My New Workflow

[SirBlunder]

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Been a Q2 user since early summer 2022. Swapped my entire Sony system (A7IV, variety of lenses, etc.) for this ONE camera with a fixed lens and my photography life has honestly been vastly improved. That said.. along with a new CAMERA I figured it'd also be a good time to switch up my workflow which had been the same for years (LR classic, folder structure with dates, multiple external SSDs, etc.) also toward more simplification. I should point out that I'm FAR from a professional. Very much a hobbyist. Photos are of my travels and family, for me to share with friends/family and occasionally print (at home) and frame. 

ANYWAY, my new workflow is incredibly simple and has worked great so I thought I'd share. I switched out of LR Classic and into Lightroom. ("Desktop" "CC", whatever you want to call it. Honestly my biggest and maybe only gripe with Adobe is this naming convention. Couldn't have been more poorly laid out if they tried I think.)

1. Drag and drop all DNGs (I shoot both raw/JPG, but rarely need the JPGs) into Lightroom desktop
2. Go through the photos, rating the "keepers" two stars, leaving the ones to delete unrated
3. Filter the import by "<=" one star, and delete. Remaining photos are keepers. 
4. Adobe Cloud automatically syncs all the photos (originals, not just previews). I also sync all the photos to a folder on my SSD on my computer and then copy that over to an external SSD. Three copies. 
5. Photos are available on my phone if I want to share that way, always accessible. 

I'm not big on making HUGE edits like you see on YouTube that take 20-30 minutes. I underexpose most of my photos to preserve highlights, spend ~1 minute editing/making minor adjustments, and then the photo is final. So I really don't need the FULL EXTENT of LR Classic, and LR Desktop (or whatever) has more than enough for me. I love the simplicity of having my photos automatically sync to the cloud and available on all my devices with edits syncing etc. 

My only real issue is that LR Desktop has ZERO printing capabilities. Literally. Like.. they've disabled command-P. Kind of annoying. Still have to use LR Classic for printing. (Recommendations for other 3rd party printing software would be appreciated!)

Also... YMMV

[LocalHero1953]

I used Lightroom CC almost from the beginning, but eventually got fed up with the lack of development, and the baffling lack of printing capability. I went back to Lightroom Classic a couple of years ago, though I use Lightroom CC on my laptop when travelling, as a way to transfer photos back to the mothership (desktop).

The only change I would suggest to your workflow is (3): check all the potential rejects before you hit the delete button - you might have accidentally overlooked the best shot!

Edited October 2, 2022 by LocalHero1953

[zeitz]

2 hours ago, SirBlunder said:

Honestly my biggest and maybe only gripe with Adobe is this naming convention. Couldn't have been more poorly laid out if they tried I think.

 

1 hour ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I use Lightroom CC on my laptop when travelling, as a way to transfer photos back

I need some help here.

I don't use Lightroom, either CC or Classic; but I am curious about syncing through the Adobe Cloud.  When I open Lightroom Classic, I see a cloud icon on the upper right.  Is using this icon to sync different that using Lightroom CC?  Is one manually synced and the other automatically synced?

I use Bridge/ACR/Photoshop exclusively.  On the upper right of the Photoshop introduction screen is a cloud icon; is it any different than on Lightroom?  On the upper right of the Photoshop editing screen is a blue button called Share that is for Adobe Cloud syncing.  Is Photoshop Share any different that working with Lightroom CC?

I attempted to use Photoshop for iPad.  It was so stripped down that I found it useless.  But Lightroom for iPad actually seemed useful.  Is syncing between iPad Lightroom and desktop Lightroom better or easier than syncing between iPad Photoshop and desktop Photoshop?

These naming and icon conventions are also confusing to me.

[01af]

Your workflow has a very serious drawback: Your illusion that you can tell keepers from garbage first thing in your workflow.

[LocalHero1953]

25 minutes ago, zeitz said:

When I open Lightroom Classic, I see a cloud icon on the upper right.  Is using this icon to sync different that using Lightroom CC?  Is one manually synced and the other automatically synced?

The cloud symbol in the upper right corner just indicates whether syncing is in process (spinning blue thingy) or complete (blue tick). Nothing syncs to the cloud from Lightroom Classic unless you allow it to. Photos are automatically uploaded to the cloud from Lightroom CC.

I don't store my photos permanently in the cloud, I only have the basic 20Gb. My normal practice when travelling is:

• Import photos on my laptop to Lightroom CC. They will automatically be uploaded to the cloud (that 20Gb).
• When I get home and open Lightroom Classic on my desktop, I will see those photos as a Collection.
• I then drag the photos from that collection into my Lightroom Classic catalogue.

Finally, I will delete the collection, replying 'No" to the question 'Do you want to keep these photos in All Synced Photos?'.

The other time I use the cloud doesn't involve Lightroom CC at all. I use it to create a place online where others can see and download a particular batch of photos. To do this I:

• Create a collection containing the photos
• Right-click on the collection and select 'Sync with Lightroom'. This manually syncs that collection only to the cloud.
• Right click again, select 'Lightroom links' > 'make collection public'
• Right click again, select 'Lightroom links' > 'copy public link' 
• Send that link to whoever I want to see it.
• If you ant them to be able to download the images, then right click again, select 'Lightroom links' > 'view on web' (under 'Public links'). This takes you to the webiste where you can set the option to permit downloading.

[SirBlunder]

2 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I used Lightroom CC almost from the beginning, but eventually got fed up with the lack of development, and the baffling lack of printing capability. I went back to Lightroom Classic a couple of years ago, though I use Lightroom CC on my laptop when travelling, as a way to transfer photos back to the mothership (desktop).

The only change I would suggest to your workflow is (3): check all the potential rejects before you hit the delete button - you might have accidentally overlooked the best shot!

The printing thing does really bother me, but the rest of the software is honestly super easy to use (keyboard shortcuts make way more sense than on LRC, as an example) and the workflow makes LOADS more sense. 

I do see the appeal of Classic for sure, especially for "power users" or professionals, but it still honestly feels too clunky to me. Don't think I'll be going back. 

[SirBlunder]

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50 minutes ago, 01af said:

Your workflow has a very serious drawback: Your illusion that you can tell keepers from garbage first thing in your workflow.

Ha! Had a feeling some of you would take issue with this. 

1) Deleted files actually go into a "deleted" folder for, I think, 60 days or so. So they're not fully deleted (like on Classic) when you hit delete. Sometimes I'll run through my recently deleted files just to be sure nothing's there that shouldn't be. 

2) I'm pretty careful and pretty liberal with those that I keep. Didn't want to go into too much detail in my original post, but I'll usually do (at least two) passes, i.e. delete only the ones that I definitely don't want to keep, and then once partially culled, I'll hand pick the keepers more carefully. 

[Jeff S]

LR Classic for edits (occasionally tweaking in Photoshop), then to ImagePrint for printing (and final edits).  

Jeff

[250swb]

Was there intentional irony in the title because the 'workflow' described seems to have nothing to do with work. You've gone out and shot all the photographs, spent time going to-and-fro, and then want to spend as little time with them as possible. Context and importance can change within hours, days, or years, so prise the delete button out of your keyboard and throw it away. Unless you are taking pure record shots you presumably have something to say in your photography, so instead of 'taking' photographs try 'making' photographs, and this is where post processing can help especially if you give the photographs time to mature in your minds eye. There is no rush, make just a few perfect photographs. 

[SirBlunder]

9 hours ago, 250swb said:

Was there intentional irony in the title because the 'workflow' described seems to have nothing to do with work. You've gone out and shot all the photographs, spent time going to-and-fro, and then want to spend as little time with them as possible. Context and importance can change within hours, days, or years, so prise the delete button out of your keyboard and throw it away. Unless you are taking pure record shots you presumably have something to say in your photography, so instead of 'taking' photographs try 'making' photographs, and this is where post processing can help especially if you give the photographs time to mature in your minds eye. There is no rush, make just a few perfect photographs. 

Geez. It's not "work" in that it's a hobby. By "workflow" I mean, as you probably know (?), the post-production steps that I take (regardless of how simple). Thought I'd share in case somebody thought something I did/do might make sense for them. It most certainly makes sense for me. 

And, again: I'm very careful with what I delete. Like you (probably), sometimes I'll take 30+ shots of the same moment if I really want to get a good one. In that example... I'll first cull to the ~10 best ones. Then, from there, I'll cull to the very best 1-3. Is there some chance that I may want to look at one of the ones I deleted SOMETIME in the future? I guess, but I have close enough to zero use for the remainder and keeping them would only clutter my screen and storage. 

[Doug A]

I only shoot film and have a completely different "workflow" but I do have the same issue that my post processing app (Affinity Photo) does not support printing. I use the free Epson Print Layout app that does everything I ever need needed to do with Lightroom for printing back in my Adobe days. (Of course that's only an option if you are using an Epson printer.)

[LocalHero1953]

12 hours ago, Doug A said:

I only shoot film and have a completely different "workflow" but I do have the same issue that my post processing app (Affinity Photo) does not support printing. I use the free Epson Print Layout app that does everything I ever need needed to do with Lightroom for printing back in my Adobe days. (Of course that's only an option if you are using an Epson printer.)

Thanks for the suggestion for the Epson Print Layout app. I do most of my photo editing and printing on a desktop, printing through Lightroom and the Epson P800 printer software, which works fine for me. I also use a Macbook and I've struggles to manage occasional printing on the same printer - MacOS seems to severely limit access to and capability of the Epson software that comes with the P800. I'll look at that app.

[pedaes]

1 hour ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Epson Print Layout

EPL and the 'Advanced B&W mode' is very powerful for b&w prints..

[Jim-St]

1 hour ago, pedaes said:

EPL and the 'Advanced B&W mode' is very powerful for b&w prints..

+1 to this, I think EPL could certainly be an answer to the OP’s printing question

Can I take the opportunity to a question I’ve been mulling over for a while: has anyone here tried using EPL tp print from an iPad on an Epson P700 or P900? Some on the internet (eg Keith Cooper of Northlight) seem to consider this a viable option, despite the impossibility of a “fully colour-managed workflow” on an iPad.

If it works I’d consider upgrading from my perfectly usable P800 to a P900.

Anyone tried it?

 

Jim

[pedaes]

46 minutes ago, Jim-St said:

EPL tp print from an iPad

Here you go

PS - having the Black Matt ink permanently connected on the P700/900 is great.

Edited October 4, 2022 by pedaes

[Jim-St]

1 hour ago, pedaes said:

Here you go

PS - having the Black Matt ink permanently connected on the P700/900 is great.

Thanks that’s very interesting.
Leaves me wondering if the “fully colour-managed workflow “ Dano describes would work with files not originating in an iOS or iPadOS environment: ie pictures made in a “real” camera then edited in e.g. Lightroom mobile 

Jim

[Jeff S]

8 hours ago, pedaes said:

EPL and the 'Advanced B&W mode' is very powerful for b&w prints..

I still prefer ImagePrint, despite the cost.  Piezo is another fine b&w approach, but IP is far more flexible and convenient.  Of course the OP wants a simpler, less costly, option.

Jeff

[pedaes]

1 hour ago, Jeff S said:

I still prefer ImagePrint,

If you are happy, great! I cannot justify a minimum of $399 for Image Print, like the majority here I expect. 

Have you actually tried LrC/EPL/ABW? If you have what difference do you see in the final print?

Edited October 4, 2022 by pedaes

[Jeff S]

1 hour ago, pedaes said:

If you are happy, great! I cannot justify a minimum of $399 for Image Print, like the majority here I expect. 

Have you actually tried LrC/EPL/ABW? If you have what difference do you see in the final print?

Yes… I prefer not only the results (varies by print), but the workflow and features (excellent custom profiles for all papers and lighting conditions, full time soft proofing, optimal printer settings with no fuss, no issues with Epson/Adobe/Apple software compatibility, etc). Purchasing custom profiling gear alone would exceed the $895 cost, which is more than worth it to me, a small fraction of my overall photography costs. And I used to spend far more in darkroom days.  Others have different approaches; whatever suits.

Jeff

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[SirBlunder]

2 hours ago, pedaes said:

If you are happy, great! I cannot justify a minimum of $399 for Image Print, like the majority here I expect. 

Have you actually tried LrC/EPL/ABW? If you have what difference do you see in the final print?

I agree, not looking to spend that kind of $ (up front) for software. Would rather keep paying for and using LrC for printing needs. 

I have a Canon (Pixma Pro 100), but will give the Epson software a go regardless. Thanks!