Processing procedure help

[dan_yorkshire]

Hi all,

I take lots of photos, and enjoy processing them on photoshop..... my procedure though is non-existant.

I empty my memory card into newly created folder on my desktop and in each of those is a folder I call 'processed'.

I shoot RAW + JPEG fine and never seem to delete anything, even those of the floor you took by mistake. I never renumber the photos once processed either.

I have adobe bridge but never use it as I haven't really got to grips with it, other than using it for exif data.

I am about to get a new laptop and want to get some sort of procedure set up so I can keep on top of things.

I understand there are many ways people carry them out but are there any guides/guidelines you could set me off with please?

Cheers,

Dan

 

[blazzar]

The quickest way to fix your problem is to use a tool to manage the process for you e.g Lightroom or Aperture. They will provide:
- a consistent way to import your photos
- an easy way to mark pictures for deleting later on
- way to stay on top of what has been edited/not
- provide the tools to do about 90-95% of the editing you are likely to do in the one package

 

[Harlequin565]

Another +1 for Lightroom.

My workflow:

- Convert to dng then import images into a temp folder.
- Quick scan through to delete the rubbish (oof, badly exposed, floor!)
- Green stamp on the keepers, good ones get a star.
- Purple stamp on the ones needing further editing.
- Create folder in MyPictures for all images from shoot
- Drag & drop from Temp folder into New folder
- Keyword all images with a star.
- Export all purples into Photoshop Work folder (this creates a copy, originals untouched)

All done inside Lightroom. Then I can edit away in Photoshop, saving all my final processed images to a "finished" folder inside Photoshop Work.

Last step is back in LR to re-synch the "finished" folder and drag the completed images to a "Processed" subfolder in that particular shoot.

With Export presets for Web, Print, Photobook etc, getting my images into a display friendly medium is just one click away.

I never got on with Bridge either

Ian.

 

[herieta]

+1 with Harlequin565 , my work flow seems to be the same but, i do export everything out to JPEG after LR and finally, i always have one folder RAW original and one folder JPEG inside which is the result of LR or PS.

 

[garryknight]

+1 again. I hardly ever do anything outside of Lightroom. And I use Jeffrey Friedl's Flickr uploader to put the photos online. He also has plugins for Picasa, Facebook, Photobucket and others. I'm hoping he's going to develop a plugin for 500px, though I've read that they're going to produce their own.

 

[dan_yorkshire]

Cheers guys, just got lightroom so need to get it installed and get a procedure sorted.