Workflow advice/tips

[benjo09]

I've had my DSLR for 2 or 3 years now but have never done anything with my photos, just dumped the raw files onto a hard drive in a folder for that day/event and then converted any that I wanted to use to JPEG.

Over the last 3 months I have been sorting them out and decided to make Apple photo books for them so started cropping them all to 20cmx15cm @300dpi. I also have done some portrait to the same size and a few 2:1 ratio again at 300dpi and 20cm wide.

Now that I am starting to go further with my photography I think I need some advice on how to do this better. My current workflow is:

- Dump RAW images into folder (Pictures/Raw/Event Name)
- View using ViewNX and delete the ones I don't want
- Open individual files in Photoshop CC
- Make exposure adjustments etc in Camera RAW
- Copy whole picture and paste into 1 of 3 templates I have (Landscape, portrait and 2:1)
- Resize in template
- Save to new folder (Pictures/ Edits/Event Name)
- Once whole folder is 'edited' then move both to my NAS drive which backs up to another external hard drive

I have only just realised what Lightroom is and have never used it but it comes free with my Photoshop subscription but I think that is the route to go. The thing I'm worried about is how well Lightroom will handle the moving of my photos from the hard drive on my laptop to the NAS drive. Would it be best to move them to the NAS and then edit from there?

I also am starting to realise that photos can't really be cropped to templates and that every photo is different so won't to move away from my current templates. Also my current method means I lose the EXIF data on the JPEG which I would quite like to keep.

I feel like I'm in a real mess with all this so any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[DBT85]

Lightroom will help you out Ben

If you've never used it have a watch of some of these videos on Adobe TV, there should be something in there for just about anything you might not be sure of off the bat.

Each person has their own workflow and each will tell you theirs is right The right workflow is just the one that works for you, ideally while being time efficient.

In your case, you can still do steps 1 and 2 if you like (I just import everything into Lightroom but many don't).

For the rest of your steps you need to understand that Lightroom is basically just a database and a collection of your original RAWs. You make your changes and it remembers them, you can make virtual copies to have one version as B&W, 1 as a weird crop, one as a colour pop etc, all while only having a single image stored on your hard drive. You can also copy development settings from one photo to a whole batch. You don't need to resize anything, just set your crop to whatever you want.

Lightroom will be fine either editing from the NAS or from direct storage, and will also be fine if once you've done all your work you want to move the entire folder from one to the other. Just remember to do it in Lightroom. If you do it outside of Lightroom it doesn't know where you've moved them to and gets in a flap until you can point it at the files again.

When you want to make your JPGs you can use the export function. You can save different export presets (Always make them 2000px, go to folder xyz, add a watermark etc), or just choose what you want each time. You can set it to resize the images to whatever you want, what PPI, add watermarks, include metadata, exif data, copyright information and more.

Get it installed and just start off with a small batch of photos to get yourself settled and watch some of those videos. Once you're happy and feel comfortable, you can import the rest of your library, if you so wish.

The key thing with Lightroom is your catalog. If you lose it, you've lost all your work. The program has a backup feature and can be set to do it upon every exit if you wish. I have mine set to put the backup in my Google Drive folder which then automatically syncs with the cloud, and once in a while I just go in and purge old onces and take my own backup.

So, your workflow when moved to Lightroom might be (assuming you edit from the NAS)

- Dump RAW images into folder (Pictures/Raw/Event Name)
- View using ViewNX and delete the ones I don't want
- Import all wanted files into Lightroom (choose ADD not MOVE), maybe applying some keywords or base setting tweaks to all
- Make exposure adjustments, crops, vignettes, spot removal, lens corrections etc in Lightroom
- Once complete, export all images to desired location(s)
- Have a boozy beverage of choice

Happy to help further if you have any other questions

 

[benjo09]

Thanks for the reply. I had never realised how easy LR was to use. Spent last night watching the Adobe TV stuff and other general tutorials on YouTube and have started importing my photos. I knew there had to be an easier way than what I was doing!