Nov
26
(2006)
Photography Trends in my iPhoto Library
Filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: canonxt, fujifilm, iphoto, olympus, photography, trends.
I was just messing around with smart albums in iPhoto, and found that I can create albums based on camera model. So, I created a set of smart albums showing all photos taken with each of the 3 digital cameras I’ve owned. I then created additional smart albums to show just photos taken with a particular camera that have been rated 1 star or more (which I add to any photo that’s worth showing anyone else). The results were a bit surprising (and completely unscientific).
| Camera Model | # months using camera | # photos taken | # photos / month | # starred photos | % Starred |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympus C200 | 36 | 3715 | 103 | 301 | 8.1 % |
| Fujifilm e510 | 17 | 2909 | 171 | 497 | 17.1 % |
| Canon Digital Rebel XT | 5 | 1115 | 223 | 386 | 34.6 % |
What does that suggest? Well, much of the story isn’t in these numbers. According to my Canon Digital Rebel XT’s internal computer, I’ve taken 4932 photos with it. A few hundred were added to Aperture on my work desktop, so approximately 3000-3500 photos have been deleted in camera, meaning I’m taking a LOT more photos with the XT (986 / month!), and performing a LOT more selection before dumping photos onto a computer (~500/month deleted in camera). I’ve also been doing a lot of experimentation, where I fill the card with a hundred shots at a time, and nuke them all.
I’m guessing there are a few things at play here.
- if you take more pictures, you get more pictures you’re happy with. I’m a firm believer that the best photo is the one you take, meaning if you don’t pull the trigger, you can’t get a good shot. And if you don’t pull the trigger enough, it’s harder to get good shots.
- As you get more control over the camera’s settings, and get comfortable with that control, you take better pictures. The Olympus had essentially no manual controls. The Fujifilm had plenty, but the interface sucked (all through menus, etc…). The XT has awesome manual control, great priority modes, etc… so I play more. And get some really cool shots (and some stinkers, which get deleted)
- It’s unclear if the increasing ratio of “good” photos is related to the camera, or just more experience over time. Would I have wound up with similar results by just sticking with the Olympus and using it more?
- The Olympus was purchased for the birth of Evan, so it got a LOT of specific use. Hundreds of baby photos. Birthdays, holidays, etc… Even with that emotional loading, I keep more than twice as many photos with the XT than I did with the Olympus. Hmmmm…
- I’m not sure if I’m being more thoughtful in taking shots with the XT (hence the higher star ratio), or if it’s the in-camera deletion causing that. Stuff that sucks gets nuked before touching the computer…
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10 Responses to “Photography Trends in my iPhoto Library”
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I think using a DSLR (or SLR) makes you in some ways a more intentional photographer, you put more thought into it, which perhaps helps in some way the signal to noise ratio. Compact cameras are more often used for snapshots which can be brilliant, especially more sentimental, but not necessarily better photographs?
Chris - I agree. Even the size of the camera and sound of the shutter cause me to be a bit more deliberate. It’s slightly more intrusive to be lugging around a big ‘ol DSLR as opposed to a pocketable silent Point And Shoot. Not better or worse, just a different experience.
i too find that the more pictures i take, the more i throw out AND also the higher the quaity of all of them
but if it’s too hard to upload then i don’t feel like it
which is why cameraphone/ShoZu/unlimited dataplane “triumverate” works for me better than my digital SLR (which I still love BTW)
the SLR’s photos are much better but the chain of pain really sucks compared to ShoZu
somebody please build WiFi and ShoZu-like technology into digital SLRs please!
roland - I’m not sure I agree with you about the “chain of pain” - I look forward to downloading them from the camera. It’s like waiting for film to be developed back in the day - you have an idea of how it’s going to turn out, but look forward to the surprises. I think having to sit with photos in-camera for awhile helps, too, especially by allowing deletion before downloading. If every photo I took wound up on Flickr, it’d be pretty messy
I think it’s one of those things that’s hard to relate to until you have actually tried it or have you tried the modern cameraphone/unlimited data plan/ShoZu trio?
i think it’s crude today but the future just like you select shutter or aperture or whatever today, in the future you will have a button on the camera to select private or public on a person photo basis and your photo will be automagically transferred to your public or private area (after a small delay to give you a chance to change your mind). That area could be flickr or it could be somewhere else.
I guess it’s one of those things you get once you’ve tried it. Or maybe I’m being a luddite. It just seems like taking any chance for reflection out of the process changes the nature of the act. With film, you had to choose your shots carefully, because they were a limited resource (limited supply of available film). With digital, that is basically gone, but you still have essentially the same workflow. With internet enabled cameras, the whole workflow changes, in that it is no longer a hunting trip (setting up shots, selecting angles, taking shots, filtering results, processing, then publishing). It becomes more of a shoot-publish-respond workflow. Maybe that will be a good thing in the long run, making photography more of a conversation than a presentation?
With my DSLR pics I take hundreds but only upload a few and that is after raw conversion, tweaking contrast, cropping, etc. I can see me doing the thing Roland describes with my camera phone pics though which are more “capturing the moment” style.
@darcy: “shoot-publish-respond workflow” rather than “hunting”
I think both are valid but the former was not possible before and it definitely opens up the process and conversation and we’ll see more of it!
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