Keep...keep...delete? RAW? JPEG?

danieljamesphoto

danieljamesphoto

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Edit My Images
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Right so I need a major clearout as my 2010 folder is nearly 230gb due to each client folder containing;

RAW files
Colour JPEG
Black & White JPEG
and Sepia JPEG

being paranoid i've kept all of these but realistically does anyone see a reason why I should keep the full high res versions in Black & White AND Sepia? when surely I could run the action through Photoshop on the colour version and voila?

does anyone do this?

also would it be logical to keep the RAWs separate in terms of in a completely separate folder so that maybe they don't go into Lightroom, which I purely use for cataloging (not editing)

cheers
 
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I'm sure you can set LR to just import/show JPEG and not the duplicate raw file.

Personally, I'd ditch the mono and sepia versions if they are just edits of edits. Like you say, actions can be created to do these if they're needed in future.

Are you shooting raw+jpeg, hence why you have both? Personally I'd keep the raw only and have that as your master - edit those in LR then export whatever file format you need for output

Just out if interest, why don't you use LR for editing?
 
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Lightroom is a bit of a learning curve and it's whole 'catalog' idea can be frustrating at first, but once you come round to the idea it saves a lot of time.
 
yeah i'm getting into Lightroom definitely, got to make the decision soon to upgrade the MacBook Pro to have more hard drive and use that as the main machine or the iMac (old one) which would need to be replaced as the hard drive can't be upgraded anymore :(

iMac more expensive but maybe better in the long run as having everything on a portable machine worries me a bit :/
 
Thing worth bearing in mind is that if you're an advanced photoshop user who likes to play around with colour spaces, layers, masks, blending modes etc you will still need photoshop. Also the interface between lightroom and photoshop seems a little clumsy to me so if I'm spending time working on an image in photoshop I find it easier to use bridge temporarily.
 
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I was a massive PS fan but I jumped into both Aperture and LR when they came out because Bridge just didn't seem to work as fluently as I wanted. Plus, both Aperture and LR did the majority of tweaks i wanted (I ended up settling on LR).

I've kept PS for those major tweaks like layer masking, really intricate cloning/brushwork and those things that LR doesn't do as well (although LR3 is proving to be very good).

For me, shooting upwards of 2,500 images a week, LR has been a godsend because i can import raw, JPEG or both, archive and arrange them as I require (and then back-up via Time Machine) and do some extensive tweaking without ever losing date on the original because of the non-destructive editing. I can then export to whoever or wherever I want and in whatever format and size i specify, without ever having needed to first output a TIFF or JPEG and resize and what-not in Photoshop. It saves creating additional files that could get confused with the original and generally keeps things tidy and the computer running smooth.

For what it's worth, I use regular external hard drives (Lacie 1TB Neil Poulton ones) that connect via USB - couldn't get the FW800 versions a the time I bought - and they running like lightning and mean my MBP isn't slowing down. Plus, I don't like having my images on my MBP because if anything is gonna get dropped/smashed/drinks spilt on (etc) it'll be my laptop and not my external HDs :)
 
What, at work? I'm head of photography at a publishing house. We deal mainly with angling titles (we have seven for the UK), but we also do three trade titles that mix shooting and fishing for international customers.

I generally shoot outdoors for the angling mags so that's where the bulk of my shooting happens; I'm a bit trigger happy at times so usually come back with far too much but I look at it from the times when i was an editor; it's better to have far too much to choose from than be left wanting for something you can't have :) I'm shooting at least one feature per day, although through summer with extended daylight, I'm often asked to shoot three or four feature's worth. That's when I'm doing half a dozen 4GB cards a day. Lightroom is sooooo helpful in that respect when it comes to sorting 100s of images in a jiffy.

I do a fair bit of studio stuff when features are cancelled due to weather etc, or when there is a mass of product to shoot. I don't spend enough time in the studio, but that's not a bad thing at times because it's a s***hole that is used as a dumping ground and is too small. :)
 
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Everything auto backs up to my external hard drive, then once a year (the new year is nearly upon us) I transfer that years RAW files I have kept into a new folder for that year, then delete them all off the laptop.

With Jpegs I go through what I have done on a regular basis and only retain the keepers, the rest are binned. I then once a year place the previous years Jpegs in a year folder, transfer to external drive and delete from the laptop.

I then create new folders ready for the new years images and RAW files.
 
You really should get to know Lghtroom. One thing you can do is make virtual copies of the raw file - which takes almost zero space - and edit each of them in a different way. Only make the jpegs when you need to output. Saves loads of space and is non dstructive. LR is also a huge time saver.
 
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