Imagine Shooting 767 Rolls of Film — To Find Just 83 Photos Worth Publishing …

That’s something to think about, right?

Next time you get down on yourself because you’re in a slump, feeling bad that you haven’t turned out an image you’re happy with in a week or so, I’d like you to consider the famous master photographer Robert Frank.

In assembling the photos for what became his most famous book, he traveled around the United States, shooting 767 rolls of film … After his initial cut, he reduced those 27,000 photos down to only 1,000, and these he printed out for further scrutiny …

Over the span of a year and a half, he finally got those 1,000 whittled down to the 83 photos that make up his masterpiece collection titled The Americans.

So: 83 images out 27,000. Do the math on that one. That’s a “success rate” of only three tenths of one percent.

(And what’s crazy is, of the 83 photos he finally settled upon, I’d say that a quarter of them complete baffle me, leaving me to wonder why he would have chosen them. I just shrug over those, flip the page, and enjoy the other three quarters of the images, which I love.)

One lesson here is to be PATIENT with your art. Stop being so hard on yourself. Just keep creating. Keep working.

If you go a full month and only turn out one image you’re happy with, that’s PLENTY. That’s twelve images a year. Produce a dozen great images a year and you can compile a strong book of art every few years. That’s about what any serious professional would be happy to be doing.

(Heck, isn’t that exactly what Ansel Adams told us?)

Fortunately, we have a better than average shot at creating more great images than that. We have Photoshop.

So I don’t think you’re going to have to produce 27,000 images in order to assemble a book.

Make it your goal to produce one image you really like every week or so. That gives you about 50 a year … and from those I bet you easily end up with 15 to 20 that really stand out.

Trust me: Do just that much … and you’re doing fine. More than fine. Score 15 to 20 images you really love in the span of a year, and you’re doing GREAT.

– Sebastian