# Can you share your workflow?



## sagittariansrock (Feb 28, 2014)

As I take more and more photos that are not just for hobby or travel that can be stored away and revisited at leisure, I find it is extremely important to devise a workflow that involves transfer of files to computer, fixing distortion, post-processing, cataloging, etc.
It would be great if those of you who have devised a smooth-running workflow for yourself can share the process with the chronology and software used. 
Thanks as always.


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## sagittariansrock (Mar 1, 2014)

Wow, surprised by the lack of response.
Anyway, I shall describe mine (less than optimal, which is why I asked):
Transfer images to computer (MBP) using Adobe bridge
Import pictures using Lightroom
Develop most images using LR. Maybe one or two using PS.
Export into jpeg

I don't know if Bridge is the best tool for transferring.
Where does distortion correction come in (using something like DxO, not the manual correction in LR)?
Anything else I am missing?


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## sanj (Mar 1, 2014)

I guess the lack of responses is because the reply would be so long and detailed.
If I were to give you my workflow in detail, it would take so much time.


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## Logan (Mar 1, 2014)

well mines pretty basic you are probably looking for pro input which i do not have, but i hate too see a good thread go unanswered.

--shoot just raw, got tired of keeping track of all the dupes.
--import using lightroom, in folders by year-shot date.
--go through, rating keepers, rejecting others (x), try my best to keyword stuff right away and put certain things in a couple collections. (hdr, panoramas, work website photos)
--i set new defaults with higher clarity and contrast and lower sharpening, and auto lens corrections. i am going to set up some noise reduction for higher isos, just found out you can set different defaults for different isos.
--i have a few export settings set up,
one with a 1000px longest side jpg resize at like 98% quality for facebook, that puts them in a subfolder.
one full quality and size jpg subfolder
several for a website i maintain, just standardized resizes and put in a certain location
one full quality choose folder later for putting prints on memory stick.

--i use photoshop for stitching etc. and sometimes i mess around with other things, i find most free plugins are just cheesy filter effects, all the adjustments i need are in lightroom.

i pay the 10 bucks a month, its a good deal in my opinion.

why do you transfer with bridge and not lightroom? i found bridge to be redundant when i got lightroom.
have you tried the adaptive wide angle in photoshop? it fixes distortion manually very nicely, but there are a lot of esoteric adjustments that are not well explained, you kind of have to mess around to see what does what. I have de-fished some photos and de-curved some panos and been happy with the results if not the time it took. I looked at DxO but its expensive for what it does and I live in a small town and dont get to do much architechtural city stuff that needs good correction. putting some vertical lines on trees and a horizontal one on the horizon works good on shots from my bower fisheye.


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## sagittariansrock (Mar 1, 2014)

Logan said:


> well mines pretty basic you are probably looking for pro input which i do not have, but i hate too see a good thread go unanswered.
> 
> --shoot just raw, got tired of keeping track of all the dupes.
> --import using lightroom, in folders by year-shot date.
> ...



Thanks for sharing.
I shall importing with LR. Indeed it seemed cludgy importing with Bridge and then moving to LR.
Will try the adaptive wide angle. I use the Bower 14mm, and it definitely needs some help with the distortion.

@Sanj: I have seen some huge posts when people rant about/against Canon, etc., so I am sure size is not a limiting factor here


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## Logan (Mar 2, 2014)

i really liked bridge, but it seems like lightroom duplicates a lot of the functionality and isn't made to tie in with it very well. A lot of powerful stuff in lightroom is hidden behind a lot of menus and bad UI, but I like not having to open a ton of programs and hunt down photos. the keyword sorting is very useful but you have to be diligent about tagging photos!


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## JPAZ (Mar 8, 2014)

I shoot RAW with names for each project (can do with some camera bodies) like ZOO_1234 for a zoo trip. Then, I import into a folder on the HDD specifically for that event with name and date (like ZOO 14.MAR) using a card reader. Then import that folder into LR. 

First "pass" is Keywords (like Zoo, Animals, Tiger, etc.).
Next pass is selecting and rejecting.
Then, the real time consuming begins....I've got some defaults, fortunately, and depending on the shot, the processing could take moments or minutes.
Occasional edit in PS if needed.
Then, upload to Smugmug or save as JPEGs on HDD.

Do wish it was faster. Have used DxO in the past cause it is more automated but I felt like I had less control. In fairness, I never hunkered down and learned how to use all DxO can do. Also used DPP but felt like it was more time consuming than LR.


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## mackguyver (Mar 11, 2014)

sanj said:


> I guess the lack of responses is because the reply would be so long and detailed.
> If I were to give you my workflow in detail, it would take so much time.


I've been thinking of writing mine up, but as sanj says, it will take some time. If I put it together, I was thinking about making it a document showing the full flow of one image with screen shots beginning with my import into Photomechanic, processing with DxO and ending with final export from Photoshop. Does that sound like something that you and other people might be interested in seeing?


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## sagittariansrock (Mar 11, 2014)

mackguyver said:


> sanj said:
> 
> 
> > I guess the lack of responses is because the reply would be so long and detailed.
> ...



Yes, indeedy! I have recently got the DxO trial versions (Filmpack and Viewpoint) and while very useful standalones, I want to incorporate those in some meaningful high-throughput way. And then it will be totally worth buying them.


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## Eldar (Mar 11, 2014)

mackguyver said:


> sanj said:
> 
> 
> > I guess the lack of responses is because the reply would be so long and detailed.
> ...


That would be most interesting mackguyver. I have LR, PS, DxO, On One and a few others, but my workflow is just LR. I just bought an Eizo calibrated monitor some time back, so, to get the best out of it, I need some inspiration and good advice to get the others in the loop.


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## knoxtown (Mar 11, 2014)

Photomechanic for metadata, tagging, and captions.Then straight to FTP program and sent to clients. Once I'm back home or working on a personal project, I use ACR + Photoshop. No plugins or anything, just try to keep it simple.


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## mackguyver (Mar 11, 2014)

Eldar said:


> mackguyver said:
> 
> 
> > sanj said:
> ...


Okay, I'll start working on it this week and congrats on the monitor. I went the 30" Dell route, but ended up spending as much on a new Quadro graphics card as the monitor to get 10/30-bit color and better speed in Adobe apps.


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## climber (Mar 11, 2014)

Mackguyver, I'm also interested if you write your workflow. A lot. 

I'm also interested to know how do you guys store your finished photos. Do you use LR and maybe PS somewhere in between and then store your images in separate LR catalogs? That's how I'm doing now. So, I have different catalogs for every shooting. Let say, if I go to shoot sunset just for 2 hours, I put finished photos in separate catalog. And if I make only two good pictures, I store in that catalog only two pictures. This is good for me, becase it is non-destructive approach and I can change anything anytime.

But this non-destructive approach is also achievable with PS alone (without using LR) if you do everything in layers, isn't it? I'm not so familiar with PS editing, that's why I'm asking this? Is this approach meaningful?

With LR catalogs you must be quite careful not to mix all those files and previews. I had some troubles once when I moved around some files and it wasn't good at the end.


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## mackguyver (Mar 11, 2014)

climber said:


> Mackguyver, I'm also interested if you write your workflow. A lot.
> 
> I'm also interested to know how do you guys store your finished photos. Do you use LR and maybe PS somewhere in between and then store your images in separate LR catalogs? That's how I'm doing now. So, I have different catalogs for every shooting. Let say, if I go to shoot sunset just for 2 hours, I put finished photos in separate catalog. And if I make only two good pictures, I store in that catalog only two pictures. This is good for me, becase it is non-destructive approach and I can change anything anytime.
> 
> ...


I'll definitely work on getting it together and I don't use LR. In it's early iterations, it was very slow, somewhat buggy, and I heard horror stories about corrupted catalogs. I tried it a couple of versions later and still found it annoyingly slow, so I again passed on it. I have it now with my CC subscription and might give it another whirl, but for now, my final images go like this - I store the photos in a dated/named folder. The CR2 file stays untouched other than renaming in Photomechanic (something like Red_Hills_Horse_Trials_Day2_DATE_SEQUENCE#) and all Photomechanic metadata is stored in a XMP file. I process in DxO and output a 16-bit TIFF and full-quality JPEG. If I edit it further in PhotoShop, I use and then save the TIFF and export a new JPEG. I then back up the CR2, XMP, DOP (DxO Adjustments), TIFF, and JPEG files. That way I have the RAW file and all outputs. The JPEG file is somewhat redundant, but my guess is that I'll be able to open a JPEG file nearly forever, versus the other formats and it's not a lot of space.


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## Raptors (Mar 11, 2014)

mackguyver said:


> sanj said:
> 
> 
> > I guess the lack of responses is because the reply would be so long and detailed.
> ...



I personally...and I believe I speak for others....would be very happy to learn how the pros do it. 

I used to use Lightroom3 until Adobe stopped supporting new camera's...specifically the 1DX. I now use Downloader Pro by Breeze Systems, it's a fast and simple way to transfer photos from camera to PC. I then use DPP to convert the RAW capture to either a TIFF or JPG. There are several tutorials online, but if you're interested, take a look at The Digital Photo Professional RAW Conversion Guide by Arthur Morris with Arash Hazeghi...and also The Professional Photographer's Guide to Noise Reduction for EOS Cameras by Arash Hazeghi, Ph.D. I cannot go into the specific techniques described in these eGuides, as the content in these guides is licensed solely to the individual who purchased it...which I have both. I can tell you that using these guides, the conversions in DPP are superior to Adobe's camera raw in terms of colour accuracy and image quality...IMHO 

Waiting patiently for Mackguyver's document


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## chasinglight (Mar 11, 2014)

My workflow is probably very similar to others: 

1) Transfer photos from card to system drive (SSD) via transcend usb 3.0 card reader
2) Import photos directly in to lightroom
3) review photos - ranking them
- reject (bad photo, missed focus, unusable)
- 0 stars (eh ....maybe)
- 3 stars (good potential)
- 5 stars (THE shot)
4) develop 3 and 5 star photos (if photos are similar then I will develop in bulk; i.e. sync). also sometimes I do these steps in a slightly different order...depending on what the image is screaming for.

a) apply lens correction and remove CA
b) adjust exposure if neccessary
c) adjust WB to taste
d) make coarse changes to highlights and shadows
e) make local adjustments with gradient or brush tool
f) boomify (add contrast with tone curve
g) add saturation or vibrance for pop if necessary 
h) remove color noise
i) add vignette to taste if the picture needs it
j) edit in photo shop and apply sharpening (either unsharp mask, smart sharpen, or high pass) (locally or globally) depending on type of image. Not all images require additional sharpening. 
for portraits that need it at this time I would also whiten teeth, remove distracting objects, blemishes, etc
k) save - export
5) move folder in lightroom to data HDD for long term storage.

oh and for any "localized" adjustments I use a wacom tablet. I can't say enough good things about having a tablet, that really improved my post processing. 

For panos I will use PS CS6 if they are simple. If they are tricky then huggin.
For HDR (which I rarely use) I will use PS CS6 or photomatix

I have tried other 3rd party programs such as the Topaz suite and the nik suite and others...I find that I can get everything I need within LR and PS...other programs just complicate things too much, though I have seen fantastic results from others.

like I said I doubt this is too different from most, but hope this helps!


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## RustyTheGeek (Mar 11, 2014)

sagittariansrock said:


> Wow, surprised by the lack of response.
> 
> Anything else I am missing?



Well, no offense but this has been covered several times in the past and so I assume many have failed to respond because...

- They have responded before in the past...
- It takes quite a bit of time to provide a good complete answer.

Everyone has their priorities for their workflow. Some favor speed from start to finish, others favor careful sorting and/or quick classification and others want to delete as much as they can early so they can focus on the good shots. There are many different reasons and methods to the workflow and it usually evolves over time based on lessons learned or when needs change.

Regardless of workflow, I would urge you to make sure the images always exist in more than one (at least two or more) places (different physical disks, media, etc) before you start deleting or formatting your memory cards. And then do computer backups often. You'll thank me someday!


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## climber (Mar 11, 2014)

I would like to see someone's workflow who edit his (or her) images in photoshop from the begining. So, without use of lightroom before. Or if anyone know for any good tutorial for this.


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## climber (Mar 11, 2014)

climber said:


> I would like to see someone's workflow who edit his (or her) images in photoshop from the begining. So, without use of lightroom before. Or if anyone know for any good tutorial for this.



Ups. I forgot that there is Camera Raw program and someone who don't use Lightroom (or any other program) do first adjustments in ACR instead in LR. Probably.


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## Dick (Mar 11, 2014)

1) shoot RAW
2) transfer files to computer
3) pick the good photos
4) edit the picked photos and delete the rest (Wish I had always done this. Deleting bad photos leaves you with plenty of unimportant files and deleting them later on would require a vacation just for doing that.)

Seriously though, I haven't found a decent work flow on Mac. I had a crappy but functional workflow, but Mavericks made that impossible. Now I'm left with a painful procedure.

If I import straight to Aperture, there is no good way to back up the files. Or if there is, I have not discovered it. Aperture also clutters the SSD. There is no way to have everything available. There is also the possibility to have the RAWs on external drives, but then I have nothing on the Mac I carry in my camera bag.


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## sagittariansrock (Mar 11, 2014)

RustyTheGeek said:


> sagittariansrock said:
> 
> 
> > Wow, surprised by the lack of response.
> ...



Firstly, thanks for sharing. Secondly, I had noticed that many have shared their workflow (parts of it) in numerous threads as you mentioned, so I am going for a pooled thread which newbies and not-so-newbies can access as a resource. It would have been great if there were stickies on this forum. And I think I spoke to soon, as you said- it takes a bit of time, and frankly many responses have trickled in already.
Once a few more responses are in, I shall try and organize them in sort of a write-up. I am also looking forward to Mackguyver's illustrated one! Really appreciate all those who have taken time to share their technical know-how not only on this thread, but also on others (Neuro's AFMA and many others, Cervantes' 5D mark III for fast action, just to name a few).


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## eml58 (Mar 11, 2014)

Dick said:


> Seriously though, I haven't found a decent work flow on Mac. I had a crappy but functional workflow, but Mavericks made that impossible. Now I'm left with a painful procedure.



Interesting comment, could you elaborate on the issues you are having with "Mavericks" ??

I've been using a Mac based system for a very long time, currently I use a 15" MacBook Pro "Retina" when I'm in the field, at home I'm using a 2011 MacPro, the only issue I've found to date when I upgraded to Mavericks was with the MacPro where Mavericks does not support as yet the 2009 RAID Card in my 2011 system (in fact the 2009 Card is it, there is nothing newer), So although the RAID system works, it works less than at full efficiency. There has been zero issues on my MacBook Pro.

Someone mentioned earlier they don't use Adobe LR because it doesn't support the 1Dx, that's not correct in my experience, I have used LR since the first iteration through to currently LR5, all have supported my Camera Bodies, including my current Bodies, 1Dx, 5DMK III, 5DMK II, 1DMK IV, A7R.

As far as a devised system goes, I use the following system and software, all of which works without issue on Mavericks.

Shoot in Full RAW (90% of my Images are shot Manual with WB selected for the conditions and ISO selected)

I Import all Images direct from the Card, or from the External HD if I've been in the Field for a lOng time & already transferred to my 2 1TB HD's, I keep two HD's with 2 Copies of everything.

When I get Home I transfer all Images to my External 32TB Gspeed es Pro system set on RAID 5.

Import all Images into Light Room 5 (as a part of the broader Creative Cloud Suite)(from my Gspeed External HD) I manage Files in LR5 as it seems to do the job very well, Images are easy to locate even when you move them from one External HD to a new HD, just use "Locate in Finder" Tag One Image in the new Drive and Presto your complete Folder is found.

Work through my Images and make a selection by "Flagging" which Images I will work with (I delete nothing, even obviously poor Images, you never know what Software will be able to do in the future).

Once I have all Images selected that I want to work on I begin in LR5 by making the following adjustments in LR

Crop/WB adjustment if required (I make only these adjustments in LR as I like to keep everything on a separate Layer so I can go back and make adjustments if necessary, Layers still does this better than LR)

I then move to Photo Shop CC & make broad adjustments in these areas all on a separate Layer

Brightness/Levels/Curves

If a more Local adjustment is required I will generally make a separate Layer in PS CC and go into NIK's Viveza2

If more work is required at this Point, all adjustments are made on separate Layers.

If required I will go into On One's Perfect Photo Suite 8 and utilise adjustments in On One on the built in system of Layers, it's more intuitive than PSCC I feel and everything comes back into PSCC on a separate Layer.

The only other Software I use is Filter Forge, I use Filter Forge for any last adjustments such as Broad brush lighting, Setting in place a Vignette.

I print from PS CC as I find it's better as a Printing Engine than LR5.

I adjust Image size in On One Perfect Photo Suite "Resize".

I adjust for noise where necessary in NIK's Dfine2

I adjust sharpening in PS CC.

A typical Image I want to just show may take around 30 Minutes (this is dependent on how much I dicked it in Camera of course, takes longer the worse job I made of the capture).

To Print may take a lot longer as I would typically go back to adjust for Printing which takes more work than just showing on the Web or on a Computer/iPad etc.

Software used on 95% of my Images

Light Room 5
PhotoShop CC
NIK Suite
On One Perfect Photo Suite 8
Filter forge

Like Macguyver I would be happy to put this process into a workflow Sheet with Images type arrangement, not sure once it's done though how people get to see it, so welcome to hear if there's interest & suggestions on how to show it once it's done.


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## wsmith96 (Mar 12, 2014)

mackguyver said:


> sanj said:
> 
> 
> > I guess the lack of responses is because the reply would be so long and detailed.
> ...


I would be interested.


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## 278204 (Mar 12, 2014)

For what it's worth, here is my travel workflow using simply an Android tablet. I am travelling with my family for 8 months round SE Asia, NZ and N America, so options are limited.

Carrying a 7-inch Nexus 7 with high res screen (aka retina), a USB OTG cable, CF card reader and a couple of high-capacity USB sticks (128GB and 32GB). Using a 5D II with 24-105 (sold my 100-400 and tripod before leaving, would have been too much for family-friendly travel shooting - never much time for changing lenses or using tripod), 580 EX II flash with a diffuser, and circ polarizer. Shooting RAW+JPEG.

1. Copy CF contents to tablet using USB OTG + CF card reader with ES File Explorer
2. View JPEGs being VERY critical and deleting chaff with QuickPic (the only image viewer I found that can delete files)
3. Delete corresponding RAWs with ES File Explorer
4. Select a few pictures for the day's blog (http://jela2014.blogspot.com/) entry with QuickPic - open for editing in Photo Editor
5. Rarely I will need to retouch curves
6. Occasionally I straighten + crop
7. Other times I might just crop
8. Resize - shortest side to 1024px
9. Save blog copy
10. Copy JPEGs to 32GB USB stick (backup)
11. Move RAWs+JPEGs (and the odd video) to 128GB USB stick - if space becomes an issue I can delete the JPEGs


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## Raptors (Mar 12, 2014)

eml58 said:


> Dick said:
> 
> 
> > Seriously though, I haven't found a decent work flow on Mac. I had a crappy but functional workflow, but Mavericks made that impossible. Now I'm left with a painful procedure.
> ...



Eml58...I gather you were referring to my earlier post, regarding Lightroom not supporting the 1DX. I am using a PC based system, and I cannot open the raw files in Lightroom3...I was told by Adobe that I would have to upgrade to Lightoom4. Is that correct?? 

Also, I would be very interested in viewing yours as well as Mackguyver's workflow.


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## eml58 (Mar 12, 2014)

Raptors said:


> Eml58...I gather you were referring to my earlier post, regarding Lightroom not supporting the 1DX. I am using a PC based system, and I cannot open the raw files in Lightroom3...I was told by Adobe that I would have to upgrade to Lightoom4. Is that correct??
> 
> Also, I would be very interested in viewing yours as well as Mackguyver's workflow.



I was yes, and Ahhhh, now I understand.

I believe that's correct to a degree, I generally have had very little issues with this as I always upgrade & currently I'm on the Creative Cloud option.

Adobe do drop off some updating I understand to older versions, ensures we conform and upgrade, I know I had to update to Camera RAW 7.1 recently to ensure I had compatibility with my A7R.

You may well find that you will need to upgrade to LR4 stand alone version to get 1Dx compatibility, it's a bummer, but I think most Software Companies operate like Adobe, Apple etc.


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## EdB (Mar 12, 2014)

I really hate the term workflow, it sounds like someone is on their period while working. As far as my processing goes, import, rate, tag and adjust whatever needs to be adjusted. Every image is different so there is no set profile or filter that I use. I start with the raw and do whatever I feel is right for the image.


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## privatebydesign (Mar 12, 2014)

Raptors said:


> Eml58...I gather you were referring to my earlier post, regarding Lightroom not supporting the 1DX. I am using a PC based system, and I cannot open the raw files in Lightroom3...I was told by Adobe that I would have to upgrade to Lightoom4. Is that correct??
> 
> Also, I would be very interested in viewing yours as well as Mackguyver's workflow.



With a 1DX you really should spend the few dollars to upgrade to LR5, here are lots of improvements in it especially in the Develop Module.

But, you can open your 1DX RAW files in LR3 if you first convert them to the lossless RAW DNG format via Adobe free and totally supported program DNG Convertor.


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## ahab1372 (Mar 12, 2014)

Dick said:


> If I import straight to Aperture, there is no good way to back up the files. Or if there is, I have not discovered it. Aperture also clutters the SSD. There is no way to have everything available. There is also the possibility to have the RAWs on external drives, but then I have nothing on the Mac I carry in my camera bag.


TimeMachine works fine for me to a NAS. In addition to that, I back up to the same NAS with rsync every now and then using hardlinks for incremental backups. 

Aperture also has Vaults for backing up images - but I have never used that.


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## eml58 (Mar 12, 2014)

privatebydesign said:


> But, you can open your 1DX RAW files in LR3 if you first convert them to the lossless RAW DNG format via Adobe free and totally supported program DNG Convertor.




See I didn't know that, good one Private.


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## Eldar (Mar 12, 2014)

eml58 said:


> Like Macguyver I would be happy to put this process into a workflow Sheet with Images type arrangement, not sure once it's done though how people get to see it, so welcome to hear if there's interest & suggestions on how to show it once it's done.


I would really appreciate if you would share that with us.


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## mackguyver (Mar 12, 2014)

eml58 said:


> Like Macguyver I would be happy to put this process into a workflow Sheet with Images type arrangement, not sure once it's done though how people get to see it, so welcome to hear if there's interest & suggestions on how to show it once it's done.


I'm planning to upload mine as a PDF, or PDFs if the 6MB limit is too small.


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## JPAZ (Mar 12, 2014)

mackguyver said:


> I'm planning to upload mine as a PDF, or PDFs if the 6MB limit is too small.



Thanks. I know this will take some of your time and I am looking forward to it. Always curious to see how others do things. I learn a lot this way and change my methods accordingly.


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## procentje20 (Mar 12, 2014)

My workflow is as follows:

So, I shoot RAW on a CF card, and video and JPG on SD card. I use an iPad to review the JPGs which are processed a lot by the automatic settings so I have a vague idea of what the images might become in post.

1 ) card in card reader, and copy to \raw import\ directory on my 1st external drive. 

I keep the same folder naming as the camera uses to just put 10k pictures in a folder and move to the next one. No sorting whatsoever on the disk.

2 ) card still in card reader I move the files to \raw import\ directory on 2nd external drive.

Both drives are chain locked to the concrete wall. My mac is not. So thieves wil take the mac, and not the drives.

3) import all in lightroom and create a collection of the event I shot. If its a gigapixel or virtual tour it lands in that sub collection. 

4) flag and reject run of the pictures. Just quickly going over whats a keeper and whats not.

5 ) select "flagged" and crop all pictures to a nice composition. If I feel I don't have enough pictures in the flagged category I might look trough non flagged non rejected to upgrade the rating on a few more.

6 ) do color, contrast and sharpness magic

7 ) export to one of my many export profiles. I make a profile every time my existing profiles don't cover my needs.

8 ) distribute the pictures in whatever way applicable. Normally I upload to a /customers/ directory in a protected zip file on my website.

Backups are done from my 1st external drive to an old Dell 2950 in the shed (yes I dug a CAT7 UTP trough the lawn. Wife wasn't too hapy about the trench trough her Tagetes). I configured that to wake-on-lan and auto power off so it wont eat too much power wile on. Its a dual XEON machine I also use to render panoramas, and only cost me 96 euros at a proper shop with warrantee.

If anybody is interested I'll do a separate gigapixel workflow


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## dawgfanjeff (Mar 12, 2014)

Here's mine...

1. Place card in USB 3.0 card reader. 
2. Run script (I am in IT) to move everything to c:\pixtemp\<YYYY-MM-DD>. This is an SSD. I copy here to drastically speed up PS work. Now the card is clean for the next session.
3. Open PS, drag .CR2s in, it opens them in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw). I have opened 500 at a time without an issue. That many would take a minute or so. Just guessing, I could benchmark it if anybody's interested.
4. Do a cursory glance at each pic, deleting any obviously bad ones. This is probably over half or so. 
5. Exit ACR (this will perform the actual delete).
6. Drop .CR2s back in, do more detail edits, repeat as necessary. 
7. When done, move files from c:\pixtemp to d:\pictures\<YYYY-MM-DD> on slower, larger storage, still on PC. 
8. Automated script runs periodically to back them up to my NAS in the house. 

I haven't embraced Lightroom (yet); I don't like the library concept, I can organize them myself and I like to be agnostic, not locked into the Adobe way of doing that. This allows me flexibility in organization tools. 
One of these days I'll buy a large portable storage disk and occasionally back files up to it and keep it at the office for offsite storage. Hope this helps.


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## climber (Mar 12, 2014)

dawgfanjeff said:


> Here's mine...
> 
> 1. Place card in USB 3.0 card reader.
> 2. Run script (I am in IT) to move everything to c:\pixtemp\<YYYY-MM-DD>. This is an SSD. I copy here to drastically speed up PS work. Now the card is clean for the next session.
> ...



@dawgfanjeff: Do you edit your images more or less only in ACR and then if image require any additional processing in PS you go there. Or do you do everything only in PS?


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## Lurker (Mar 12, 2014)

Art Morris at Birds As Art talks about his workflow on his blog pretty regularly.
He also has some instruction sets for sale with detailed settings and processes. 
I know, why pay if you can get it here for free? Just saying.

One of his latest adjustments, which I am trying to adopt, has been to use Canon DPP to process the raw file and save it as a tiff file. Then keep and process the tiff. The reason for this is Canon DPP can process the RAW file better because it's tuned just to Canon files while Adobe has a generic process which works with all cameras. Canon DPP produces a finer grained noise which is easier to clean up while maintaining fine detail.

Also, at least to begin with, Adobe didn't do a very good job with some of the new cameras, I think it was the 1D X and maybe the 5D III too.

You can process the tiff in LR, PS and likely most other imaging software.


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## mackguyver (Mar 12, 2014)

Lurker, I follow Art Morris on and off, too, and his blog has tons of great information on it. He's a bit of curmudgeon in some of the correspondence I've had with him, but a good guy all around and one who consistently produces excellent and often amazing work. He's also a Canon Explorer of Light, which is probably why he uses DPP, but I'm of the opinion that you can get great results from any RAW processor if you know what you're doing. I find Adobe's to be the easiest to use, and DPP to be the most cumbersome. The Digital Lens Optimizer (DLO) is amazing and I'll probably use it next time I do a large print, but I find the application slow and the interface awkward. I haven't tried it since my most recent hardware upgrade, but like LR, I just haven't clicked with it. I've used PS for over 20 years, and paid (yes it cost $99) for the first Adobe RAW release, so it's second hand to me and I use it for everything other than RAW "development" or whatever you want to call it. DxO frustrated me, but I took the time to learn it and now it's my primary tool for RAW files.

I think the key is finding a tool that your comfortable with and then mastering it. If you don't know what all of the sliders, settings, and options in your program do, to borrow a phrase, you're leaving money on the table. It doesn't mean you use them all, but knowing what they do and when to use them is the key to getting the best images out of your RAW files.


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## dawgfanjeff (Mar 12, 2014)

climber said:


> dawgfanjeff said:
> 
> 
> > Here's mine...
> ...



I do 99% in ACR, unless I need PS for something specific (HDR, or printing. I'd love to use Canon DPP, but everytime I try, it's a pain in the ass for me. 

I did leave a step out...any pics I'll post to flickr or need a jpg of for some reason, I save as JPG from ACR into a .\jpg directory.


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## Logan (Mar 13, 2014)

dawgfanjeff said:


> Here's mine...
> 
> 1. Place card in USB 3.0 card reader.
> 2. Run script (I am in IT) to move everything to c:\pixtemp\<YYYY-MM-DD>. This is an SSD. I copy here to drastically speed up PS work. Now the card is clean for the next session.
> ...



I too like to manually organize my files, and was skeptical about the value of lightrooms library. Fast forward, used it for almost a year, and I am a convert. The import process gives me all the control I need to automatically copy to the correct location, as if i was doing it manually, but all automatic. The library structure does not need to be your only way of sorting photos, I have mine set to import into a year folder, and then folders by date shot.

An added bonus that I didn't see until I tried it is virtual copies, keeps the directory system from getting cluttered up with different version of the same photo. 

The downside for me is in order to move a year of photos to another drive, it MUST be done from within lightroom, or else lightroom loses track of the physical location and its somewhat laborious to get them all tied in again.


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## Grumbaki (Mar 13, 2014)

Pretty simple as I don't like/want to post process a lot. Keeping it as seen.

1- All raw to the internal HDD (Fusion drive)
2- Copy to Nas
3- import in aperture
4- Sort by:
a- flag the good
b- go through unflagged to double check, reject all.
c- rate all flagged 2 to 4.
d- re-rate 2s in 2 or 1.
5- Post prod anything 2+very light stuff, no fancy brushes. No point in going into details.
6- Re rate. Variance shouldn't be more than 1. Focus on 4 to find some 5 that are the 2-5% of the whole set deemed "publishable" 
7- Keywords
8- Locations (i need that damn hotshoe gps)
9- Back up on Nas as raw. Back up 3+ as raw on the secret hard drive. Back up as full size jpeg on USB key that is used to drop them later on a personnal HDD that lives in my office safe box.


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