How long does it take for you to get off a shot?

[AcadieLibre]

This is just an out of curiosity thing, how long on average do you think it takes you to get off a photograph? Coming from film to digital was an odd transformation when I did it and at first it did have an impact which I nipped in the butt .....

I recall getting my first DSLR and suddenly having pretty much unlimited space to shoot until my hearts content. Then I found I was taking far more photos with so much lesser quality. I had temporarily stopped being a photographer and became someone whom took took pics, annoyed me for some reason. Even before my last mishap I was slow outside of concert photography on the time it took to take a photo. I was out the other day doing some photos, the sun had started to go down and I had realized I was back to my pre DSLR days and in 6 hours I took 7 photographs. I walked around the subject, sat had a puff, listened to some tunes and walked around scouring for just the right shot. Time had passed without much attention on my part and the photos I took, each and everyone I am more than happy with and I am my own worse critic. So I figure 45 minutes to an hour now if I am out to shoot and not just passing something cool I got to get a quick shot off of. Concert photography was a different matter. It is one my latest transformations that I am very happy about. I recall going out for a long summers day and getting maybe 12 photos when I shot film, but all 12 photos were contenders to be printed. If I purposefully go to shoot something I am now far more likely to do a few photos and ignore my capacity. And it has nothing to do with quality, some of my best photos were shot without much planning or thought but I am enjoying it in a different way now and appreciating the art more and getting the photo is the fun part. I am under no time restrictions, I dress for the weather be it minus 20 or plus 20 centigrade and bring whatever I need with me so I am comfortable for my time out. F**K I like taking photographs, need to get me a glass plate set up going, only in my dreams for now anyway ....

[JAS_Photo]

I have a hard to just visualizing something. I have to see it on 'paper' or the computer screen more likely. Sometimes I have to 'haunt' it until I get what I want. Sometimes I do not know what I want until I see it on the screen. But I will set up a shot with my tripod and spend a lot of time with it. I still am at the stage where I will occaisionally 'forget' basic things about composition or exposure so I benefit from redundancy. I will go out for several hours and come back with maybe 30 photos or so. I find if there are too many, it becomes overwhelming. Looking at a lot of shots that I know are inferior also becomes discouraging. So I try to keep to the point. If there is nothing there I like, well, I have an idea of what I am looking for next time I go out. :)

[kurtdriver]

It varies wildly. tonight I was shooting the riot that didn't happen. I still shot a hundred or so photos. At other times I've seen something that I wanted to shoot, looked it over, walked around it examining it from several perspectives and planned what I would do when I came back with the camera I wanted to use. Returning with that camera, I sometimes change my mind and do it very differently. You could say that such a photo can take a few days. Some I've gone back to re-do because I was unhappy with what I had done earlier. Kurt

[Mad Aussie]

For me ... anything from 1/6th of a sec through to about 30 mins I suppose.

[Richard]

I have a list of shots that I want to take, that way if I ever get stuck on ideas I can look at my list, also It gives me time to think about and plan the shots long before I reach for the camera...

Of course sometimes, serendipity can play a part.

[ericmark]

HDR changed me. It takes so long on my old PC to process HDR images I am now taking so much more time selecting the image.

However if I go out to local Castle for example I can't just look at it and say not worth a photo. I have to take some shots.

Back in days of film SLR quite often the camera would remain in it's bag.

But how quick sorry to say too slow crossing aqueduct I heard comment behind me. "The dogs fell in" but I couldn't turn around quick enough to get photo of it.

There is a plane for carrying the wings of other planes which often flies over where I live. By time I see it and change lens and aim it is always too far away. So yes I am too slow.

Worked on Heathrow airport and concord took off every day around same time. Never did get good shot. Too late now.

[Wicked Dark]

For me it depends on what I'm also doing while I have my camera. If I'm out on a dedicated photo shoot either alone or with others, I'll generally scout the location first. Especially if I've never been. Wander around and try to feel the place. Then I'll choose my spot and start to frame in my mind's eye. Once there and framed I tend to move within a small range and also change tripod positions, etc. It has worked out pretty well.

Now if I'm hiking or doing some other activity I generally don't put that much thought into it, instead going with what catches my eye or what is unique about the area I'm traveling through. In hindsight, I wish I'd taken my camera on my wine tasting outings, but sometimes it's just too much to deal with. Maybe in future.

Oh and I've been at this for so long I generally know when a scene pleasing to the eye won't translate into a good photo. Sometimes I take one anyway only to be borne out as correct in 99 out of 100 cases. Digital has made me less picky, but it still shows up that a good scene has to happen in the mind first. I know what to put effort into and what to ignore.