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Keeper Rate for Wildlife Photographers… Does it matter ?

Wildlife Inspired w/ Scott Keys

8,981 views

Wildlife Photographers, does keeper rate matter? If so, why and in what situations?
Does an obsession with keeper rate, keep you from experimenting with challenging conditions, or different styles?
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20 Comments

@BeckyVanWey 3 weeks ago

I think the high frame rates of digital allow us to capture things we never would have with film cameras. I don't worry about my keeper rate at all, as long as I get that one really good one.

@jereXIX 3 weeks ago (edited)

I come home with thousands of shots almost every time I go out (usually for 4-8 hrs.) I toss 95-98% of what I shoot. Of that 2-5% I keep, after two years of being in the craft, maybe I get a photo a month I’m proud of.

I can get discouraged if some shots I took that I expected to be amazing weren’t…but all it takes is one gem out of the whole day and I’m very happy.

My favorite is when something happened that I didn’t notice through the EVF. I stopped recently to photograph some sandhill cranes foraging in the grass near my home. I really didn’t think anything great came out of it. When I went through the files though, I found I had a shot of both cranes flipping fat grubs in their beaks at the same time.

@DaveCooper-k8v 3 weeks ago

I had a recent trip to Northern Territory, took 14,000 photos. my 3 stage culling brought that down to just under 3,000. "Money shots" finalised at 18. I consider that a really good return. Recent local trip, exclusively to shoot the Lyrebird, took 4753, culled down to 280, "money shots" finalised at 3. Still happy! As you say Scott just one money shot makes the trip worthwhile! Money shots are those I put to print and hang on my wall, I'm pretty brutal when it comes to that selection. I never go out with an intended keeper rate in mind. It is what it is, just 1 will do.

@garyrobinette351 3 weeks ago

Generally for the bird photography that I do I keep 10% or less from a session and if I get 3 or 4 good ones that would be extraordinary.

@Adriandancy-v5j 2 weeks ago

Thanks for all your thankyous, comments, faves and support🤪

@paulp4201 3 weeks ago

I'm still at the beginner stage of wildlife photography. My keeper rate is very low, but I am okay with that. I'm still working on the basics of exposure and technique. I have gotten some images that I am proud of though.

@TomReichner 3 weeks ago

Keeper rate means absolutely nothing to me. If I am going to get 6 unique "keepers" from a session with a subject, I don't care if I shot a total of 30 frames to get those 6 keepers, or if I shot 1,000 frames to get those 6 keepers. Why would this matter to anyone? All that matters are the few high quality images we end up with.

@gizmomimi 3 weeks ago

Thank you, very good advice. Greetings from Quebec.

@rakneuro 3 weeks ago

Scott, I agree with you that in the second scenario where the reviewer was critical of the ISO and shutter speed, that makes no sense. Maybe the Photographer had already taken shots at a higher iso and shutter speed to know that he had a “keeper.” After he had that keeper in the bag, he then tried to get the best exposure by lowering the ISO and shutter speed, and the image he submitted was ultimately the best image of that subject.

@gordonmcintosh3159 2 weeks ago

Fully agree! I have a friend who always thought he had to shoot even perched birds at 1/2000 or faster and resulting ISO 12,000 up. I think I have finally convinced him to try to shoot slower especially for perched birds & I think he is finally listening to me and getting better results.

@perryelder5045 3 weeks ago

Makes sense, if I take 1500 pictures my first past through I might keep 100, not that the other 1400 were bad, but the 100 are the best in my mind, then from this 100 if I keep 5 to 10 it was a great session, however, if I only keep 1 or 2 I amstill a happy camper.

@TheWildlifeGallery388 2 weeks ago

I'm returning home now from Rocky Mountain National Park - I took 52,595 images - I've kept 203 - now I was here for 2 months as well -

@CharlesBrower-v1f 2 weeks ago

I cared years ago when shooting Fuji Velvia but with a digital camera where you are no longer limited by not wanting to be loading film when something great happened or faced with ongoing processing costs I tend to try things that I would never have tried with a film camera.

@lesleyh2007 2 weeks ago

Very interesting session on this video. I am a hobbyist and do my photography for my enjoyment plus to share with friends and family. When I am out shooting I don’t think I have ever had any real expectations on “keeper rates” even though I have heard this term used frequently on videos and I haven’t ever really kept track on how many shots hit the garbage can when I am reviewing my shots from the day but lots and lots of them do. I am just using my critical eye for focus, exposure and composition. Out of all my photos I take in a day if I end up with just 2 or 3 then I am ok with that. How many shots I get in a day varies so very much. I don’t use a mirrorless camera with crazy high frame rates. My D500 maxes out at 10 per second and I don’t often shoot that high. Anyway that is my experience but your video is very much “Food for Thought”. Thanks.

@hsmphoto 3 weeks ago

I haven't put a number to that. More like I'm very happy if get 5 pictures I really like after editing etc.

@vipersniper5750 11 days ago

With today's digital cameras it very easy to eliminate these issues you're talking about,. You configure buttons on the camera to quickly go from high shutter speed + high iso + fstop to low shutter speed + low iso. you can have any combo you want at your finger tips... :)

@duncanwallace7760 3 weeks ago (edited)

Does that photographer also claim he never crops ANY of his wildlife photos? I agree with you, having shots which are technically 'keepers', but are not interesting, is worse than having a lot of blurry photos, with one shot that makes you happy every time it pops up on the screen-saver. I have a Z9 without a mechanical shutter, so the number of photos I take to get a great shot is almost irrelevant. My theory is that if you travel for a month and get 30 good shots, you're doing very well.

@stevethompson8154 3 weeks ago

I try to approach each encounter by figuring the limiting factor(s). My plan is to work to improve that first limiting factor, then evaluate down the line as time permits. For typical landscape I like to get in right in the first few shots. Birds in flight or Hummingbirds I shoot thousands and hope to get a handful of keepers and might fully process one or two on a good day, sometimes I delete all of them after sleeping on it.

@elvisdepelvis4431 9 days ago

Keeper rate can be about marketing yourself, in case of the well known photographer. It even maybe that he thinks he has to say this to be taken seriously.

It can be about feeling more in control of your craft, by having more keepers.

But it is good to hear that it is okay and even totally normal that from the many photos one takes only a few will be keepers.

I will give the iso 500 experiment a try. My lens or camera don’t have image stabilization and I’m wondering how much that helps or if the lack of image stabilization still will result in some keepers with those settings.

@oscar33212 3 weeks ago

Keeper rates are an interesting concept, but something I have not paid attention to. I do wildlife photography and landscape photography and my approach and expectations is very different for both of those genre. But when we talk about wildlife photography, I often shoot warblers, and I like slightly slower shutter speeds like 1/100, and low ISO‘s; so I set my camera cameras up to shoot three or five frames with each press of the button knowing full well that I’m very likely gonna start out rejecting, 2/3 or 4/5 of those images.