venchka
Veteran
shoot a 36 exp. roll of film and when you saw the results said to yourself, "Self, sell all of your cameras!" :bang:
Well did you?
Well did you?
Did you ever...
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Crasis
Well-known
venchka said:
Short answer, no.
Long answer, umm... no. 🙂
BJ Bignell
Je n'aurai plus peur
Yes, sort of. I think I said to myself, "Self, that was a waste of time and money. Why do you bother?"
T
Todd.Hanz
Guest
Damn, Crasis beat me to the smart ass answer! 😉
We all have our rolls man, keep shooting!
Todd
We all have our rolls man, keep shooting!
Todd
venchka
Veteran
BJ Bignell said:
Grinning! That went through my brain as well.
Thanks for the grins and support everybody.
dmr
Registered Abuser
I've just learned to accept the fact that 80-90% of what I shoot stinks.
If I get one real keeper from a roll, I'm tickled pink! Any more than one I'm totally exstatic!
Yes, I'm quite used to getting nothing of any significance on a roll every so often.
If I get one real keeper from a roll, I'm tickled pink! Any more than one I'm totally exstatic!
Yes, I'm quite used to getting nothing of any significance on a roll every so often.
Crasis
Well-known
Todd.Hanz said:
Seriously though, why was it a smart ass answer anyways? I've never shot a roll of film and thought to myself that I should get rid of my cameras, and I'm really critical of the level of photography on said rolls of film.
Perhaps it's because there's too much waste and too much chaff? What I mean is, how many rolls of film do you people shoot a week? What's your ratio of shots that you're proud of vs shots that you aren't on each roll?
For example, you shoot 5 rolls of film a week and get 1 or 2 shots that you're really proud of on each of those rolls. Could you have whittled that down to shooting 2 rolls a week and getting say 5-7 shots on the roll that you're really proud of? Could you have only shot 1 roll of film that week and gotten 10 shots on that roll that you're really proud of?
If not, why not? I had always assumed that film shooters were more methodical in their shots, which of course is completely inaccurate. I think you guys shoot as much as a guy with digital who doesn't care about wasted shots.
Now, I don't have a film scanner and I process and print myself. If I get a roll back that's ****, then I've wasted time processing AND I don't have the satisfaction of printing up something beautiful in the darkroom. At any rate, I tend to shoot very little film, quantity wise, and print at least 10 shots on every roll of 36. This means that I consider 1/3rd of my shots worth the time and effort of printing on RC and eventually on FB.
Now, I don't know if this is the actual issue; Where the issue I am speaking of is simply taking too many wasted shots. If it is this issue, then I propose a self-challenge with you yourself as the judge. If there's something you want to take a photo of, take only a single shot and no more. Stretch out a roll of 36 to an entire week, hell maybe two weeks! This will force you to make sure that every shot on that roll is something you really want to take.. or else you run out of available film space in less than the alotted time (And I'd hope that if you were doing this, you'd give yourself a swift kick in the ass for failing).
This is moot, of course, if you are shooting pro, meaning that you are expected to waste film in order to get that perfect shot that the client wants. This is my challenge to those of you who burn through 2 rolls of film a day and are disappointed by the results of any of those rolls. This is a similar challenge to confining yourself to one lens for a month, but that's a different beast 😀
dostacos
Dan
well, you could always LOWER your expectations.... 😀
rbiemer
Unabashed Amateur
Not yet. But if ever I get that many keepers on one roll, then I'm done shooting!venchka said:
Rob
FrankS
Registered User
Sometimes you have to get the crap out of your system/out of the way, to get to the good stuff. No one can be great all the time! One of the main differences between a really good photographer and a so-so one, is that the really good photog only shows their strong images. They may take jsut as many weak images, but they learn from them and then throw them out.
T
Todd.Hanz
Guest
Crasis said:
oops, sorry! it would have been a smart ass answer from me 😉.
venchka
Veteran
ddutchison
Well-known
venchka said:
Not yet (though I know where you're coming from), and if i ever did, I don't think I'd trust myself to make that decision.
I have found, self-critical as I may be, that I'm a terrible judge of my own work. Other people have often been fascinated by a picture that I hardly had enough interest in to print. I've shown contacts to people who've gone nuts over the shot I thought was weakest. Not to compare myself to anyone - just to make the point more dramatically - W. Eugene Smith absolutely detested this shot, couldn't understand why anyone would want it, and left to his own devices,would never have shown it to anyone.
Moral? keep everything, including the cameras, but especially the negatives
w3rk5
Well-known
I think I know where you're coming from but I can honestly say, "no". If I get a bad shot(s) it can be a bummer. I just try to figure out what happened and learn from it.venchka said:
I find when I shoot during events , I end up with a lot of keepers (my opinion). If I'm just taking pictures, I'll be happy if I get one or two.
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Wayne,
No, but I have had rolls where I did not get a shot I was happy with. I shot miles of Tri-X in High School, hundreds of rolls of slides in my 20s and early 30s. Film and processing is cheap when you compare it to canvas and oils.
I am stingy with film, I shot one, maybe two shots and move on. If I can, I look from different perspectives, think how it would print or show on a projector, challenge myself to find a better view to say what I really want to say with the picture. Often I walk away without a shot because I was not happy with what I could do. I’ve tried using a sketch book, but that only works for still lifes. Also my shading sucks when I try to capture the lighting I want, everything looks black.
Look at each shot on the roll and ask yourself how you could have made it better. Look at different styles of photography, would one work better for that picture? Look, Think, then shoot. Lots of good documentary work is not great photography in many other styles.
Go to the library and take out some books by different photographers, see what they did to capture different images.
Don’t worry about wasting a bit of film, it good for the economy.
B2 (;->
No, but I have had rolls where I did not get a shot I was happy with. I shot miles of Tri-X in High School, hundreds of rolls of slides in my 20s and early 30s. Film and processing is cheap when you compare it to canvas and oils.
I am stingy with film, I shot one, maybe two shots and move on. If I can, I look from different perspectives, think how it would print or show on a projector, challenge myself to find a better view to say what I really want to say with the picture. Often I walk away without a shot because I was not happy with what I could do. I’ve tried using a sketch book, but that only works for still lifes. Also my shading sucks when I try to capture the lighting I want, everything looks black.
Look at each shot on the roll and ask yourself how you could have made it better. Look at different styles of photography, would one work better for that picture? Look, Think, then shoot. Lots of good documentary work is not great photography in many other styles.
Go to the library and take out some books by different photographers, see what they did to capture different images.
Don’t worry about wasting a bit of film, it good for the economy.
B2 (;->
Crasis
Well-known
venchka said:
Were you unsatisfied with your exposure? Timing? Angle? The entire thing? Give some details and hints! Your mind, and mine, want to know 🙂
SolaresLarrave
My M5s need red dots!
Once, and I remember this very clearly because it was one of the two rolls I picked up that day. In one I had one keeper. The other was a total waste of time, money and film.
And, of course, I blamed the film and never tried it again.
And, of course, I blamed the film and never tried it again.
Michael I.
Well-known
constantly.then I indulge in self pitty.
Every time I see a bad print\scan of my GOOD pics ruined by the minilab I think - "why the hell do I even bother?" Thats why I got an enlarger - it might be a long and difficult road to good prints but I am ready to take it.I want to be the only reason of my failures 🙂
when I get a roll with 5-10 good pics and 2 great ones I feel like a milion bucks.Happens once a blue moon.
Every time I see a bad print\scan of my GOOD pics ruined by the minilab I think - "why the hell do I even bother?" Thats why I got an enlarger - it might be a long and difficult road to good prints but I am ready to take it.I want to be the only reason of my failures 🙂
when I get a roll with 5-10 good pics and 2 great ones I feel like a milion bucks.Happens once a blue moon.
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smiling gecko
pure dumb luck, my friend
maybe there's another approach...
maybe there's another approach...
smile, breathe, relax, and enjoy.
i find that the more tightly i hold onto rigid expectations - whether it be with my photography, trying to to learn a new language, continuing the relief effort for beslan, russia i started almost two years ago, trying to run that next mile, or be a good husband, grandfather or friend - the more frustrated i am with the results and the steps i took to get there.
:bang:
i try to remind to remind myself to step back from whatever "it" is and consider a different approach to "it". 🙂
that's about all the personal mumbo-jumbo of mine about this. 🙄
you got some good feedback, suggestions and insights from other folks here. 🙂
____________________________
hasta la vista, voyez-vous plus tard, daskorava,fino al prossimo tempo, auf wiedersehen, vedali piu sucessivamente, and ... later y’all 😛 😀 😛
kenneth lockerman
NEVER FORGET BESLAN
www.neverforgetbeslan.com
kenneth@neverforgetbeslan.com
"...patience and shuffle the cards" miguel cervantes "nothing can be learned" herman hesse
"everybody knows everything" jack kerouac
"some memories are realities and better than anything" willa cather
" doo-wacka doo, wacka doo" roger miller
"we have met the enemy and they is us !" walt kelly (pogo)
maybe there's another approach...
smile, breathe, relax, and enjoy.
i find that the more tightly i hold onto rigid expectations - whether it be with my photography, trying to to learn a new language, continuing the relief effort for beslan, russia i started almost two years ago, trying to run that next mile, or be a good husband, grandfather or friend - the more frustrated i am with the results and the steps i took to get there.
:bang:
i try to remind to remind myself to step back from whatever "it" is and consider a different approach to "it". 🙂
that's about all the personal mumbo-jumbo of mine about this. 🙄
you got some good feedback, suggestions and insights from other folks here. 🙂
____________________________
hasta la vista, voyez-vous plus tard, daskorava,fino al prossimo tempo, auf wiedersehen, vedali piu sucessivamente, and ... later y’all 😛 😀 😛
kenneth lockerman
NEVER FORGET BESLAN
www.neverforgetbeslan.com
kenneth@neverforgetbeslan.com
"...patience and shuffle the cards" miguel cervantes "nothing can be learned" herman hesse
"everybody knows everything" jack kerouac
"some memories are realities and better than anything" willa cather
" doo-wacka doo, wacka doo" roger miller
"we have met the enemy and they is us !" walt kelly (pogo)
40oz
...
I often think I should sell my cameras after developing a roll, but they're not worth enough 🙂 Actually, I get too much enjoyment out of shooting a roll and developing it. Finding something to show around is icing on the cake.
Seems to me that if you bracket, you are going to get two throw-aways for each keeper, assuming a best case that everything else went right. If you bracket a lot, you naturally would have a fairly low keeper-to-discard ratio. And I would think that if you tend to have a high ratio of "keepers," you aren't experimenting very much.
I watch skateboarding, snowboarding, and biking contests, and when people aren't falling, it gets boring. It isn't that I like seeing people fall, it's that failure is a sign of stretching. When people reach for things that seem just out of reach, you sometimes see some amazing things, things that inspire and impact instead of making me say merely "they did that well." To be fair, I ride bike and snowboard, and occasionally come home limping from my falls. It only hurts for a little while, and the feeling of success lasts a whole lot longer. And strangely, beer tastes better when you are bruised and battered lol.
Seems to me that if you bracket, you are going to get two throw-aways for each keeper, assuming a best case that everything else went right. If you bracket a lot, you naturally would have a fairly low keeper-to-discard ratio. And I would think that if you tend to have a high ratio of "keepers," you aren't experimenting very much.
I watch skateboarding, snowboarding, and biking contests, and when people aren't falling, it gets boring. It isn't that I like seeing people fall, it's that failure is a sign of stretching. When people reach for things that seem just out of reach, you sometimes see some amazing things, things that inspire and impact instead of making me say merely "they did that well." To be fair, I ride bike and snowboard, and occasionally come home limping from my falls. It only hurts for a little while, and the feeling of success lasts a whole lot longer. And strangely, beer tastes better when you are bruised and battered lol.
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