Workflow examples

[Hartlén]

Hi all,

I'm just wondering how many of you that uses EXIF for storing information about the pictures, location, subject etc. for cross reference and searching later on? Can't see any reference to it in your workflows, and it should probably be done before backing up the DNG's.
(I still haven't decided if I should go over my collection and update them...)

/Patrik

[Shootist]

Originally Posted by Hartlén

Hi all,

I'm just wondering how many of you that uses EXIF for storing information about the pictures, location, subject etc. for cross reference and searching later on? Can't see any reference to it in your workflows, and it should probably be done before backing up the DNG's.
(I still haven't decided if I should go over my collection and update them...)

/Patrik

The only time I use the EXIF data for any sorting, searching or what have you is for lenses.
Never saw the need to input location data into the EXIF as if I'm in one lacation taking a lot of shot they all go into a subfolder named for that lacation, event or artist (band/solo performer). That subfolder is under the year folder I create for each year and then at the end of the year those images go into a main folder for that lacation, event or artist that is not year dependent. If I then need to search within those folders by date, year or otherwise, that data is already in the EXIF.

[Printmaker]

My personal workflow is more or less the same as most. I shoot, copy to computer and hard drive, and then make a backup DVD of the raw files. I look the files over in Adobe Bridge, open them in Photoshop CS4's raw convertor, adjust to taste and then make fine adjustments in PS4. The photo is then named, proofed and, if I'm happy with the result, filed in a second hard drive. Because I'm working on two different computers (one for processing and another for printing) this version of the file is saved in 3 places. When my proofing file reaches 4 gigs or a series or job is complete, that file gets archived onto a DVD.

I've created a downloadable PDF that explains how to copy and print a perfect reproduction of a painting. Since this is my daily commercial workflow, I think posting this link is appropriate.

How to Print the Perfect Giclée: Kauai's Printmaker

Enjoy,

Tom

[specpro]

Just posted a color management / workflow diagram on my blog: Color Management - Adventures in Photography

Let me know what you guys think!

[falkk]

my workflow is also evolving - my experience shows, that workflow is not a stable thing... after some years playing extensively with OSX i end up doing a bit un-efficient work, but it works quite well. i am currently struggeling with two softwares working togehter - Iphoto for archiving, viewing and browisng, and Lightroom 3 Beta for editing dng and raw. it's unefficient, i know, creates redundant files and uses a lot of harddisk-space, but that's really not expensive:

1. shooting only dng
2. using card reader to transfer the files into IPhoto (mac-os). i use IPhoto for archiving and browsing. it contains some 35 000 images - all original, so mostly dng and raw. i do not bother to sort them, i just like, that i have them on a timeline: old images somewhere in the bottom, new files more towards the top. and than i am using albums and keywords - keeps things simple for me.
3. create special albums to export original files (dng-raw)
4. import into Lightroom
5. using Lightroom for all the editing and exporting.
6. do it like bill carson said: get a beverage!

i did try aperture and lightroom. i found aperture has good integration with mac-os, but i find lightroom more interesting software... so i am using this in-efficient worklflow, until something better comes along, or until adobe and apple agree on a tighter integration of the softwares...

[jackart]

From the start of 2010 I use only LR 2.6 to store and organize my photos. Keywords and metadata are given to photos right after the import. Photos (mainly RAW) are kept on the disk as LR puts then during LR import process. Editing is done in most cases in LR 2.6 only, no PS used any more due to new Adjustment Brush tool and gradient tool in LR. Whole process keeps originals intact, all corrections, crops etc are non-destructible Incremental backup is done to home server by SyncToy 2.0.

Jaak