How to edit photos while travelling without a laptop

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iaminneedofhelp

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Hi,

I'm currently travelling in South America and have encountered a problem with my photography. I started shooting in JPEG and backing my photos up to Flickr but have been yearning to post-process and shoot in RAW. How can I post process on the road while travelling without a laptop?

I can get access to Windows 7 (or later) regularly in internet stores or in the hostels I'm staying in.

I am going to buy a 128GB USB stick to back up all of my photos to.

I have an iPhone 5C on iOS 9 but the screen has been replaced and so colours are quite off (compared with my friends brand new iPhone 5SE) so not sure about editing in Lightroom Mobile. Plus, I only have 5.1GB usable storage on my phone, not ideal for mass photo editing.

I don't have a laptop to travel and edit with.

I want to use Lightroom but am happy to stick with Capture One Express or another post-processing program if it makes it easier.

Does anybody have any solutions to my problem? I don't really want to spend money on a laptop as I would prefer to spend my money on new lenses and photography kit!

Thanks,
iaminneedofhelp
 
This might not solve your specific issue, but when I was on my honeymoon, my wife forbid me from taking my laptop so that I wouldn't be tempted to work. Like you, I wanted to edit my photos whilst there. I bought a micro USB SD card reader which I could plug in to my Galaxy S7 phone, copy and paste the JPEGs in to my phone gallery, use Lightroom Mobile or Snapseed (a great mobile editing tool) and then upload my edited photos directly from my phone. Of course I kept the RAW files for 'proper' retouching when I was back home.

What also helps is the Galaxy S7 has a 'Pro Photo' screen mode for accurate colour replication.

I think your iPhone might be the weak link for you all round :-(
 
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Unless you can get a version of Lightroom or Capture One that'll run off a USB stick without being installed (as most hostel's computers are likely to be locked down so you can't install software), you're not going to be able to edit RAW files on whatever computers are available in hostels.
You can get basic photo editors that'll work in a browser, Pixlr being one such editor (www.pixlr.com/editor). But that'll only work from a jpg or tiff.
Did you realise that Flickr has a basic editor called Aviary?

Do you have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription? If so, you can use Lightroom Mobile on a tablet and it'll sync your edits when you get home.
There's also a free version of Adobe Photoshop for iOS and Android which is better than most phone editors.

What camera are you using? The Sony a6000 ? If so, this has wifi, which means you can transfer and edit on a phone/tablet without needing a card reader.

So, I think you have a couple of options:

1) Shoot RAW + Jpeg. Edit the jpegs quickly on a phone or tablet or browser based editor for upload to social media, then keep the RAW to edit once you're home.

2) Shoot RAW onto MicroSD cards (in adaptors) then you can load the microSD into an Android tablet to edit in an App.

3) Take a small laptop to sort, cull, edit and backup RAW files on the go - scratch that, I just spotted that you're already on the road.

4) Shoot RAW, then if there's a particular shot you want to upload to send to friends/family, use the in-camera RAW file conversion to give you a jpg, then edit in a browser based editor.


How long are you on the road for? If it's for weeks/months, I'd want a way to properly backup the SD cards. Uploading 24mp RAW files to a cloud-backup service could take forever.

Personally, what I've done on my week long trips this summer have been either to
a) take a laptop and cull, edit and backup on it. Or
b) shoot, then use wifi to transfer a particular photo to my phone then edit in Photoshop Mobile before uploading to Facebook/etc.
Whatever scenario, I'm always shooting RAW.

One last option is to buy an Intel Compute Stick. It's a PC on tiny dongle with wifi, USB, MicroSD slot and an HDMI connector on one end, so you can plug it into any HD TV (ie in a hotel room) and you have a PC straight away.
This version is £70 and comes with Windows 10 and 32GB of storage which is probably enough to install Lightroom. It's not going to win any speed medals, but it'll probably do simple edits well enough. Though you'd have to carry it and a lightweight keyboard/mouse to be able to use it. Though it probably still works out cheaper/lighter than a laptop.
http://www.ebuyer.com/720002-intel-...19&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=CPDawNP5x88CFcRAGwodCbgEyQ

Hope that helps
 
You can get a SD to lightning port card reader which might do what @Oliver Pohlmann suggests. Lightroom and Snapseed to the job ok, as does apples native photo app. No replacement for a laptop of course. Your foobared phone screen might be the issue though..
 
ABTog said:
Unless you can get a version of Lightroom or Capture One that'll run off a USB stick without being installed (as most hostel's computers are likely to be locked down so you can't install software), you're not going to be able to edit RAW files on whatever computers are available in hostels.
Click to expand...

That would be my absolute ideal solution. Do you have any idea if that's at all possible?

ABTog said:
Do you have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription? If so, you can use Lightroom Mobile on a tablet and it'll sync your edits when you get home.
Click to expand...

No, I don't but I can/will do if I find a solution that allows Lightroom. Would love to use Lightroom mobile but, as I said, my screen has funny colours :(

ABTog said:
Shoot RAW + Jpeg. Edit the jpegs quickly on a phone or tablet or browser based editor for upload to social media, then keep the RAW to edit once you're home.
Click to expand...

ABTog said:
4) Shoot RAW, then if there's a particular shot you want to upload to send to friends/family, use the in-camera RAW file conversion to give you a jpg, then edit in a browser based editor.
Click to expand...

This could be a solution. An issue I have is that I'm still stuck with the 16-50mm standard kit lens (can't wait to be shot of it!) that has AWFUL barrel distortion that is not corrected in RAW but is corrected in JPEG.
For memory reasons, if I shoot in RAW and then convert to JPEG (instead of RAW+JPEG) using the in camera converter will it remove this distortion, CA, etc. that is normally removed when shooting in JPEG?
I have the Sony a6000, like you say, so could WiFi transfer them to my phone and then JPEG edit them before posting to Instagram, Facebook, etc.

ABTog said:
How long are you on the road for?
Click to expand...

About 3 and a half months, 2 months in Australia where I'll have regular access to one PC and then back on the road for 5 months before returning to the UK.

ABTog said:
One last option is to buy an Intel Compute Stick. It's a PC on tiny dongle with wifi, USB, MicroSD slot and an HDMI connector on one end, so you can plug it into any HD TV (ie in a hotel room) and you have a PC straight away.
Click to expand...

Seems like a bit of a faff and not very reliable, chance of finding a TV like you say. I guess I could go round unplugging hostel computers but seems a bit dodgy.

Thanks ABTog, very helpful!

WWA said:
Your foobared phone screen might be the issue though..
Click to expand...

Yeah, definitely an issue. Only way I can get around it would be to buy a new iPhone - but do I want to spend money on a new phone to do editing on it? Seems like a fair bit of money for a less than permanent solution.

st599 said:
Install RawTherapee portable from http://portableapps.com/apps/graphics_pictures/rawtherapee-portable onto your USB
Click to expand...

Is this app as good as Lightroom or Capture One? Can I apply distortion corrections and edit photos as comprehensively as in Capture One or Lightroom? If it's a basic editor, it may not be a permanent solution but, portable apps do seem like a really good solution in general. Thanks!
 
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