On a sports photography forum, photographers were discussing the best ways to handle the thousands of pictures they each shoot during a game.
On a wedding photographers forum, one person said he usually shoots over 3,000 pictures per wedding. Another said he often does 5,000 pictures.
A Toronto event photographer promises his customers a minimum of 200 pictures from a half-day event and a minimum of 400 pictures from a full-day event.
A corporate photographer wrote on his blog that he always shoots several hundred images for each business portrait that he does.
When did photography become about volume?
Just because a memory card can hold hundreds or even thousands of pictures, that doesn’t mean it should.
Just because a camera can shoot 12 frames-per-second, that doesn’t mean it should.
I understand that editorial photographers and corporate photographers must often shoot a variety of pictures, (vertical, horizontal, space to the left, space up top, space to the right, looking left, looking right, etc.), to provide design and layout options. I also know that all photographers love to say, “Just one more!”
But is photography now done by trial and error? Keep shooting and eventually you’ll get it right?
If a photographer doesn’t know what they’re doing, doesn’t understand the job or doesn’t know what makes a good image, then they tend to shoot a high volume of pictures. If you don’t know where you’re going, you won’t know when you get there.
Perhaps it’s panic on the part of the photographer. They don’t know what to do so they just lean on the shutter button (aka “spray and pray”).
Maybe it’s a psychological issue. The more pictures they take, the more connected to the event the photographer feels.
Photographers who understand their work and their client’s needs know how to get the best pictures efficiently. It’s called experience. No spraying or praying required.
