How many to keep

[Darnold9999]

My process is similar. I delete anything out of focus immediately. Then review the duplicates and delete all but the best of that particular item. I use the auto feature in Lightroom to get an idea of what could be improved before I delete the duplicates. Then I delete the ones that just don't work for whatever reason. All the rest I keep and process to get the best out of that picture, but in an archive location. After each dive I go through the pics and look for the one or two shots that I like - they get flagged in a "Like" collection for the trip. At the end of the trip I go through the "Like" list to get a new collection of the best of the trip. Rule of thumb is that I will end up with about the same number of pictures in this best list as dives. These get copied out as a record of the trip.

Hard drive space is cheap so I just move archive pics to external drives. Going through them every once in a while is entertaining.

Rarely print anything. Did use the best of them for christmas cards for clients for a few years and got lots of positive feedback, but now I am retired I just bore friends with them after each trip.

 

[supergaijin]

I think I enjoy taking photos more than looking at them. Although it is also kinda fun fooling around with editing programs and seeing photos come alive. The 'hunt' and the execution using different techniques is for me is enjoyable- especially juvenile fishes before they morph.

I just re-read that- it sounds like I enjoy hunting and executing juveniles... and I'm OK with that.

 

[Nwcid]

When I stared taking underwater photos my camera rig grew as rapidly as the number of photos I shot. I would take hundreds on a single dive. I would immediately delete the out of focus and non-interesting shots and then whittle the rest down based on the need of post-production.

Then one day I realized I was spending more time taking photos than ACTUALLY ENJOYING THE DIVE.

I ditched my big rig for a simple point & shoot that I occasionally take along on dives in shallow, bright, clear water. I enjoy my diving sooooooo much more.

If I want pics of a dive, I simply reach out to one of my dive buddies and ask for copies of theirs.
But really, how many pics of a reef fish does a person really need?

I think I am kind of in the same boat as supergaijin in the fact that to me taking pics is half the fun. I find on dives where I don't have my camera I get "bored". With the camera it gives me something to focus on. It makes me slow down and look for the little critters. I makes me work on my trim/buoyancy/finning as I want to get right down and get that "perfect" shot without disturbing the area.

---------- Post added December 18th, 2013 at 11:18 AM ----------

I have not printed nor do I plan on printing any of my shots. Mostly I just use them for the rotating backgrounds on my computer. Good ones I post up and share with friends on FB. On some sites I am documenting the site as there is a great lack of that in our area, then adding them to my website.

 

[cb5150]

I think I am kind of in the same boat as supergaijin in the fact that to me taking pics is half the fun. I find on dives where I don't have my camera I get "bored". With the camera it gives me something to focus on. It makes me slow down and look for the little critters. I makes me work on my trim/buoyancy/finning as I want to get right down and get that "perfect" shot without disturbing the area.

Well, fun is what diving is supposed to be in the first place. I've actually enjoyed morphing into a "scout" of sorts for my photographer dive buddies. I really enjoying finding things for them to photograph...plus I feel less guilty when I ask for a copy of the pics, LOL.

 

[Nwcid]

Well, fun is what diving is supposed to be in the first place. I've actually enjoyed morphing into a "scout" of sorts for my photographer dive buddies. I really enjoying finding things for them to photograph...plus I feel less guilty when I ask for a copy of the pics, LOL.

See that that is what the GF usually does for me. She scouts around, then I take the pics.

 

[Tigerman]

Anything I know is crap I delete from the camera - after the dive. Reviewing on the dive can easilly mean lost opportunities to shoot that shark swimming by.
Then I just copy all to my computer and import to LR before I start X'ing the rejects and rating the others based on how happy I am with them.
I will keep some shots that by themselves is not of great photographic quality as they can illustrate things quite well without being great shots..

 

[James R]

I use LR.

My workflow is similar to a lot of you, though I don't even bother with 1 or 2 stars. If it's not at least a 3 star, I don't even rate it. Go through round one, mark anything that's a potential keeper as a three. Once I get all the three star marked, I set filter to show unrated, select-all, delete. Then I go through the 3 star and find the 4 star, then delete all that aren't a 4, then same for 5. I don't do any post processing on anything but a 5 star image.

The last trip to Bonaire, as an example, I took around 2000 images underwater. I published maybe 40 of those. I took around 200 more on land, published maybe 10.

The more photos I take, the more picky I am about what I keep.

 

[cbrich]

Like James I don't even mess with 1 or 2. My 3's are about focus, and composition. 4's are color, focus peeking, and backscatter. If they pass 4, and a lot fail this stage because of focus peeking or backscatter, they are a 5s. Focus peeking is zoom in at 2:1, and checking to make sure my subject and surroundings are not blurred. I will cut out even a 5, if I have another similar photo. I maybe spend 5 minutes on a photo, but anymore than that it's trash, too much to fix.

 

[James R]

Yeah, I will add to what I said earlier...If I have multiple shots of the same critter that are all about the same (focus, composition, color, lighting, background, whatever), I usually keep only one or maybe two, and for the most part post only one. No reason to keep 30 and post 10 shots of the same exact critter.

Try to get the shot as right as you can in the camera, which will mean you spend a lot less time messing with it in post.

 

[Tigerman]

And when you do mess it, you have much more data to work with in the first place..