Work Flow

I would like to see comments on what others use for their typical work flow. For me shoot in RAW, Create folders on PC download camera to appropriate folders, open nefs with nikon view nx, make some adjustments (mostly for lighting type and exposure tweak) there and convert to tiff, save in new sub folder. Open files in corel paintshop pro x for post processing, cropping etc. Convert to a file type needed for future use. For portrait work I do use some specialty software like Portrait Pro.

Sure, my basic work flow is.

1. after I shoot I copy my RAW files from the CF card (or SD) to my External Hard Drive. I then leave them as my digital negs and archive. I copy the photos to a directory on my Hard drive c:\ and open them in Lightroom.

2. I do most of my editing for exposure and so on in lightroom with the files on my HD only (never from the archive) I then export them as PSD or TIFF format.

3. The rest of the editing is done in Adobe Photoshop CS4, to adjust curves, levels, etc.. etc... then save as JPG for the internet or with an.... edit on the end of the file I exported from lightroom.

This is my basic rundown of workflow. Some details are left out, I could go on an on, but don't want to send the readers to sleep LOL

I use a Mac laptop and Windows 7 desktop for the family so I needed to support both platforms. If my significant other is with me, she usually has her P&S (a Canon A710IS). If the kids are along, they usually have an older Canon A series. I have Downloader Pro (running in VMWare on the Mac) create a directory structure that includes the camera name and use the Job Code feature. I try to keep things generic so I'm not tied to any one application. If I use a directory structure with folders named in a Date/Job Code Format, I can easily copy from my laptop to a portable drive and the family pics to the desktop. Below is how I configured Downloader Pro to take advantage of Job Codes. It is as easy as ticking the "Prompt for Job Code' selection box.


You could, if it would be useful, also separate by camera body. The first time you download from a new body or camera, Downloader Pro can identify it. You can go as far as by serial number! Either could be used as part of the filename. Below is how I use it so I can distinguish cameras.

So when we went to Independence Hall, the resulting directory structure looked like this:
..\20080625 Philadelphia\A530
..\20080625 Philadelphia\A710IS
..\20080625 Philadelphia\D300

Instead of a sequential file number system, my files name will be something like "Philadelphia_2008_0625_102122.nef". This makes it easy for me to identify files.

I realize that I can do most of that in Lightroom, but I also use Downloader Pro to embed metadata. I then move the images via the filesystem and then import into the Lightroom catalog.

I copy the file directory and LR catalog between machines as needed.

Any post processing is normally done in Lightroom. I can easily move to Photoshop or Autopano and back while keeping everything in sync.

Nice Post Eduard, that is exactly why I started this thread, I am going to look into that software, it sure beats the manual spreadsheet I've been using and with file names it will be easy for me to find a particular project. Always good to see how others process work flow. Thanks for the suggestion.

I went a took a look at Downloader Pro , not badly priced for what it does, also looked at some of their other products, one of which does nef converting. Guess there is no "Silver Bullet" that does all the preliminary handling. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.

Yibel said:

I went a took a look at Downloader Pro , not badly priced for what it does, also looked at some of their other products, one of which does nef converting.

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Actually, have you considered FastStone Image Viewer? I use it on the Windows side for quick file browsing. Combined with Downloader Pro it makes a pretty quick and inexpensive solution if you don't need to do any editing.

Here is a link for more info: FastStone Image Viewer - Powerful and Intuitive Photo Viewer, Editor and Batch Converter

File Import & Format
I shoot RAW 99% of the time, and I like the idea of using a non-proprietary file format for storage. Step one is to import photos from the camera into Adobe Lightroom and convert to DNG format. My file naming structure is [Date]_[Description], for example: 2011-02-23_Alaska-Trip. I use a hyphen (-) to separate words and the underscore (_) to separate categories. As a side note, it's generally not a good idea to use spaces when naming files.

I use Windows 7, and my photos are stored in this file folder structure: My Pictures > Photography > [Year] > [Date]. I use My Pictures to store many other images, so some organization was needed. All that said, using the shot-on date may not appear to hold much value for file naming structure. 10 years from now, I'm not going to remember what date I took a certain photo. Probably not even 2 years from now. However, date is a fairly unique category, considering the other options. If I were to name files according to genre..."Macro" or "Landscape" for example...search results would not be as narrow.

Metadata & Tagging
This is where Lightroom really shines. In this digital age, it is vitally important to do what you can to protect your images. While you certainly can't prevent online theft, you can embed data into your images. I add a copyright into the metadata and insert Photo credit: Anthony Hereld into the caption field.

Keyword tagging is also important, and each image receives at least 3 tags. This will become more useful later on when searching for particular photos. I want to get more aggressive with tagging and start entering people's names. That way when I want to find photos of my daughter for example, it will be easy to find them all. I add 5-star ratings to my favorite photos, just another way to search to find them later.

Adjustments
Since I got Lightroom, I have deleted all of my old JPEG files and reset all my DNG files back to their original straight-out-of-camera settings. Lightroom makes non-destructive adjustments whereas you may lose some quality by making the same adjustments in Photoshop. All of my initial "tweaks" are now performed in Lightroom: WB, tone, exposure, etc. I have about 100 presets in Lightroom, but these are all part of just a few "sets" that I downloaded. Bracketed images for HDR do not get any tweaks in Lightroom until they are processed in Photomatix first.

Photos are then exported to Photoshop. Here, I will convert them to JPEG for the web or TIFF for prints. Cropping, additional editing, and re-sizing are performed in Photoshop. I have a much wider array of Actions that I use regularly, though I would like to find the same effects and perform them in Lightroom.

Backup
Non-DNG files (such as JPEG or TIFF) files are stored in a new folder called "Final" within the shot-date folder. I consider these finished images to either publish on the web or distribute to clients. These are the images that will be burned onto a disc for clients, usually a full-sized version and a web-sized version of each photo.

After all of this is done, I backup the Lightroom library on my hard drive. Then, I backup all files on an external 2TB hard drive.

Bill, are you not using Lightroom?

This is what works for me:
1. Import (NEF files since I shoot raw) into Lightroom (files on portable external drive by date) --automatic metadata is recorded e.g. copyright, date, etc. during import.
2. The following is done in LR: flag and rate photos, delete rejects from disk, use the quick collection to "gather" photos and make relevant collections e.g. Fort Stanton.
3. Start tweaking in lightroom --wb, tone curve, exposure, recovery.
4. If a photo needs more, I use "the edit in" photoshop (I use all the filter plug-ins in photoshop), then save back to lightroom.
5. I then go back through the collections I created and use the "spray can" to add keywords I might have missed --makes it easy to find a certain photo in the catalogue.
6. Export as jpeg to folder according to use: blog, nikonites, lab, etc.
7. My completed "forever photos" I export as DNG to a separate folder.
8. Backup entire pic folder to a second external drive.

I'm assuming that you guys do all this work because you sell your photos? I do this as a hobby, so I don't have an elaborate method of storing my photos. I just use the folder method. Example:
All Photos
House Shots
Outdoor Shots
Misc. Shots
etc etc etc.......you can see where this is going, right? lol I try to keep my life as uncomplicated as possible.

Anyway, having said that, I like Tony and Helene's methods. Seems long and like a lot of work, but, if it works, then it's logical.

Jack: I'm a hobbyist too. The reason I follow mine is so that my fiancee can find her pics too. I'm looking for a NAS solution now to make it even easier!

I have an easier solution for you, Eduard. Tell your fiancee to get her own computer! But don't tell her I said that.

fotojack said:

I'm assuming that you guys do all this work because you sell your photos?

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I do it because if I open up a folder to find a file, everything looks the exact same...just a bunch of DNG icons. And there's a lot of them. It would take forever to find a specific photo. For example, my mother is into scrapbooking. She will say something like, "Hey...you know that one photo of so-and-so you took at Christmas last year? Can you send that to me for the kids' scrapbook?"

The answer used to be no. I had no idea what she's talking about. Of thousands of photos, the needle in a haystack analogy comes to mind. But now with a good archiving system in place, they're easy to find.

fotojack said:

I have an easier solution for you, Eduard. Tell your fiancee to get her own computer! But don't tell her I said that.

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She does have her own but you can probably guess who wears the Tech Support hat! LOL

Eduard said:

She does have her own but you can probably guess who wears the Tech Support hat! LOL

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LOL.....yup..........just like my situation.

Anthony Hereld said:

I do it because if I open up a folder to find a file, everything looks the exact same...just a bunch of DNG icons. And there's a lot of them. It would take forever to find a specific photo. For example, my mother is into scrapbooking. She will say something like, "Hey...you know that one photo of so-and-so you took at Christmas last year? Can you send that to me for the kids' scrapbook?"

The answer used to be no. I had no idea what she's talking about. Of thousands of photos, the needle in a haystack analogy comes to mind. But now with a good archiving system in place, they're easy to find.

Click to expand...

Yeah, good point. Maybe I should learn how to archive my photos better. I usually just copy all of them to a DVD, then play in search of when I need to find one.

I had my workflow perfected... then, I started occasionally modifying files in CS5, and learned a bit more, and tried to go back and modify some 'old' images.

Now I'm just confused, need to rethink my strategy.

Not having the wherewithall to purchase PS CS5 or any other expensive photo processing software, I have to make do with what I have, and all I have is Lightroom 3, Irfanview and Photomatix free version.

As I do it now - I load the images into Bridge, I name them either something very stupid if its my own images (meaning, 3 weeks later I dont know what I meant with "windy"), or the name of the client/their dog/their kid. I always keep the file number in the filename, to be 100% sure I can find an image if asked. And yes, a few have written me 6 months later about an image they decided they wanted a print of.

Then I go through the images - some is deleted, some is rated 1 star, a few 5 star (the best, of course). Then I highlight all the 1-starred, and go through them a couple of times, some stays 1, some get 0 star, some get 2 or 3 --- and then I start to edit those who got 5, 3 and 2. Sometimes I find an image I like, just doesn't do it for me when starting PP, while others suddenly looks way better, after just one simple adjustment.

If its for a client, normally I copy those with 2 or more stars to LR, for basic adjustments.. I export them to the "finish" folder under their name, and open them again in PS for final adjustments... Some images don't get any PP in LR, only PS, sometimes I dont use LR at all.

At the end, I save the file as a print file (my export from LR makes it 300dpi) and then I got a few resize actions in PS, portrait or landscape oriented. Last, I add my logo with a brush I saved.
These last things, could easily be done in LR too, I tried doing it already.



What I like about LR, is the ability to keep track of my editing. So I am thinking I will try to use LR instead of bridge.. Since we just started a new year, now would be a good time. As of now, I have TO many copies of the same file - the original in bridge, the copied original in LR, the final jpg print file in a new folder in Bridge.. hrrmmmnn.

I do a backup for my extern harddisk once in a while... bad. I know. Should do it ALL the time.


Right now I just gotta figure out this 'smart preview' in LR.. If I do this to all my 2013 images, and make sure they are on my external harddisk, and then delete them from my harddisk.. then I still got them, but at a way smaller size, and I can still edit or export them if I need to..?

Browncoat, great info on your post. You mind if I use some of your methods?