Workflow & Sending

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Philx1979

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Name
Phil
Edit My Images
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Workflow
I`ve looked at some of the previous posts and i`m going to try some of the techiniques there but also wanted to share and ask here aswell.

I do sport photos for a local paper who has taken on a new editor and is trying to bring the paper up to a better standard and modern era.

So a couple of things really,
I currently shoot between 200-400 pics per football game and then go home to edit on my computer at home, using adobe bridge and photoshop cs5.
While this works fine for me i would possibly like to speed up and simplify the process if that is possible.

I will be trying XNview and Photomechanic out (got these suggestions out of other peoples posts) but do any of these programs allow me to `tick`a photo while i am browsing through them so i can import/edit them after i`ve looked through them, for example i`m looking through 300 photos and as i`m going through them i can put a marker on some images that i think will be good enough, at the end i say import marker images, and those will then come to edit.

So old method of editing: Adobe Bridge & Photoshop CS5
New methods? XN view or Photomechanic and then either Lightroom or Elements for the edits??



sending
I am trying to get the paper to use images online more straight after the game as its something they haven`t normally done.
For now i`m going to try a complicated way of editing the photos on the laptop and copy the photos wirelessly to my iphone then use the mail app to send the images by email, i cant use tethering as operator wont allow but i have enough data to allow, in the future i hope the paper will allow me a use of one of their dongles to send without the use of the iphone.

Have any of you tried sending images out using an iphone etc??
 
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In XN view just select the photos you want to edit (ctrl/click) then right click any of the ones selected and choose "open with associated program" of course you must have previously associated a program.
 
Hi Phil, my workflow is

Shoot jpeg pics and lock/protect in camera images I want to have a look at in PM
Card into card reader
Set Photomechanic (PM) to ingest only locked images and auto caption on ingest using IPTC data set up in advance of the game
All locked/protected images get ingested and are tagged automatically by being locked/protected in camera in the first place.
Un tag all images
Scroll through images and pick what images I want to send by tagging them and adding code replacement info (again set up in advance of the game) to the IPTC data
Select and export tagged images to Photoshop for editing
Crop, straighten if necessary, adjust levels if necessary and resize in PS using an action that then sends images to a "send" folder
Send off via FTP using Cyberduck and a wifi dongle

I have used my Blackberry once, with a local hotspot set up, to send images, but it was a bit slow

I think you could do the same with your iPhone and email images from your laptop "send" folder instead of sending them to your iPhone first. I dont understand the bit about your operator not allowing you to tether

Just confirm with the paper what dimension and size file they want and sort this out in PS/Lightroom etc.
 
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Gary Coyle said:
In XN view just select the photos you want to edit (ctrl/click) then right click any of the ones selected and choose "open with associated program" of course you must have previously associated a program.
Click to expand...

right ok, is that the same way i would select files for copying on windows?

What i mean is when trawling through the 300 or so images now i have to write down the filenames so i know which ones i want, it would be a lot easier to be able to `pin, marker, select` the photos during the browse.

I`ve not used xnview but it sounds like i would still have to write down the filenames to know which ones to select is that right?
 
nigpd said:
Scroll through images and pick what images I want to send by tagging them
Click to expand...

ah this is what i wanted.


nigpd said:
I think you could do the same with your iPhone and email images from your laptop "send" folder instead of sending them to your iPhone first. I dont understand the bit about your operator not allowing you to tether
Click to expand...

the reason i would have to wireless send the images from laptop to iphone is, the laptop wont have wifi or a dongle, however the iphone may have 3G signal so could use that.


tether means connect iphone to laptop, basically using the iphone as a modem to send the images direct from the laptop.
 
Philx1979 said:
the reason i would have to wireless send the images from laptop to iphone is, the laptop wont have wifi or a dongle, however the iphone may have 3G signal so could use that.


tether means connect iphone to laptop, basically using the iphone as a modem to send the images direct from the laptop.
Click to expand...

The laptop could connect to your iPhone hotspot surely? :shrug: Then you wouldnt need to go through the time consuming step of sending images to your iPhone then on to the paper

Yep, I understand what tethering is, I just dont understand why your operator wont allow you to do it
 
ah i see what your saying.

Tesco mobile say in their terms and conditions they dont allow tethering, and upon investigation of the personal hotspot, its not in the menu, its a common thing for it not to be in the menu or the operator has disabled it.

I`ll give sending from the iphone a go, if it dont work out then the newspaper will have to invest or lend me a dongle (no doubt it`ll be me who has to get it lol)
 
thanks for the info on your workflow though nigpd, gonna get Photo mechanic and i will give it a go, many thanks again.
 
Philx1979 said:
right ok, is that the same way i would select files for copying on windows?

What i mean is when trawling through the 300 or so images now i have to write down the filenames so i know which ones i want, it would be a lot easier to be able to `pin, marker, select` the photos during the browse.

I`ve not used xnview but it sounds like i would still have to write down the filenames to know which ones to select is that right?
Click to expand...
yes mate, when youre scrolling through the thumbnails xnview creates, just select the ones you want to open in your chosen editing program, ZNView auto opens that program and all the photos youve selected

Beautyis you can create custom sixed thumbnails, at home on my 2560x1440 res monitor my thumbnails are set to be 600x400 px wide, on my laptop running at 1440x900 res i have thumbnails set to 330x220 px, so much easier to see what you might want to actually open, weve all been there viewing small thumbnails at pitchside and thinking were opening the best files only to check later on at home and realise weve actually missed loads of good ones simply because the thumbnails were too small
 
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Mr. Fish said:
I send tethered from my iPhone. No problems, works alot better than my o2 dongle!
Click to expand...

What network do you use mate?

I tried to get photos on to my iphone tonight and i cant connect to it using a wireless app that i had, cos i have to connect to a home wireless network, very poor.

So its back to the drawing board for me to get the pics on my iphone, may have to use usb cable which i didnt wanna do, and then get them sent out.

A dongle or tethering is the easiest method i think, but tesco mobile wont allow it, and i`ll have to jailbreak iphone to get around it, which i dont wanna do.

hmmmmm hard work lol
 
Photo Mechanic is ideal for what you want to do, it's exactly what it was designed for.

Fantastic support via their forums as well, but it's not a cheap proposition at $150. It's a professional tool designed and sold for professional users with speed of operation at its core - but obviously anyone can make good use of it if time is of the utmost importance. If deadlines are not so critical then there a plenty of other apps that can be combined and used with great results.

Give yourself plenty of time to explore its many features, which are not immediately obvious, but simply brilliant when used under pressure.

If you get your exposure right, there's no need to touch Photoshop. Photo Mechanic can handle it all - select images; then cropping, captioning, renaming, resizing and FTPing (or emailing) is triggered with just one keyboard shortcut - once a little rudimentary quick prep is done before kick-off.

Instead of using your mobile, what about a local free wi-fi hotspot (the footy club, nearby McDonalds, BT Fon etc etc etc).

All the very best.

Cheers,
Tony

Usual disclaimer: I've no connection with Camerabits except as a user of PM for many years (press photographer).
 
I've used PM for years and my workflow is: download all images with stationary pad preset. I then have a quick scroll through and colour code those for editing. Caption/edit in CS and send by ftp or email in PM. After the game if and if I need to I'll go through all images again for any stock shots. Colour coded images remind me of those already sent.
 
Yeah agree Gary, everyone will get used to there own way of working with whatever bit of software suites them best

I only import locked images. I may lock 60 pictures during a game but only wire 40. If I like the look of the pics on camera then I will lock to further look on laptop

I go through all images after a game and add or wire any others such as stock ones but its quite rare to be honest
 
Gary Coyle said:
PM is horrible i found, really slowed up my workrate, horses for courses i suppose.
Click to expand...
Understood. PM certainly isn't a universally essential solution for everyone's workflow. But for press and sports photographers working to extremely tight deadlines it's truly excellent. Obviously it offers no advantages in your workflow.

It's one of those bits of software whose benefits may not be immediately obvious during an initial evaluation. So I would advise the OP (and anyone else who think PM may be useful) to spend a bit of time and effort to explore it's hidden gems (variables, code replacements, settings snapshots etc) and learn how others use it to streamline their time sensitive workflow.

If someone has looked at it and thought 'it's just an image browser, I can do all that and more with Lightroom or Aperture', then I would suggest it may be worth looking at it again if it's core design ethos (speedy ingest, edit, metadata and transmission) is something that may be useful. For everyone else, use Lightroom, Aperture, CaptureOne, Bridge etc.

Camerabits sent a team over to the last Olympics to assist the photographers, so that may indicate how dedicated they are to their users.

FWIW my work has changed and PM is no longer an essential in my workflow. I still use and upgrade PM for those 'little things' that save me a bit of time and effort, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if I had to just use Lightroom.
 
TonyHall said:
Understood. PM certainly isn't a universally essential solution for everyone's workflow. But for press and sports photographers working to extremely tight deadlines it's truly excellent
Click to expand...
I am, i do and it isn't.

Ive sat beside other sports photographers using a combo of PM and photoshop and watched the laboured speed at which their photos are transferred, injested, edited, captioned etc, etc and finally uploaded by ftp and email, makes me chuckle every time.

Yes its an excellent tool but its actually too good and over complicates the whole process and gives the end user way too many options which can actually slow them down.

At the end of the day wiring live rom pitchside is a simple process of transferring images required, cropping, editing if required, captioning, including required ITPC data (this can be done before game and included automatically by a script or inserted singly) then saving and either emailing or ftping images out

There are easier and quicker ways than PM to do this and using the odd custom script can simplyfy it even further.

I think people get drawn into seeing what some top pros use and wrongly assume thats the best way or only way, its what works for them, but maybe not the best way.
 
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Fair enough. We agree to disagree. That's what makes life interesting.

You're still wrong tho'…… :p :lol:

Cheers,
Tony
 
TonyHall said:
Fair enough. We agree to disagree. That's what makes life interesting.

You're still wrong tho'…… :p :lol:

Cheers,
Tony
Click to expand...
:lol::lol::lol: No worries Tony, it really is each to their own though.

I'd back myself against anyone from the moment the card goes in the reader to the moment the images drop on the newsdesk/ftp server that im quicker though and i wont have spent loads of time beforehand with silly code replacements.
 
Never used xnview but I think I recall its shareware? If it does what Gary says then by far a cheaper option than PM. Maybe I should download it and have a look especially as I now need to pay for any PM updates.:thumbs:
 
I`m trialling PM and XNview as we speak so thanks for the recommendations guys, definately gonna go with one of those, again thank you may post my results up here.

At the minute sending images using an iphone i think is a no go, personal hotspot/tethering cannot be done on mine as i`m with tesco mobile and it isn`t allowed.

So its either a dongle or use a nearby wifi.
Orange/t mobile do a pay as you go option or either £2 a day 250mb allowance usage or £7.50 a month 1gb allowance, 1st one pay as you go, the 2nd option is rolling monthly so can opt out as and when, so may have to go down that option depending how quick paper want images.
 
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downloaded the instructions for photo mechanic all 132 pages! really liking the slideshow edit function where i can just tap the `+`button to tag the photos and when slideshow is finished i can move tagged photos to a new section ready to edit.
 
Philx1979 said:
I`m trialling PM and XNview as we speak so thanks for the recommendations guys, definately gonna go with one of those, again thank you may post my results up here.

At the minute sending images using an iphone i think is a no go, personal hotspot/tethering cannot be done on mine as i`m with tesco mobile and it isn`t allowed.

So its either a dongle or use a nearby wifi.
Orange/t mobile do a pay as you go option or either £2 a day 250mb allowance usage or £7.50 a month 1gb allowance, 1st one pay as you go, the 2nd option is rolling monthly so can opt out as and when, so may have to go down that option depending how quick paper want images.
Click to expand...

i ues t mobile myfi and find that it suffers from band width problems at some grounds where the crowd is large. i would go with 3 [which a lot of guys inc some if not all at getty use.]
 
blue marlin said:
i ues t mobile myfi and find that it suffers from band width problems at some grounds where the crowd is large. i would go with 3 [which a lot of guys inc some if not all at getty use.]
Click to expand...

Im with 3, never ever failed me had the odd place (Hull KR, Hunslet) where it can be slow but still gets it out if move the dongle a little bit.
 
No problems with 3 either, it slows down sometimes at bigger grounds but you learn to work with it if wifi isn't available
 
Philx1979 said:
be interesting how they work down here in the far south of cornwall
Click to expand...
Used mine in Dartmouth, Torquay, Hayle, Lelant, St Ives, Bude, Bideford, Camelford, Wadebridge, Bodmin, Liskeard, Newquay, Mawgan Porth, Tintagel, Delabole etc and never any issues, sometimes ive had poor reception but always managed to browse net and send and receive emails.
 
Gary Coyle said:
Used mine in Dartmouth, Torquay, Hayle, Lelant, St Ives, Bude, Bideford, Camelford, Wadebridge, Bodmin, Liskeard, Newquay, Mawgan Porth, Tintagel, Delabole etc and never any issues, sometimes ive had poor reception but always managed to browse net and send and receive emails.
Click to expand...

awesome, cheers for that gary
 
used photo mechanic on trial this weekend, and it worked great workflow for first attemp was speeding up alot, however there were a few things i couldn`t find how to do, may need to read the instructions a bit more but didnt know if any of you knew how to do so:

1. simple rotate left or right in little increments, (not a 90 degree) so i can straighten handheld pics.

2. brightness and contrast?

Also does XN View do this if Photo mechanic doesn`t??
 
PM will just allow basic rotates I believe, cropping and the like is done by your photo editing software
 
Philx1979 said:
used photo mechanic on trial this weekend, and it worked great workflow for first attemp was speeding up alot, however there were a few things i couldn`t find how to do, may need to read the instructions a bit more but didnt know if any of you knew how to do so:

1. simple rotate left or right in little increments, (not a 90 degree) so i can straighten handheld pics.

2. brightness and contrast?

Also does XN View do this if Photo mechanic doesn`t??
Click to expand...
You still need a separate editing program Phil, PM can only do the very, very basics as can ZN View.

I use Photoshop Elements 10 for editing, no need to spend silly money on CS5
 
nigpd said:
Yep, I understand what tethering is, I just dont understand why your operator wont allow you to do it
Click to expand...

They don't want people using all their bandwidth downloading loads of 'stuff' as people tend to use less than their allowance if it's just on their phone.
 
Philx1979 said:
1. simple rotate left or right in little increments, (not a 90 degree) so i can straighten handheld pics.
Click to expand...

Full screen view with panes (R)

Engage the crop tool (X)

Apply a 100% crop to the image.

Hover the cursor over the border of the crop until it turns into a rotating arrow icon.

Straighten the image.
 
DemiLion said:
Full screen view with panes (R)

Engage the crop tool (X)

Apply a 100% crop to the image.

Hover the cursor over the border of the crop until it turns into a rotating arrow icon.

Straighten the image.
Click to expand...


Handy tip! :)

Will try tonight when home from work :thumbs:
 
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