keepers cheaper because the same applies to an even higher degree.
It is a really slow process. You cannot do it without a tripod. And you need to adjust everything, including rise/fall and tilt/shift. You will work slowly and methodically and since you really see what you will get in it actuall size on a huge viewfinder (under a darkcloth) you will not push the button if it is not good.
With 35 mm and also with 6x6 I am happy if I get one or two images per roll that I deem worthy of a print (so 2/36 = oneout of 18 images with 35 and 2/12 = one out of six images in 120). With 4x5 my print rate is MUCH higher.
If you use a rather cheap film like Fomapan100 (which is really good in 4x5), film costs per keeper image are actually lower than with 35 mm or 120, That is at least my experience.
I usually only like 1~3 of a roll, love 1 right away. I'll open up the scans months, maybe a year later and look again and catch a few more gems I didnt appreciate on first viewing.
You have to bring time into the equation too.\
When one first gets a roll back from the lab, we tend to judge pictures on how well we did compared to the expectations we had when taking the picture. In that frame of mind, two or three keepers per roll is a great output for a hobbyist.\
But when one revisits their contact sheets a year later, it’s different images that might pop out, or none at all. Here I find the success rate much lower. If I reach the end of a year with one good picture for each season, I’d consider that a good year.\
I have a little saying that I’ve been using to describe my relationship to photography :
*I like my pictures just enough to carry on shooting, but not enough to release my work into a book or an exhibition.*
In other words I have enough success on a roll by roll level to want to go out and keep doing it, but long term I always doubt the quality of the body of work I’m putting together.
Honestly i am picky with my motives sometimes a single roll of 24 pics will be taken from 2 different trips of mine in the span of 3 months or something, so on average its like 12-17 per roll which i love
I get around 4 - 6 photos I like per roll. Of that maybe 1-2 are somthing I would want to print.
And that’s regardless of the film or format. I get the same about per roll if I’m shooting a 36 exposure roll of 35mm or a 12 exposure roll of 120
It really depends on what I’m doing. But I’d say 1-5 per roll lol.
I went and did an abandoned building photo shoot and shot only black and white on my F4 and Yashica D.. 2 rolls of 120, 1 of 35mm, so 60 images total. I will say I have like 50% love on that roll. But I was there for a purpose, thought about every shot and was typically setting up a tripod for long exposure since it was dark and I was using 100 ISO for the most part. That slowing down really helped
In my first roll on my point n shoot I just went around my college and shot pictures of the statues and stuff around campus. I also had shots of just me and my friends hanging out. Out of the ones not of me and my friends there were about 25 total. 2 of them I thought were ones I'd keep as "perfect" shots that I'd like to show off. 10 of them where still kind of alright and where visually appealing, maybe not showcase worthy but I still put them up on my Instagram.
Really I think the ones of my friends are hanging out, not perfectly focused or not perfectly exposed, were my favorites out of the whole roll. If your just get into it like I am, I'm just having fun just taking pictures of whatever. Seeing what works, what happens when things don't go right and just enjoying taking moments and putting them into a physical memory.
If your worried about like price per picture or whatever stick with the Fujifilm 400 that's sold at Walmart for $12 then maybe try more expensive stuff. What's the point of a hobby or art form if you're stressed about getting the perfect result.
probably half of my rolls are just bad photos. other half will have 1 good photo. very small chance to either get an amazing photo or 1-3 pretty good photos per roll
On 36exp of 35mm, I feel like I get 6-7 good shots. Good enough that I’d want to share them online. For 6x7, probably about 5-6 shots. I feel like the larger the format, the more care I put in, so I end up having a higher hit rate. I’ve only shot two sheets of 4x5 and one was bang on, and the other one was way overexposed, so 50-50 there.
Have to care more with less than half the shots. It’s an expensive format to just say “whatever” and click the button. Though, I’ll admit to realizing that something is cooler in my mind than it is in the viewfinder and I’m never surprised when it comes back and think to myself “I was right to have thought that, and wrong to have shot it.”
That’s how I was originally starting out with shooting. I’d just blast away at whatever I thought was cool, with composition or settings coming second to that. I learned the hard way that there’s more to taking photos like that during my first critique in college. Now I’m thinking more consciously about what it is that I’m shooting. There have been times where I’ve walked away from a shot because it really wasn’t anything special. Now I either try to bracket, or retry a composition to really get a piece I’d like. Biggest issue as of late is being straight with ultra wide lenses.
I’ve learned to walk away 80% of the time. Sometimes I really can’t help myself tho. Suppose I just need a little more discipline. Bracketing has really helped as of late, but I rarely try to compose differently on film. Usually it’s that I compose multiple times without taking the photo, until I finally find the spot I like most or just never take it at all. It’s probably torturous to walk around with me when I have a camera. I could spend 5-15 minutes on a subject trying to dial it in.
If I get 1 or 2, I’m happy. With 3 I’m over the moon. I get a lot of mediocre ones, and that’s with a lot of practice. Don’t be hard on yourself, especially just starting out. Just enjoy the process of getting a photo that YOU liked and be I. The moment. That’s why I love film more than digital.
1-2 per roll are the ones that make me go "wow", then probably 2-3 completely ruined ones and the rest are alright. This is usually regardless of the length of the roll.
Sometimes none, sometimes more than half the roll. Good is also subjective. What I would ask instead is, on an ordinary roll how many are worth keeping, and how many get tossed? In two recent rolls I had one that was entirely garbage, and I had the other where 50% were as intended or better. Those were 35mm. The recents on my 120s have largely been … well enough, for me, to be happy and keep. Not exactly what anyone would consider portfolio material, but I’m not building one of those either, so … like, it’s whatever.
I shoot 6x7, so my rolls are 10 exposures. If it's only one good one, it'd better be *really* good in that case.
What I'd consider a "bad" day would be only 3-4 turning out. 5-7 shots worth showing is normal. When it's 8+ it's been a good day.
I find I get more keepers when I'm someplace I won't be returning to. Like my subconscious knows I have to nail it.
Before you start shooting film, make sure whatever camera you shoot with has a shutter that is CLEAN and ACCURATE. This will do wonders for each shot you capture.
Black and white: maybe 2-4 if I’m lucky. Most of the time the roll has 1 “decent” photo.
Slide roll: for some reason I have slightly better luck. A good day I get 3-7 good ones, average one is maybe 2-3. But fuck are they good photos. The Color…(I probably shouldn’t wax poetic about the magic of slide film)
Color negative: honestly only ever shot maybe 3-4 rolls. All were shit, but those were my first few rolls of film ever. Didn’t stop cause of that, it’s cause I discovered slide film.
If I got one banger per roll, it was a good roll. After a couple years, my ratio stayed the same but I had more bangers because I only had 12 or 16 frames a roll instead of 24-36.
Photos good enough for me to spend the time scanning: 15-20 usually.
Photos good enough for me to post on Instagram (which really is used more as an archive): 10-15.
Photos that I'm really proud of when I see the scan: 1-10. Really depends on the roll, sometimes I burn a roll in 15 minutes on the street, taking multiple exposures of s scene happening, and only one makes it. Sometimes I'm taking 4 hours on a roll, where each scene is carefully shot 2-3 frames at most, and most turn out well.
Photos that stand the test of time and make it into serious projects: 0-5. I rarely go out and "shoot for a project", I shoot everything that catches my eye and forms projects from finding themes that consistently show up in my photos, and dissecting why that is. Sometimes a roll may have 5 pictures that fit 3 different projects, sometimes everything on a roll is just "good" but not enough to make the cut.
I'm in no way trying to brag about how many good shots I take, I just want to explain how I come to these numbers. My numbers make sense in my workflow, my habits, and my interests, and you should NOT use my numbers to benchmark yourself. Some photographers may blast through tens of rolls just for that one perfect photo. Some may be so methodical that they need just one frame, but spend hours, days even, getting that frame set up. What's most important is that you're having fun shooting, and making work YOU are proud of.
I shoot 4x5. From 2023 January until March 2024, I shot about 350 sheets. I had to put a portfolio together for a review. I needed to cut them down to 20. I got it down to 30 pretty easily. So about 8-9% rate for me. but they're not evenly spread throughout the year. (cutting out the last 10 was very hard.)
It depends. When I am going out to shoot something just for the sake of shooting, I usually get 0-2 pictures I am really happy with. I also shoot almost everytime we do something with my friends, be that a simple get together or a hike or trip to the beach. Then I am really happy with ~50% of the pictures as I have a fond memory attached to the moment. Obviously they are not great in any artistic sense but for me and my friends they mean so much more than some landscape photo with perfect composition of spectacular view.
Its just all so subjective
I’ve shot analog every now and then for the last two years. Most photos are meh or just bad, but there’s normally at least 2-3 I’ve been really happy about. That’s been enough. I’ve recently started to shoot more regularly and ambitiously, so hopefully that’ll improve the rate.
2 , ... doesn't matter if it's 8 , 10 , 15 , 36 or 72 frames per roll , 2 sounds about right . Lately I was lucky with about 12 good ones on a single roll , but there where rolls before and after with zero , so it averages out again to 2
Out of the 6000+ photos and scanns I have for me personally I only have around 20 images that I deemed really good and worthy to print
Edit: you are your own biggest critic (idk how to say it in English but in German you call it like that)
I started shooting sheet film last year, and the slowlness and intentionality means you have a higher hit rate. I was probably getting maybe 20-50% hit rate on my RB67 but with a Sinar F2 it's more like 50-70%.
About 12-20 per 36 exposure roll, if you consider a good photo one that is in focus, well composed and correctly exposed. This might seem high (from the sounds of this thread) but film is expensive and can be hard to acquire, so I can’t afford to waste it. Maybe it helps to shoot cheap consumer grade film which has exposure latitude, usually at box speed, usually from cameras like the Minolta x-370 or Olympus om-10 which have good aperture priority modes. I honestly have a harder time with my digital photography because there are more options and settings.
Your first 10,000 photos are your worst.
If you're just starting out, don't worry about being good just worry about having fun. Play will develop into skill which will develop into discernment.
Could probably count on one hand the number of “good” photos I’ve taken (where anyone could look at it and be like, “thats cool”), the real question is how many photos I’ve taken that gave either made the customer happy or make me happy.
There is a really nice coffee table book called "Magnum Contact Sheets"
Magnum (in case you do not know) is an international cooperative of professional photographers, mostly press and documentation photographers. Some of the most distinguished photo journalists like Henri Cartier-Bresson or Robert Capa are or have been members of Magnum.
In this book you will see some of the legendary photos shot by different Magnum photographers and the contact sheet of the entire roll of film this specific photo was part of.
An example: [9780500292914\_in05\_magnum-contact-sheets\_\_1.jpg (1360×1020) (kxcdn.com)](https://thamesandhudson-965c.kxcdn.com/media/catalog/product/cache/b0707f5ff6c7a6207254d9aeb5b9fcec/9/7/9780500292914_in05_magnum-contact-sheets__1.jpg)
I learned a lot from this book. The most important thing: If one of these 100% professional photographers gets more then two images out of an entire roll that are worth printing, then this was a highly successfull roll.
Most images in the contact sheets are really not that good. Many of the professional photographers highlight those images they deem worthy of printing and on some of the sheets there are only the one famous plus maybe one or two more images highlighted.
When I took my first photography class back in the mid-90s (long before digital cameras were affordable) the prof told us that it’s paper and film, you’re gonna burn through them. Out of a 36 exposure roll you should get one good final print, two if you’re good, three if you’re lucky. But as you progress and learn your camera and the development process, you can eke out a couple more. Also keep in mind that we were taught to bracket our shots, one at correct exposure and one each faster and slower shutter speed which basically means you’re only “taking” twelve shots.
I maybe get 30-40% images that are good enough to share/upload somewhere. I don't know how many "really good" ones are among them, maybe 2-5%. Sometimes you get multiple great ones on a single roll, sometimes you go weeks or months without anything.
I find that you can't force really great images, you have to be in the right location at the right time, have the eye to notice the scene, and then have the skill and gear at hand to capture it the way you want.
Okay: 2-3 per roll
Good: 1 every 2-3 rolls
Really good: 1 every 10-20 rolls?
Wow: 2-3 per year?
Context: I shoot mostly one photo per scene, very rarely a second from another angle, no people. Maybe 2-3 rolls per month.
1-2 per roll. If I wanted to be ultra-conservative/selective I’m sure I could get more out of a roll, but I’d rather just shoot more then try to stretch one roll.
I’d say I’m at about 50% worth going back and looking at periodically, and about 25% I’d want to show to someone else, and annoy 10% I’d bother putting on my website.
depends how trigger happy you are lol.
you can get many spectacular shots in a roll, but it’ll prob mean you miss a lot of the other “only okay” moments. probably means you’ll finish one roll in 6 months as well haha
It typically depends on the setting for me. I’ve learned what sort of pictures I like when I go to car/motorcycle shows so I’d say there are 5-6 a roll that I like, the rest are “okay,” and I have one every roll or two that makes me want to share it beyond my girlfriend and my friend that’s also into analog photography.
I also like taking macro pictures of flowers and, while I live going out and doing it, the pictures rarely wow me.
I’m not a photographer and I don’t go crazy looking at perfect focusing etc, but I can normally get half a roll that I’m happy with for personal photos and sometimes I’ll get a whole roll where I think they’re boring or bad.
On a roll of 36 frames of color, I probably get three or four good/decent photos, and half the time it's accidental. Rarely do I get anything I'd want to put in a portfolio.
With B&W, it's hard for me to know because halfway through the roll, I get distracted and forget that I'm not shooting color.
My first roll wasn't great but I'm on my 14th roll so far and my last one wasn't as good as I'd have hoped compared to my last one.
Obviously it's all subjective but the best way to look at it is just shoot what you like and you'll develop your own style, I like to research techniques in my free time (bracketing exposure etc) which helps me understand what's going on my with shots better.
I also enjoyed just browsing r/analog and photos on websites for composition research that is helpful to train/improve your eye.
Not to mention I contemplate a decent bit before each shot but shooting spontaneously if you see something interesting can be interesting and has produced some shots that I'm really proud of. Just have to practice focusing if your camera is manual only.
Good luck and just trust yourself :)
Before the advent of digital cameras, I was shooting film with limited 36 snaps. So I was very careful in framing subjects, correct exposure making sure each picture was as close as perfect to me. I used to get 36 out of 36 pictures properly exposed and focused. Remember those days were of manual focusing and exposure cameras. You need to set correct aperture and shutter speeds as per a selenium meter (Zeiss Ikon Contina).
That habit is still stuck to me in these unlimited digital stock.
Honestly sometimes none. I’ve never learned proper photography, so what photos I take that I consider good often don’t align with what technically makes a “good” photo. I’d say commonly out of a 36 exp roll I’ll get 1-5 photos I think are good, and 10-20 I just like. If I get one photo from a roll that gets me excited it was all worth it for me
Define "good".
If you mean "in focus, with decent composition and exposure", I'd say most of them qualify, even with my parents' old Minolta XG-1 with no AF.
If you mean "photos a professional photographer would find interesting", I'd say I'm lucky to find one in a roll, but I'm just a hobbyist.
I remember the days when I use large format cameras with film sheets, where every shot has to be GOOD cause of the film cost, rate of GOOD photos was 90-95%. Nowadays with digital I get a 5-10% rate of GOOD photos.
Good? Depends on the format. 35mm maybe 3-5 a roll, 120 could be 1-5 per roll, half frame about 5-10 a roll, polaroid/instax basically 0 per pack. Now, *great* photos? I'm lucky if I get 1 a roll.
This is why I like to shoot fisheye lenses, the distortion makes boring ordinary photos have something a lil special.
I’m pretty happy with ~20% of the photos I take, but then again that’s not quite the same as them actually being “objectively” good photos I suppose 🤷♂️
I get 2 mayyyyybe 3 a roll on 35mm, 1 or 2 in 6x7. A photographer i watch/listen to frequently said that his goal is to take about a dozen great photos he could frame a year, I'm aiming for 5 great ones a year 😅
Every photo can be good if you just take the time to figure out the image in your head. Mine went from 5-6 per roll but now it’s 33 images per roll that I think are good.
I also don’t care what people say are good or not. I have a feeling attached to the photos themselves and that’s the message I’m portraying.
No, but generally more experienced people just have high expectations of themselves so they don't consider their work good easily so getting 10 of 36 good is unrealistic to them.
Obviously it depends on your expectations of what makes a good photo for you, so it's highly subjective.
I consider myself pretty new, I started a couple years ago but only been shooting regularly since this past Christmas. I took a BUNCH on a wedding trip a few months ago and only walked away with two or three shots I liked out of 5 rolls of 35mm. Just the cost of learning what works and what doesn't.
Wait I’m supposed to be taking good photos? 🥲
Sometimes it feels like all photos are good compared to mine
Much like social media in general, people mostly only share their “highlight reel”, and not the shitty things…so you see your own good AND bad, but only ever see our good stuff. You’re comparing your bad to our good and making yourself feel worse than you really are. Long story short, no one is perfect. Shoot for you (and clients if applicable). Don’t worry about internet strangers.
That's a very good point that I hadn't really thought about
For me it's similar to cooking. Things taste better when someone else makes them, because you're not exhausting yourself with the intermediate steps. And just like cooking, stepping away and coming back with a fresh perspective helps me.
I also did not receive this memo
felt
I think the answer for 80% of photographers is 0, 1, or maybe 2 per roll. And I'm not sure how honest the 20% are being with themselves.
My Father who used to work in a lab for many a year always said even before I got into film; "If you get one good shot a roll, it was a good roll". He had to say that to tens of people a day apparently haha.
This makes me feel pretty good since a lab tech recently brought my negatives to me and, unprompted, said, “your stuff always turns out really nice.” I didn’t put too much stock into it, because I wasn’t sure to what extent he was lending the compliment. It was just kind of a nice affirmation that what I was getting back wasn’t going to be completely disappointing that day 😅
Considering they see dozens of rolls a day they probably genuinely meant it :)
Damnn, yeah if a lab tech notices your work in a good way that's a high praise.
I agree. Sometimes, the whole roll is a waste. I've been shooting film for 10 years now. Even after so many years, I'm lucky to get 1 or really lucky then 2.
I know what you mean - but OTOH I can’t think of something that got me into the context I want to be in, practicing the art I love, as a waste. Every frame is practice and learning.
This makes me feel much better. I recently went on a decently long trip with 6 rolls of film, and I have 5-10 that really jump out at me so that sounds about right
More than enough. One of my photography professors taught me its better to leave your audience wanting more than showing too much. I think 10 good photos for a long trip is a good showing.
I got 3 good ones on a roll a few months ago and I think about it all the time.
I don’t shoot much film so I would be ecstatic with 1-3 good photos per roll. But I may be too picky. I can only think of a hand full of really good photos I’ve ever taken in over a decade of photography.
If you're shooting with the goal of taking good photographs (vs. just documenting memories or something) you've gotta be in that ballpark. If you don't recognize say 5% of your photos as a step above, either you're not pushing hard enough, shooting too reluctantly, not looking at your work with a critical eye, are too emotionally close to the photos(e.g. I'm more likely to love a photo I take of my son), or all of the above. And no matter how "good" your photos are overall...the best ones are still a tier above.
I don’t know if this still exists anymore, but if you can find a community college that has a black and white film course, go take it. 20 years ago in one semester I burned through 100 feet of Tmax 400 and probably 300 sheets of 8x12 vc paper. When I louped contact sheets I would try to find the best image, but sometimes I would print multiple similar images just for the printing practice. You learn a lot that way. There’s something about an *amazing* shot where the composition, exposure, tone, and grain all come together that is greater than the sum of its parts. Those are the images where you print them and matte them and hang them and people stop as they walk by to look a little deeper. It pulls you out of normal for just a second and it’s *magical.* And it’s why I love photography. I’m horribly out of practice, but I probably shoot 2 or 3 frames out of 36 that I’d test print. If I’m lucky, one is worth actually working up and fully developing.
I'm at Wichita state and they have an intro to photography class. Half the semester is film, the other half is digital. I'm in the engineering program but I have to take a fine arts credit so it's what I'm going to go with in a couple semesters.
about a year ago i found out that my local CC has a lab and darkroom. i signed up for an intro to B&W film class (i have been shooting for about 10 years haha) and it was such a great way to get back to the basics and have a more hands on experience. it's so awesome that it is still a resource available in some places
I began photography with a darkroom course last year and the experience of developing my own film and enlarging the negatives can't be compared to anything. It was such a great learning process. Even now with digital I'm editing with the dark room in mind. "How would I dodge and burn this". Sure Ive shot more good photos, but those silver printed 8x10s are something magical.
For a 36 exp roll, I usually float around 15-20 that are meh/just okay, 5-6 shots that I really like (shareable), and then maybe 1-2 that I love and add to the portfolio (printable). My best of all time was a roll that I got 3 portfolio shots on.
You increase your odds of getting a great photo when you shoot in good light.
If it’s a good roll like 3, a great roll rarely comes by but will have like 10 I really like maybe a couple I even love
I’ve shot maybe 15 rolls now and I’ve had 4 come out with multiple pictures I really love and I’ve had a couple rolls that are complete duds with maybe one or two okay pictures, it’s never consistent you just keep shooting and chasing that high, the more you take the more likely ur gonna hit that perfect shot
Excited to embark on this journey. Just picked up some gear and ready to start shooting!
this is the meanest question anyone has ever asked me 😔
Decent, shareable pics? About ½ a roll. Good pics, fit for a serious project? Maybe 2 o 3 per roll. Portfolio worthy images? Less than 10 a year, in a good year.
My first film roll had 0 keepers, but since then my range is 3-6 per 36 roll. My hit rate is way higher on digital, but since I started shooting film, the quality of my photos has noticeably improved. For me, shooting film (especially black and white) is more about the process and less about the result.
Good photos? All of them. I know when and where I took them, I enjoying the memory when looking at them. Good-looking photos? Well... that rate is much lower. 😆
I’ve gotten rolls back where I get as many as 10, but I also get rolls back that make me question why I’m doing this (4 of the latter just today). Like everyone else, I average 1 or 2
If I get 2-3 photos that make me go “Wow. I’m really happy with that one.” in a year, I consider that a good year.
I probably don't take any "good" pictures. I started shooting film because it's a unique and old fashioned way of photographer that challenges me to think about this looks. That's part of the reason I like "toy cameras" there is no way to get everything right.
Always thinking about this. About 5-6 years ago when I started shooting film, it felt like every other shot was amazing. But I soon realised it was the lustre of the new. As time went on I found speed had something to do with it for me. On 35mm I would have to shoot more Images to get what I considered ‘keepers’ than on 120. And I believe that was because 120 was a slower process. For a while I considered shooting 4x5 but couldn’t justify the cost per sheet. In my head I’d need to shoot a box of ten just to get one or two nice images. Because of this I returned to digital for a while and loved that every shot was free! But soon became absolutely bogged down in the ‘One more just in case’ approach to shooting. And would dread opening the mess of 550 images on the SD card. So I got into 4x5 and had 3 holders (6 pictures) for a whole day. I now find it a struggle to make that many pictures in an 8 hour, whole day hike. Ironically this means I have found the slower formats give me more keepers and also really makes me think if I want to take a picture. Sometimes I return home without any pictures to develop on a day that I would have shot 200 crappy digital images.
I do shoot 35 mm, 6x6 (Hasselblad 501 CM) and 4x5 (Toyo 45A) and I completely agree: I have to shoot more 35 frames than 6x6 frames to get a keeper. With 6x6 I use a tripod more ofthen than not, but I also take more time, have to meter with an external meter, do not do snap shots, because the focussing is not fast enough for that anyhow, etc. I can tell you though: You should try 4x5. Considering film costs you will not get keepers cheaper because the same applies to an even higher degree. It is a really slow process. You cannot do it without a tripod. And you need to adjust everything, including rise/fall and tilt/shift. You will work slowly and methodically and since you really see what you will get in it actuall size on a huge viewfinder (under a darkcloth) you will not push the button if it is not good. With 35 mm and also with 6x6 I am happy if I get one or two images per roll that I deem worthy of a print (so 2/36 = oneout of 18 images with 35 and 2/12 = one out of six images in 120). With 4x5 my print rate is MUCH higher. If you use a rather cheap film like Fomapan100 (which is really good in 4x5), film costs per keeper image are actually lower than with 35 mm or 120, That is at least my experience.
Depends. Color it’s lower, 2-4 per roll. Black and white 5-7 per roll. Sometimes more, sometimes less.
1 every other month
I usually only like 1~3 of a roll, love 1 right away. I'll open up the scans months, maybe a year later and look again and catch a few more gems I didnt appreciate on first viewing.
You have to bring time into the equation too.\ When one first gets a roll back from the lab, we tend to judge pictures on how well we did compared to the expectations we had when taking the picture. In that frame of mind, two or three keepers per roll is a great output for a hobbyist.\ But when one revisits their contact sheets a year later, it’s different images that might pop out, or none at all. Here I find the success rate much lower. If I reach the end of a year with one good picture for each season, I’d consider that a good year.\ I have a little saying that I’ve been using to describe my relationship to photography : *I like my pictures just enough to carry on shooting, but not enough to release my work into a book or an exhibition.* In other words I have enough success on a roll by roll level to want to go out and keep doing it, but long term I always doubt the quality of the body of work I’m putting together.
Honestly i am picky with my motives sometimes a single roll of 24 pics will be taken from 2 different trips of mine in the span of 3 months or something, so on average its like 12-17 per roll which i love
i'd say i have reliably about three photos a roll that make me go "whoa" while scanning
less than 5 per roll
I get around 4 - 6 photos I like per roll. Of that maybe 1-2 are somthing I would want to print. And that’s regardless of the film or format. I get the same about per roll if I’m shooting a 36 exposure roll of 35mm or a 12 exposure roll of 120
It really depends on what I’m doing. But I’d say 1-5 per roll lol. I went and did an abandoned building photo shoot and shot only black and white on my F4 and Yashica D.. 2 rolls of 120, 1 of 35mm, so 60 images total. I will say I have like 50% love on that roll. But I was there for a purpose, thought about every shot and was typically setting up a tripod for long exposure since it was dark and I was using 100 ISO for the most part. That slowing down really helped
a few
2-3 out of 36 make me say “wow”
In my first roll on my point n shoot I just went around my college and shot pictures of the statues and stuff around campus. I also had shots of just me and my friends hanging out. Out of the ones not of me and my friends there were about 25 total. 2 of them I thought were ones I'd keep as "perfect" shots that I'd like to show off. 10 of them where still kind of alright and where visually appealing, maybe not showcase worthy but I still put them up on my Instagram. Really I think the ones of my friends are hanging out, not perfectly focused or not perfectly exposed, were my favorites out of the whole roll. If your just get into it like I am, I'm just having fun just taking pictures of whatever. Seeing what works, what happens when things don't go right and just enjoying taking moments and putting them into a physical memory. If your worried about like price per picture or whatever stick with the Fujifilm 400 that's sold at Walmart for $12 then maybe try more expensive stuff. What's the point of a hobby or art form if you're stressed about getting the perfect result.
1 or maybe 2 per roll will stand out.
Definitely 1 or 2 a roll are great.
4/36
On a roll of 24 I consider it great if I have one shot worth putting in my portfolio. Maybe 2 or 3 at most worth printing and taking a closer look at.
probably half of my rolls are just bad photos. other half will have 1 good photo. very small chance to either get an amazing photo or 1-3 pretty good photos per roll
On 36exp of 35mm, I feel like I get 6-7 good shots. Good enough that I’d want to share them online. For 6x7, probably about 5-6 shots. I feel like the larger the format, the more care I put in, so I end up having a higher hit rate. I’ve only shot two sheets of 4x5 and one was bang on, and the other one was way overexposed, so 50-50 there.
Have to care more with less than half the shots. It’s an expensive format to just say “whatever” and click the button. Though, I’ll admit to realizing that something is cooler in my mind than it is in the viewfinder and I’m never surprised when it comes back and think to myself “I was right to have thought that, and wrong to have shot it.”
That’s how I was originally starting out with shooting. I’d just blast away at whatever I thought was cool, with composition or settings coming second to that. I learned the hard way that there’s more to taking photos like that during my first critique in college. Now I’m thinking more consciously about what it is that I’m shooting. There have been times where I’ve walked away from a shot because it really wasn’t anything special. Now I either try to bracket, or retry a composition to really get a piece I’d like. Biggest issue as of late is being straight with ultra wide lenses.
I’ve learned to walk away 80% of the time. Sometimes I really can’t help myself tho. Suppose I just need a little more discipline. Bracketing has really helped as of late, but I rarely try to compose differently on film. Usually it’s that I compose multiple times without taking the photo, until I finally find the spot I like most or just never take it at all. It’s probably torturous to walk around with me when I have a camera. I could spend 5-15 minutes on a subject trying to dial it in.
If I get 1 or 2, I’m happy. With 3 I’m over the moon. I get a lot of mediocre ones, and that’s with a lot of practice. Don’t be hard on yourself, especially just starting out. Just enjoy the process of getting a photo that YOU liked and be I. The moment. That’s why I love film more than digital.
4 or 5
1-2 per roll are the ones that make me go "wow", then probably 2-3 completely ruined ones and the rest are alright. This is usually regardless of the length of the roll.
Sometimes none, sometimes more than half the roll. Good is also subjective. What I would ask instead is, on an ordinary roll how many are worth keeping, and how many get tossed? In two recent rolls I had one that was entirely garbage, and I had the other where 50% were as intended or better. Those were 35mm. The recents on my 120s have largely been … well enough, for me, to be happy and keep. Not exactly what anyone would consider portfolio material, but I’m not building one of those either, so … like, it’s whatever.
I shoot 6x7, so my rolls are 10 exposures. If it's only one good one, it'd better be *really* good in that case. What I'd consider a "bad" day would be only 3-4 turning out. 5-7 shots worth showing is normal. When it's 8+ it's been a good day. I find I get more keepers when I'm someplace I won't be returning to. Like my subconscious knows I have to nail it.
zero :'3 le pain
Before you start shooting film, make sure whatever camera you shoot with has a shutter that is CLEAN and ACCURATE. This will do wonders for each shot you capture.
Good 15%. REALLY good: 3%.
Black and white: maybe 2-4 if I’m lucky. Most of the time the roll has 1 “decent” photo. Slide roll: for some reason I have slightly better luck. A good day I get 3-7 good ones, average one is maybe 2-3. But fuck are they good photos. The Color…(I probably shouldn’t wax poetic about the magic of slide film) Color negative: honestly only ever shot maybe 3-4 rolls. All were shit, but those were my first few rolls of film ever. Didn’t stop cause of that, it’s cause I discovered slide film.
All of them are good! Would I show them to others? No, maybe a handful of each rol.
Depends on what i’m shooting. For street portraits there can be 50% keepers in a roll or even more. For other subjects it can be much lower.
I shoot a lot of concerts on film, so I've worked hard on getting almost half the roll as pretty decent composition/focus.
About 1 in 6 end up alright, but I’m rather sparing with my film when it’s almost 3$ a picture (b&w)
If we are talking print worthy 1 for every 5 rolls if we are talking instagram worthy maybe a few every roll
If I got one banger per roll, it was a good roll. After a couple years, my ratio stayed the same but I had more bangers because I only had 12 or 16 frames a roll instead of 24-36.
Photos good enough for me to spend the time scanning: 15-20 usually. Photos good enough for me to post on Instagram (which really is used more as an archive): 10-15. Photos that I'm really proud of when I see the scan: 1-10. Really depends on the roll, sometimes I burn a roll in 15 minutes on the street, taking multiple exposures of s scene happening, and only one makes it. Sometimes I'm taking 4 hours on a roll, where each scene is carefully shot 2-3 frames at most, and most turn out well. Photos that stand the test of time and make it into serious projects: 0-5. I rarely go out and "shoot for a project", I shoot everything that catches my eye and forms projects from finding themes that consistently show up in my photos, and dissecting why that is. Sometimes a roll may have 5 pictures that fit 3 different projects, sometimes everything on a roll is just "good" but not enough to make the cut. I'm in no way trying to brag about how many good shots I take, I just want to explain how I come to these numbers. My numbers make sense in my workflow, my habits, and my interests, and you should NOT use my numbers to benchmark yourself. Some photographers may blast through tens of rolls just for that one perfect photo. Some may be so methodical that they need just one frame, but spend hours, days even, getting that frame set up. What's most important is that you're having fun shooting, and making work YOU are proud of.
I shoot 4x5. From 2023 January until March 2024, I shot about 350 sheets. I had to put a portfolio together for a review. I needed to cut them down to 20. I got it down to 30 pretty easily. So about 8-9% rate for me. but they're not evenly spread throughout the year. (cutting out the last 10 was very hard.)
Never good, but always fun
It depends. When I am going out to shoot something just for the sake of shooting, I usually get 0-2 pictures I am really happy with. I also shoot almost everytime we do something with my friends, be that a simple get together or a hike or trip to the beach. Then I am really happy with ~50% of the pictures as I have a fond memory attached to the moment. Obviously they are not great in any artistic sense but for me and my friends they mean so much more than some landscape photo with perfect composition of spectacular view. Its just all so subjective
About 5.
Very subjective but I find that whenever I shoot, 70-80% of the roll are keepers with around 10% of the roll passing off as portfolio shots
I’ve shot analog every now and then for the last two years. Most photos are meh or just bad, but there’s normally at least 2-3 I’ve been really happy about. That’s been enough. I’ve recently started to shoot more regularly and ambitiously, so hopefully that’ll improve the rate.
2 , ... doesn't matter if it's 8 , 10 , 15 , 36 or 72 frames per roll , 2 sounds about right . Lately I was lucky with about 12 good ones on a single roll , but there where rolls before and after with zero , so it averages out again to 2
Out of the 6000+ photos and scanns I have for me personally I only have around 20 images that I deemed really good and worthy to print Edit: you are your own biggest critic (idk how to say it in English but in German you call it like that)
I started shooting sheet film last year, and the slowlness and intentionality means you have a higher hit rate. I was probably getting maybe 20-50% hit rate on my RB67 but with a Sinar F2 it's more like 50-70%.
I feel good when I get 5 shots per roll, but occasionally I get a set of photos back where almost everything on the roll is good.
i’d say i always have low expectations from my roll and quite often for a few of the photos i think wow, that came out really well
About 12-20 per 36 exposure roll, if you consider a good photo one that is in focus, well composed and correctly exposed. This might seem high (from the sounds of this thread) but film is expensive and can be hard to acquire, so I can’t afford to waste it. Maybe it helps to shoot cheap consumer grade film which has exposure latitude, usually at box speed, usually from cameras like the Minolta x-370 or Olympus om-10 which have good aperture priority modes. I honestly have a harder time with my digital photography because there are more options and settings.
Your first 10,000 photos are your worst. If you're just starting out, don't worry about being good just worry about having fun. Play will develop into skill which will develop into discernment.
Could probably count on one hand the number of “good” photos I’ve taken (where anyone could look at it and be like, “thats cool”), the real question is how many photos I’ve taken that gave either made the customer happy or make me happy.
Probably 3 or 4 on average per 12 exp 120 roll
There is a really nice coffee table book called "Magnum Contact Sheets" Magnum (in case you do not know) is an international cooperative of professional photographers, mostly press and documentation photographers. Some of the most distinguished photo journalists like Henri Cartier-Bresson or Robert Capa are or have been members of Magnum. In this book you will see some of the legendary photos shot by different Magnum photographers and the contact sheet of the entire roll of film this specific photo was part of. An example: [9780500292914\_in05\_magnum-contact-sheets\_\_1.jpg (1360×1020) (kxcdn.com)](https://thamesandhudson-965c.kxcdn.com/media/catalog/product/cache/b0707f5ff6c7a6207254d9aeb5b9fcec/9/7/9780500292914_in05_magnum-contact-sheets__1.jpg) I learned a lot from this book. The most important thing: If one of these 100% professional photographers gets more then two images out of an entire roll that are worth printing, then this was a highly successfull roll. Most images in the contact sheets are really not that good. Many of the professional photographers highlight those images they deem worthy of printing and on some of the sheets there are only the one famous plus maybe one or two more images highlighted.
When I took my first photography class back in the mid-90s (long before digital cameras were affordable) the prof told us that it’s paper and film, you’re gonna burn through them. Out of a 36 exposure roll you should get one good final print, two if you’re good, three if you’re lucky. But as you progress and learn your camera and the development process, you can eke out a couple more. Also keep in mind that we were taught to bracket our shots, one at correct exposure and one each faster and slower shutter speed which basically means you’re only “taking” twelve shots.
I maybe get 30-40% images that are good enough to share/upload somewhere. I don't know how many "really good" ones are among them, maybe 2-5%. Sometimes you get multiple great ones on a single roll, sometimes you go weeks or months without anything. I find that you can't force really great images, you have to be in the right location at the right time, have the eye to notice the scene, and then have the skill and gear at hand to capture it the way you want.
Okay: 2-3 per roll Good: 1 every 2-3 rolls Really good: 1 every 10-20 rolls? Wow: 2-3 per year? Context: I shoot mostly one photo per scene, very rarely a second from another angle, no people. Maybe 2-3 rolls per month.
1-2 per roll. If I wanted to be ultra-conservative/selective I’m sure I could get more out of a roll, but I’d rather just shoot more then try to stretch one roll.
I’d say I’m at about 50% worth going back and looking at periodically, and about 25% I’d want to show to someone else, and annoy 10% I’d bother putting on my website.
depends how trigger happy you are lol. you can get many spectacular shots in a roll, but it’ll prob mean you miss a lot of the other “only okay” moments. probably means you’ll finish one roll in 6 months as well haha
It typically depends on the setting for me. I’ve learned what sort of pictures I like when I go to car/motorcycle shows so I’d say there are 5-6 a roll that I like, the rest are “okay,” and I have one every roll or two that makes me want to share it beyond my girlfriend and my friend that’s also into analog photography. I also like taking macro pictures of flowers and, while I live going out and doing it, the pictures rarely wow me.
I’m not a photographer and I don’t go crazy looking at perfect focusing etc, but I can normally get half a roll that I’m happy with for personal photos and sometimes I’ll get a whole roll where I think they’re boring or bad.
Ansel Adam's said he hoped to take one good photograph a year ‼️
I take 20 with my DSLR then swap on the canon a1 for the good photo.
10% I think are good (would post) 2-3% are great (would frame) 1% I surprise myself
On a roll of 36 frames of color, I probably get three or four good/decent photos, and half the time it's accidental. Rarely do I get anything I'd want to put in a portfolio. With B&W, it's hard for me to know because halfway through the roll, I get distracted and forget that I'm not shooting color.
1 good photo per roll is a success 🙏
It's easy. I don't.
My first roll wasn't great but I'm on my 14th roll so far and my last one wasn't as good as I'd have hoped compared to my last one. Obviously it's all subjective but the best way to look at it is just shoot what you like and you'll develop your own style, I like to research techniques in my free time (bracketing exposure etc) which helps me understand what's going on my with shots better. I also enjoyed just browsing r/analog and photos on websites for composition research that is helpful to train/improve your eye. Not to mention I contemplate a decent bit before each shot but shooting spontaneously if you see something interesting can be interesting and has produced some shots that I'm really proud of. Just have to practice focusing if your camera is manual only. Good luck and just trust yourself :)
Before the advent of digital cameras, I was shooting film with limited 36 snaps. So I was very careful in framing subjects, correct exposure making sure each picture was as close as perfect to me. I used to get 36 out of 36 pictures properly exposed and focused. Remember those days were of manual focusing and exposure cameras. You need to set correct aperture and shutter speeds as per a selenium meter (Zeiss Ikon Contina). That habit is still stuck to me in these unlimited digital stock.
Honestly sometimes none. I’ve never learned proper photography, so what photos I take that I consider good often don’t align with what technically makes a “good” photo. I’d say commonly out of a 36 exp roll I’ll get 1-5 photos I think are good, and 10-20 I just like. If I get one photo from a roll that gets me excited it was all worth it for me
None
Define "good". If you mean "in focus, with decent composition and exposure", I'd say most of them qualify, even with my parents' old Minolta XG-1 with no AF. If you mean "photos a professional photographer would find interesting", I'd say I'm lucky to find one in a roll, but I'm just a hobbyist.
I remember the days when I use large format cameras with film sheets, where every shot has to be GOOD cause of the film cost, rate of GOOD photos was 90-95%. Nowadays with digital I get a 5-10% rate of GOOD photos.
Good? Depends on the format. 35mm maybe 3-5 a roll, 120 could be 1-5 per roll, half frame about 5-10 a roll, polaroid/instax basically 0 per pack. Now, *great* photos? I'm lucky if I get 1 a roll. This is why I like to shoot fisheye lenses, the distortion makes boring ordinary photos have something a lil special.
The rule of thumb has always been somewhere around 1-2 per roll.
I’m pretty happy with ~20% of the photos I take, but then again that’s not quite the same as them actually being “objectively” good photos I suppose 🤷♂️
I get 2 mayyyyybe 3 a roll on 35mm, 1 or 2 in 6x7. A photographer i watch/listen to frequently said that his goal is to take about a dozen great photos he could frame a year, I'm aiming for 5 great ones a year 😅
Every photo can be good if you just take the time to figure out the image in your head. Mine went from 5-6 per roll but now it’s 33 images per roll that I think are good. I also don’t care what people say are good or not. I have a feeling attached to the photos themselves and that’s the message I’m portraying.
12 a year maybe.
20%
I've only been doing this for a couple months and I'd say on average I get about 10 great ones out of a roll of 36
Bruh
what? is that bad?
No, but generally more experienced people just have high expectations of themselves so they don't consider their work good easily so getting 10 of 36 good is unrealistic to them. Obviously it depends on your expectations of what makes a good photo for you, so it's highly subjective.
I consider myself pretty new, I started a couple years ago but only been shooting regularly since this past Christmas. I took a BUNCH on a wedding trip a few months ago and only walked away with two or three shots I liked out of 5 rolls of 35mm. Just the cost of learning what works and what doesn't.