how long do you work on photos for a job?

impete82 · 09-11-2008, 10:16 PM

i did a 3 day food fair last weekend, took about 1200 shots (not too many) finished sunday, and i had the proofs done for thursday, and now i'm hoping to have the finals done by sunday night (about 150 shots they chose) do you think that's slow or fast? curious how you guys work on jobs

dylansalt · 09-12-2008, 07:24 AM

1200 shots (over 3 days)- not too many??? A serious understatement - wow

I think you did it very fast - what time did u hit the sack each night

d

pentkon52 · 09-12-2008, 07:43 AM

As long as it takes to get that cheque in my hand.

I often take 1000-1300 shots over a 3 day event. Proofs are posted the following day and i work on photos as they come in.

Dave

impete82 · 09-12-2008, 11:56 AM

Originally Posted by dylansalt

1200 shots (over 3 days)- not too many??? A serious understatement - wow

I think you did it very fast - what time did u hit the sack each night

d

well, i was talking with guy beforehand who did a 2 day event and got about 1800 shots lol so i just assumed that was the norm hehehe considering i have a couple projects already from school plus this, and considering this is my first "real job" doing an event, i think my sleep schedule isn't suffering too much :P

Originally Posted by pentkon52

As long as it takes to get that cheque in my hand.

I often take 1000-1300 shots over a 3 day event. Proofs are posted the following day and i work on photos as they come in.

Dave

ya i was hoping to get the proofs up earlier but the next day was busy and i had classes tuesday so i posted them wednesday night

when you say "work on photos as they come in" what do you mean by that? the client tells you a couple photos they'd like, and next day they tell you a couple more? :S cause i posted the photos on my site, and asked them to just post a comment with a "y" so i know which photos they want, and just work on those. i know there's better ways, but sending them all the images, asking them to send back the ones they like seemed a bit much

*bigben91682* · 09-12-2008, 02:45 PM

When I shoot weddings, I typically will have upwards of 2000 shots over the course of a 1-2 day event (rehearsal, prep, ceremony, reception, etc). 2000 shots between 4 cameras, 2 each for me and my second shooter. However most shots are "double clicks" so I can quickly get the pictures down to about 1000. I can do basic processing on all 1k within a few hours, and I will select around 150 "keepers" that I will give 2-10 minutes each for special processing and the "white glove" treatment.

Adobe Lightroom speeds the process up for me greatly, it has nice batch processing options. Anyway, I usually have deliverables within a week, ready for the next one the following weekend. And when I say a week, that doesn't count my day job, probably 2-3 hours of processing every evening.

mel · 09-12-2008, 05:57 PM

The jobs I've done I've been told pick the best x-number of shots. My deadlines were under 24 hours from end of shoot. So I eliminate quickly. With the last play I did, I took about 10 gig worth (raw - didn't count exact number) and would pick the best few from each scene in the play, plus a couple closeups of each actor, and work on those only. The person that hires me trusts my judgement. But it was still a late night.

little laker · 09-12-2008, 06:13 PM

I've taken as little as 3 hours for day 2 of a wedding shoot, and as long as a week for a full wedding.

I shot about 1200 pic's at an event a year ago for a paper, and I had to have them turned in before noon the next day.
That was a tough one

Duplo · 09-13-2008, 03:25 PM

Well it all depends on the job and the ocnditions I am working, say for a regular portrait shoot, Well not very long.

I am currently in the midle of processing the thousands of shots, froma a 9 day assignment, shooting, calving glaciers, Ice bergs, ice cap hiking, sled dogs and some other turisty stuff for a couple of incomming agencies.
I have been working on getting things ready for them for a little less than two weeks and it will probably take another week to get them all done, but they want print quality delivered and expect somewhere around 1000 frames finalised for print and review, so for me it all comes down to the type of assignment I shoot and how many final frames we have agreed on delivering, preparing 1000 frames for print does take a while.

kerrowdown · 09-25-2008, 09:04 AM

I guess I have never really sat down and worked that out, the short answer is as long as it takes. For me I just apply the following rules; commissioned work, i.e. you’re being paid to "produce the goods", then the outstanding images and we all know which ones they are, deserve and warrant more time spent on them, there is also the issues of your professionalism and credibility at stake here as well as payment.

I have found that it’s worth going the extra mile, especially if repeat work is a possibility, it could make the difference of your getting the work as opposed to someone else.

Some of the rest can be batch processed using actions or droplets in CS3, this does speed up some of the lesser tweaks that can be applied more or less globally.