Are too productive?

“Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.” – Ansel Adams.

I am been wondering lately if I'm TOO productive, if I'm shooting too much. As previously posted, I shot over 57,000 digital files last year and a load of larger format sheet film. If I do a studio portrait session and don't get 12 images out of that worth printing I consider that a pretty disappointing photo shoot.

I have always worked that was, its part of being just a little too ADD for my own good and I've been like that most of my life and its cut across my life beyond my photographic practice. In the last few years a studio session with a model will usually last 1.5 to 2 hours and I normally will shoot 300-400 images and 6 sheets of 4x5; 4 sheets of 5x7 and if its going well 4 sheets of 8x10 too. Its not like the results are all terrific, again, I'm looking for 15-20 printable digital images and one or two from each of the large format stuff. This may be a sign of the times, that we expect too much success each time we click the shutter or just my own impatience.

I have also been thinking about this in terms of my own archive and legacy. I have 10,000 pages of negatives and contacts in my film archive and it would take 24 TB to copy all of my digital work at this point. What am I leaving to my heirs after my departure from this life, as I age friends who have passed on an left their kids or spouse with a life time of work and are not famous enough for a collection to take it all in are having to decide what to do with it all.

So while in the cold less productive month of January I am thinking about my photography and the process that I employ in making it. I don't see myself not shooting as often but perhaps I'll be a little more considered in the coming year.

So can I change at this point? We'll see what the coming year brings.