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Archive 2009 · How much do you shoot a game?

j.brevard
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p.1 #1 · How much do you shoot a game?

Sitting in the pressbox (football) this past saturday, a few guys were talking about how many pictures they had taken during the ballgame. One guy said he had 2200 pictures and another man said he had 1800. For the whole ballgame i had around 430 images, out of the 430 i submitted 95, the two guys were shooting for the school and together they posted 81 on the schools website.

So how many do you normally shoot a game and what's your usual keeper rate (i know it varies by sport and level of play)

Nov 17, 2009 at 02:13 AM

Frank Lauri
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p.1 #2 · How much do you shoot a game?

With those numbers I'd like to know what their keeper rate is. Probably the most I've ever shot during a HS Football game is somewhere around 450. I know how much time I spend to go thru 450 now to do it for 2200 is probably like an all day job I would think. My keeper rate depends on whether it's day or night. Obviously higher for day games. I'm shooting for sales so I'm posting in approx. two thirds for sales. And yes for different sports, it varies where baseball my keeper rate increases. Also by keeper rate there are a variety of interpretations. Face, ball, no body parts cut off, eyes open, back to the camera etc....Alot of variables. I know I didn't give you a pat answer...maybe others have additional thoughts.

Frank Lauri

Nov 17, 2009 at 03:00 AM

ishootsports3
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p.1 #3 · How much do you shoot a game?

4 digits is about right, i shot a double ot shootout soccer game and only took 750 which seemed rather low but probably a better number to hover around

Nov 17, 2009 at 03:20 AM

Russ Isabella
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p.1 #4 · How much do you shoot a game?

Last 2 NCAA football games I shot: 645 and 622 shots. This includes everything--some pre-game stuff, some cheerleader shots, some crowd shots and the game. I'm sure I could shoot more, but I'm already getting duplicates and a fair amount of stuff that isn't worth the card space.

It's an interesting question and I'll bet there's a lot of variation from photog to photog. Depends on your 'style.' I've stood next to guys I know are very good photographers who lay on the shutter as if they aren't the ones who have to go through the shots after the game

. I try to be more selective but I know there've been times when I've missed stuff because I'm thinking too much about whether or not to take a shot. Planning, purpose, workflow. I imagine all of these and more are involved in how people shoot and, as part of that, how much they shoot.

Nov 17, 2009 at 05:00 AM

Steve Ickes
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p.1 #5 · How much do you shoot a game?

I'd have to say that for an average football game, I'll shoot between 450-500 max. That doesn't include pregame/post game, cheerleaders, crowd, and other incidental shots. To each his own but personally I don't want to have to ingest and edit 2000 images for one game. There are rare exceptions of course like when Ken Griffey, Jr. was in town against the Phillies, sitting at 599 home runs. I shot 8 fps, each pitch for every at-bat he had.

For a normal youth, high school, or college game though, anything over 500 is just too many for me.

Nov 17, 2009 at 05:48 AM

cm0rris0n
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p.1 #6 · How much do you shoot a game?

Those numbers are astronomical to me. I did a quick look at my last few games and I shot between 300-600 and that includes the assorted non-game action shots. Wow. 2200 at one football game - he might as well have just shot video, and there's no way there were 81 shots worth looking at from one game that wasn't a Super Bowl covered by 6 SI staffers or something along those lines. I could be wrong but that to me sounds like someone needs to be a better editor both while behind the lens and behind the computer.

Nov 17, 2009 at 06:01 AM

mcarlson
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p.1 #7 · How much do you shoot a game?

It also depends, obviously, on the shooter and the purpose for game coverage. For me as Buccaneers team shooter I'm required to submit hundreds of usable images, both game action and stock, tight and full isolation shots, of as many players as possible each game (of just our team). The marketing people often have somewhat specific needs for these shots, so during a play there may be a sequence where the same runner is looking left, and then looking right while in motion - I'll shoot and keep both of those for more variety.

I'll usually hit the 1200 shot number on road games, and around 1500 at home (more things to shoot, like home stadium beauty and general view shots, etc). From Sunday's Dolphins game I submitted about 300, from our throwback win about 600 (action and stock, given that we wore such unique uniforms...and the rare win this season).

So, while I agree with cmorrison that 81 peak action photos might be a stretch, there are jobs that require heavy shooting and heavy submission.

Nov 17, 2009 at 11:11 AM

brownejb94
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p.1 #8 · How much do you shoot a game?

Wow, and I thought I shot a lot at HS football games...300-400 images. I couldn't imagine having to go through 1500+ shots. I have many more "keepers" than I post on my site, but I might post 60-100 images from a game. But I am posting for parents/relatives to buy. I only submit 3-5 images for the papers I freelance for.

Nov 17, 2009 at 02:10 PM

WmPat
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p.1 #9 · How much do you shoot a game?

I'll shoot anywhere from 300 to 500 per game depending on where they are going. For our local weekly I am limited to submitting a dozen at most, concentrating on game action and jube. When shooting for a school I submit 100 on a CD, about half action and half crowd, cheer, band, etc. I could shoot a lot more and have a lot more keepers but they become repetitive and make for unnecessary work on the computer. Learning to be more selective in what you shoot is a different skill than learning to capture high quality images, and one that I am still working on. The time to shoot a ton is when doing event type photography, but then you need to be more conscious of what you capture to make sure that you get everything you need.

Nov 17, 2009 at 03:17 PM

clarence3
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p.1 #10 · How much do you shoot a game?

same here... I shoot about 300 a game... sometimes up to 400 if you count pre-game, warm-ups, sideline, cheerleaders, halftime, band, crowd shots, post game jube, etc

From those 300...

~200 that I post for sale (moms will buy touchdown runs that only show the back of a jersey),

~100 that I would consider showing for C&C here or submit to MP,

10 that I actually do show for C&C here,

3 that I submit to the paper,

and a couple that might get added into my portfolio

Nov 17, 2009 at 03:54 PM

andypep
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p.1 #11 · How much do you shoot a game?

It all depends on the client. I have shot a HS Football where I am shooting for parent sales for both teams - about 1500 frames.

When shooting for another HS covering for a few parent sales and yearbook, about 250-300.

Nov 17, 2009 at 03:56 PM

Tim Speciale
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p.1 #12 · How much do you shoot a game?

Depends on the game, the sport, the level of play, and the reason I'm there.

My high school football shots are largely dependent on whether or not I'm also there to cover the game. This past weekend I wasn't writing and shot about 750. When I am writing, I'll typically only shoot about 450.

When I was working in Iowa and covering the Hawkeyes a few years ago, I had two bodies and would shoot about 1000.

Nov 17, 2009 at 04:07 PM

Caleb Williams
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p.1 #13 · How much do you shoot a game?

Depends. For me, I shoot DIII college sports.

For basketball, I like to be around 600 to 650 shots.

For football: 800-900.

Volleyball this past season (depends on the number of sets), but anywhere from 800-1100. 1100 is would be the extreme high end for 5-set matches.

For soccer: 600-800.

Keep in mind that I'm shooting both teams and trying to get as many players as possible.

Nov 17, 2009 at 04:09 PM

clarence3
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p.1 #14 · How much do you shoot a game?

Caleb Williams wrote:
Volleyball this past season (depends on the number of sets), but anywhere from 800-1100. 1100 is would be the extreme high end for 5-set matches.

Yep. My keeper rate is very low for VB... I analyzed my last game... shot 1000 and threw away 70% due to OOF, no ball, or nothing but backsides. Then ended up with about the same ratios mentioned above... 200 sellable, 100 submitted to MP, 10 worth C&C on here, 3 submitted to paper. State quarterfinals tonight!

Nov 17, 2009 at 04:26 PM

Kevin Sherman
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p.1 #15 · How much do you shoot a game?

I usually shoot some where around 800-1000, depends on the importance of the game too. Out paper is putting up galleries on their site with 50-60 additional images in hopes of some extra revenue from re-prints. Means I gotta shoot a little more to get that many good shots. And really, I probably don't need to shoot that much, just like to be sure I don't return too light

Nov 17, 2009 at 05:47 PM

Tim Speciale
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p.1 #16 · How much do you shoot a game?

Does anyone else ever ask them self why they are shooting pictures at all in the 1st quarter? I don't think I've ever actually used one.

Nov 17, 2009 at 05:53 PM

cm0rris0n
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p.1 #17 · How much do you shoot a game?

Tim Speciale wrote:
Does anyone else ever ask them self why they are shooting pictures at all in the 1st quarter? I don't think I've ever actually used one.

That's when I get ( or try to get) all my safety shots done. Both QB's throwing the ball, clean shots of both starting RBs, head coaches, crowd photos (signs, etc) etc.

Nov 17, 2009 at 06:02 PM

Jonathan Knight
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p.1 #18 · How much do you shoot a game?

Enough to get the job done.

Please see this thread: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/835745 for another worthless discussion about sports photography.

Nov 17, 2009 at 06:06 PM

j.brevard
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p.1 #19 · How much do you shoot a game?

What's the point of posting a smart ass comment, if you don't like the topic don't post in it.

Nov 17, 2009 at 06:13 PM

sutegrat
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p.1 #20 · How much do you shoot a game?

Since I shoot hockey with strobes, I usually take home around 100 shots. 30 a period is a good average. I edit between periods so the post work is kept to a minimum while onsite.

-Paul

Nov 17, 2009 at 06:37 PM

skibum5
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p.1 #21 · How much do you shoot a game?

j.brevard wrote:
Sitting in the pressbox (football) this past saturday, a few guys were talking about how many pictures they had taken during the ballgame. One guy said he had 2200 pictures and another man said he had 1800. For the whole ballgame i had around 430 images, out of the 430 i submitted 95, the two guys were shooting for the school and together they posted 81 on the schools website.

So how many do you normally shoot a game and what's your usual keeper rate (i know it varies by sport and level of play)

probably around 400-1000 for me
including on field, sidelines, off-field

Nov 17, 2009 at 06:39 PM

timgangloff
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p.1 #22 · How much do you shoot a game?

I think my number, besides varying for the factors described in a few posts above, also varies wildly according to environmental factors. Early in the HS season, lighting is good and I can get a lot of really nice shots of the guys warming up in beautiful light. For some kids, this is the only time they will be on the field, and if I can set it up right, they look like they are seeing some action, so I may load up on a bunch of these shots for those parents. As the season progresses, and the lighting gets worse, my numbers go down considerably as I still get some pre-game stuff, but they don't look as nice as those images lit by that last hour of sun.

So some games might be 800 shots narrowed down to 300-400 and some might be 500 narrowed down to 250.

Also, depends on the size of the bands and whether or not the teams have a lot of wild fans or not. Lots of crazy fans can make for some good images and a large band may add a pretty big number to the shots per game. Conversely, if it is raining and the band does not play or is not in uniform, the numbers come down.

Really, the numbers vary according to the job I am doing (who needs to be covered) and whether or not I can get nice images or not. Also, if I am covering the same team for the 2nd or 3rd time, then I won't need as many of the pre-game "stock" type photos, so the numbers come down even further.

Normally, I'll post between 250-to 350 images of a game, with some variation. I just looked at my stats online. I have 10 HS Football galleries and 3325 images posted.

Nov 17, 2009 at 07:31 PM

Joe300
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p.1 #23 · How much do you shoot a game?

Hello All, Not getting a lot of sale trying to figure out why.??

Just getting into the T&I / Actions Sport work.... While I get the paid T&I stuff I also go out and do action photos of the sport for the season at no charge. Hoping to sell some action shots.
This past Sunday football I had two games Championship games..shoot a lot about 700 images total... but not hearing much from the parents... and most say they dont have time to look at all my photos on my site...
so do you think I am over posting to many photo's ? general shots and some keepers?

I told one mom that I want to buy better equipment so that I can get better photos of thier kids..

then try to sell them photos to them..

Thanks,
Joe

Nov 17, 2009 at 08:59 PM

j.brevard
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p.1 #24 · How much do you shoot a game?

I don't know many people that will sit and go through 700 pictures to find their kid. I've never tried selling images online, i won't shoot it unless i get paid up front.

Nov 17, 2009 at 09:10 PM

canonet
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p.1 #25 · How much do you shoot a game?

When shooting D2 Football, covering everything, I may average about 350-400 total with a decent keeper rate. Basketball may have about 250 total ( mens and womens) as I am tied to a strobe. I still think like a film shooter in basketball as I want little work once I get home.

I know some who will shoot 2500-3000 (!) per game and get basically everything. because a camera has a high frame rate, does not mean you have to use it everytime. Ah, the age of digital where a photog does not have to think about each frame.

Nov 17, 2009 at 09:17 PM


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