A photographer I know recently commented that they didn’t like any of their shots from 2009, and were hoping for a better 2010. I really liked that comment. That sort of reflection is rarely performed by photographers… we take sooo many pictures (usually several thousands per year) that it’s often easy to hide behind quantity, rather than quality. It reminds me of another conversation I was part of previously. A great photographer I knew had come back from New York and said that he was gutted he only had a half dozen good shots. Another photographer tore into him (constructively), telling him that a handful of good shots – truly good shots – is all that anyone could possibly hope for. The digital world has completely reset our expectations of how many pictures we should take.

It’s true.

I think about my case. If I go on a week long trip, I can easily produce 20 – 50 good images – these will be shots that have high technical merit, some good artistic qualities, and I’d feel comfortable sharing on this blog, or on some other photo sharing site. Now lets say I do a half dozen of those trips per year – that’s at least 120 images. Combine that with other personal projects, shoots, etc and I’m easily up to 200.

So, 200 good shots in a year. Definitely possible – regular in fact -and bear in mind my standard of quality is high. But anyway what’s the point. Who the hell is ever going to sit there while I hit “next” on 200 shots and when you consider that this is 2,000 photographs over a decade… well, that comment holds even more true.

So here’s a simpler way to tell what kind of year you’ve had with your photography – pick your top 5 shots.

That’s it – it sounds simple, but it’s actually very difficult. If you do it properly you’ll struggle. You’ll struggle because you won’t know what shots are your best or your best will differ from other people’s favourites, you won’t want to lose those other random 50 that you liked so much earlier in the year, you’ll secretly mourn the fact that you can’t hide behind the vast quantity of OK shots, you’ll wonder if all you ever took was OK shots. That’s what will happen if you do it properly. And then when you’re finished and you’ve chosen correctly, you’ll have what represents the quality of the photos you took for the year. If you feel good about those give five shots then your year was a success – it’s that simple. Do this and your photography will improve as at the end of each year you’ll have to be brutally honest with yourself. Do this for the next 10 years and within those 50 images you’ll have a shot at a collection you never dreamed of.

I’ll be going through this process myself over this week. I’d love to hear from you if you’re doing the same and where you landed. I wish the original photographer and all of you the very best for 2010.

In the meantime, here’s the shots I landed on when I did this last year – my favourite 3 of 2008.

Sumo street photo. Taken with a Hasselblad 500CM

Undercard fight at the final of The Contender Asia in Singapore Stadium

Akuri, 5D Mark II