Beginner Work Flow

DumfriesDik

DumfriesDik

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130
Name
Richard Toulson
Edit My Images
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I have to admit, I am little confused about workflow these days. Everywhere seems to offer some sort of storage and I am not sure of my options.

I use a good old fashioned desk top PC.

I have an external hard drive which I use for PC back up, with about 1TB available.

I have a free Google account and I have photos stored there.

I pay for an Adobe Lightroom Account, seldom used.

I pay for a Microsoft Account - not really used and may ditch unless there is a good photographic reason to keep.

I have a free Flickr account.

I use Polarsteps, the travel journal.

At the moment I use my phone, it stores the photo's and I can share them easily with Flickr and Polarsteps. That's what I would like to do.

I have just bought a Canon G5X mkII and would like to be able to do the same, that is easily share photos with other apps.

So, I am hoping I can take jpg photos, send them to my phone which in turn can share with apps. That is fine.

In addition, I would like to explore or learn more about processing RAW photos. Do I put the SD card into the reader and save to my hard drive? Or Lightroom? Or where?? I am genuinely a bit perplexed.

Any pointers gratefully received. I have my knickers in a twist I think.
 
I make a new folder on my desktop for each trip out with the camera, then just import that folder to the lightroom library. If the folder will have over 100 photos then I usually make a new folder. It's quite easy to go through on lightroom that way then I end up deleting the photos I don't like.
 
Tom30 said:
I make a new folder on my desktop for each trip out with the camera, then just import that folder to the lightroom library. If the folder will have over 100 photos then I usually make a new folder. It's quite easy to go through on lightroom that way then I end up deleting the photos I don't like.
Click to expand...

Once in Lightroom, do you delete the folder?
 
Open Lightroom
Insert your memory card into the card reader
The Lightroom “Import Window” will automatically open
Click on the IMPORT button

When you import images into Lightroom, Lightroom will by default create a dated folder that contains your images, and place this folder on your computers hard-drive (you can select the actual location and Lightroom will remember this). Lightroom will also add the images to your Lightroom catalog.

One thing that I strongly urge you to do when using Lightroom is to keyword all of your images.
 
L320Rio said:
Open Lightroom
Insert your memory card into the card reader
The Lightroom “Import Window” will automatically open
Click on the IMPORT button

When you import images into Lightroom, Lightroom will by default create a dated folder that contains your images, and place this folder on your computers hard-drive (you can select the actual location and Lightroom will remember this). Lightroom will also add the images to your Lightroom catalog.

One thing that I strongly urge you to do when using Lightroom is to keyword all of your images.
Click to expand...

Pretty much what I was in the middle of writing. :)

I'm a Lightroom user since the first public beta in 2006 and copying the files to your computer before importing them is an unnecessary step that is just likely to cause confusion about what you have and have not imported IMHO.

For sharing to Flickr, you can export files from Lightroom once you have finished editing and upload them using Flickr's Uploadr tool. Flickr will import any captions, keywords and GPS data you have added in Lightroom.
 
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L320Rio said:
Open Lightroom
Insert your memory card into the card reader
The Lightroom “Import Window” will automatically open
Click on the IMPORT button

When you import images into Lightroom, Lightroom will by default create a dated folder that contains your images, and place this folder on your computers hard-drive (you can select the actual location and Lightroom will remember this). Lightroom will also add the images to your Lightroom catalog.

One thing that I strongly urge you to do when using Lightroom is to keyword all of your images.
Click to expand...
I do the same as this. I import directly from the SD card into Lightroom. I set up my lightroom catalog so it puts all photos from each day into folders in a folder year-month-day format (Chosen when I originally set up the catalog 10 years ago). I usually run a backup of the ‘working’ disk at this point to create another copy for backup purposes.

When I run through the photos I mark any obvious photos for deletion and delete off disk. I then run through them again to pick possible photos for editing. If there are lots of picks I may star a few picks to edit first. Im often left with some images I don’t edit but I just keep them on the disk as I edit them in the future should my editing skills improve or think of another way to edit them.

If you use lightroom do everything in lightroom. I never touch the raw file storage folders outside of lightroom. That’s how everything gets corrupted as lightroom is far better at folder creation and managing storage than I am.
 
My workflow is nice and simple - not sure if this is help or a hinderance..... :LOL:

  1. Make a new folder in my photography library on the computer.
  2. Copy the pictures from the memory card to computer - never touch RAW images outside Lightroom.
  3. Start Up Lightroom > create a new catalogue > import photos.
  4. Spend hours going through the photos and flagging the ones I like. - if there's one I am really excited about I edit there and then. I don’t delete any photos; I use the flagging tag instead.
  5. Shut down lightroom for a few days before looking at my photos again (I have found I have less attachment to the photo trip and I am disappointed a lot less of the time; this is weird I know but it works for me) - I rarely edit my photos within 24hrs of taking them.
  6. Reflag the photos (if need be) and edit the ones I like export 100% quality.
  7. Touch up in Topaz Denoise and Sharpen.
  8. Export.
  9. Import into Lightroom (into same catalogue).
  10. Export for web.
  11. Upload to Instagram and Facebook. If it's good enough Flickr and this forum.

After some months I then zip all my catalogues and photos (raw, jpeg, tiff etc..), I have:

1 copy on 1tb SSD
1 copy on a 8tb HDD
1 copy on a 4tb HDD
I used to also copy it onto a disk.

I am looking at investing in NAS storage but it's a bit much at the moment.

Personal Opinion **tinfoil hat**: I don't like cloud storage that much, as you lose 100% of the control of your data. Indeed, it's a good back to have to retrieve your photos quickly but I am way too paranoid, so I'd rather just keep it in multiple places. Everything is subject to failure of course; cloud storage does have more fault tolerance but I’d rather the risk of multiple locations of which I have 100% control.
 
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There are probably as many different workflows as photographers... In your situation, a new camera sounds like a good opportunity to sort out a workflow for it.

For phone stuff, I just use Apple Photos, and export to the various services I want to use.

For "proper camera" images I use Lightroom (now Classic), as I have done since 2007 when it launched, my Lightroom workflow is:
  1. Import from the SD card to Lightroom, copying the files in to YYYY/YYYY/MM/DD folders.
    1. As mentioned above, there is no need to copy to the computer first, then import from elsewhere on the computer.
    2. Lightroom also simultaneously applies my standard processing and metadata, and makes a copy of all files to my NAS.
  2. I use the "pick" and "reject" flags (P and X keys) to identify the best images and any I want to get rid of.
  3. I then filter on the picks and process those in the develop tab
  4. Then add captions etc back in the library tab.
  5. At this point I make sure I have all the shots I want, and flag any remaining images as rejects.
  6. I add a start rating to any of the best/portfolio images, or any that need further work.
  7. I export from Lightroom direct to where I need the images - blog/Flickr etc and add a colour label to any exported images.
    1. I do not keep a copy of the exported files on the computer, as they can always be re-exported at a later date if needed.
  8. At this point I review the rejected images and delete them.
  9. I also have a "smart collection" which collates any images over 12 months old, to which I have not applied a star rating >=3 or a colour label - i.e. any image that I have not used, nor want to keep. These images can be reviewed for deletion to keep a tidy library.
 
DumfriesDik said:
I have to admit, I am little confused about workflow these days. Everywhere seems to offer some sort of storage and I am not sure of my options.

I use a good old fashioned desk top PC.

I have an external hard drive which I use for PC back up, with about 1TB available.

I have a free Google account and I have photos stored there.

I pay for an Adobe Lightroom Account, seldom used.

I pay for a Microsoft Account - not really used and may ditch unless there is a good photographic reason to keep.

I have a free Flickr account.

I use Polarsteps, the travel journal.

At the moment I use my phone, it stores the photo's and I can share them easily with Flickr and Polarsteps. That's what I would like to do.

I have just bought a Canon G5X mkII and would like to be able to do the same, that is easily share photos with other apps.

So, I am hoping I can take jpg photos, send them to my phone which in turn can share with apps. That is fine.

In addition, I would like to explore or learn more about processing RAW photos. Do I put the SD card into the reader and save to my hard drive? Or Lightroom? Or where?? I am genuinely a bit perplexed.

Any pointers gratefully received. I have my knickers in a twist I think.
Click to expand...

I take photos, I come home, I upload to my desktop computer.

The reason for desktop computer rather than laptop or tablet, is because I do graphic design as well as lot of typing, so I prefer a sit-upright-with-monitor-at-eye-level kind of workspace.

I upload them through Lightroom, and onto my computer's hard drive.

An external hard drive acts as back-up.

I view my photos in Lightroom, and if I need a photo for printing or for import into graphic design work, I would make any adjustments if needed, before exporting the photo. The exported photo goes into a workflow folder on my hard drive.

That's my workflow.
 
I download them to a new folder with place and date on the desktop and then save that to an external HDD
Usually even with the best of intentions I do bugger all with them unless I want to print any
Once a year I make a Photobook of our travels and pick the best ones from all the saved folders from that year.
The chosen few get edited in Lightroom 6 and PureRaw if needed.
 
Thanks everyone, I am doing a hybrid solution of all your solutions! It is working well.

Out of interest, I have three picture frames that I put prints into. These take an A4 print and every so often I swap them out and keep the old prints in a folder.

I think I can count on one hand the number of times I look at past photographs. It seems that I am not so precious about them, especially when I have so many.
 
Read this thread and thought it might be good for me to document my approach - I follow a similar workflow

1 Shoot Raw,
2 Import to Lightroom Classic
3 Flag keepers
4 Delete the rest
5 Edit in LR and Topaz
6 Print from LR for wall hangers
7 Export to jpeg for the net. (I do keep the jpg's)
8 Backup to a separate drive and use Windows File History on another drive
9 Revisit after a week or so, to check for keepers and rework before deleting the rest

I am amazed that as time goes by - I have less keepers, going back to old shoots and often deleting 90% of the images. I guess I am just getting far more fussy about what I consider to be a good image, that is worth keeping. I am also looking at not so good images and revisiting the location to get better shots.

PS Sea Eagles are one of my favorites and I must have deleted 1000's of shots as not being good enough to keep, always revisiting locations to get that 'Keeper'
 
I just plug the camera in, switch on, Lightroom Import opens.
Select images and destination folder and import.
Switch camera off so it re charges if needed.
Apply a basic preset of mine as a starter.
Click through images and reject or flag to suit.
Have a coffee.
Come back and eventually work through the flagged images and export.
Delete all the rejected from LR and disc.
Take weeks to actually upload them!

I'm pretty harsh on the deleting these days.
 
As most of my photography is motorsport, and am editing some photos at the circuit, possibly without access to mains power. I shoot different size images to different cards and deal with the smaller images at the circuit for speed and reduced battery overheads.

I import using Photomechanic to a folder on my PC. I use the yyyy/yyyy-mm-dd description naming convention, with LO, HI, RAW at the end to designate file type. Photomatic is much faster at 'ingesting' images than Lightroom, as well as being pretty powerful in many other aspects.

Once ingested I import into Lightroom using the add to catalogue from current location. I add a my standard preset at this time and some basic keywords / metadata

I tend to use the colour coding system to seperate different race series, and the star system to seperate different sessions - 1 star for qualifying, 2 stars for race 1, 3 stars for race 2 and 3 stars for race 3. I use the white flag 'pick' command (P) for favourites, and cull OOF using black flag 'X' command.

I publish social media gallery of favourites at a fairly small resolution with an watermark.

Once back at base, I'll repeat the above for the big versions from the other card to another folder and then use a Lightroom plugin called SYNCOMATIC which copies all the colour coding, flags, editing recipe and keywords from one folder to another, matched using file names. I find this a really useful plugin and don't begrudge the one-off minor cost some years ago.

This is not necessarily the best way, but for what I do, I can find appropriate images quickly and easily.
 
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I don't use LightRoom - too expensive. This part of the forum is labelled 'Talk Beginners'. I've been snapping for about 50 years and cannot justify its cost. So please don't run out and subscribe to LightRoom if you are starting out.

In recent years I've been using Luminar and recently updated to the fully paid NEO.

I have a laptop with both SDD and a hard drive. On the hard drive, I have a FILECAB folder and a structure within that to hold my photos. The top level of my photos folder is imported as a catalogue in NEO. It contains a folder named 01-PROCESSING (always at the top of the sorted list of folders).

1. Connect a USB cable to my camera and read in the latest batch of photos to Win Explorer. I shoot in RAW. No need to remove memory cards and insert them where they are not needed. Most cameras have a USB slot.
1a. I also snap with my phone and the pics get auto-uploaded to Dropbox (the free version) - these are JPGs
2. Copy and paste all I need to 01-PROCESSING
3. Open NEO and navigate to 01-PROCESSING. Do all the editing I need
4 Export all my edits in the size and format I need in one sweep. They also get stored in 01-PROCESSING
5. In NEO or Win Explorer - create a folder somewhere in the catalogue structure and give it an appropriate name - normally a place name or walk/hike name for me
6. In NEO grab all the photos in 01-PROCESSING and move them to the new folder. This retains all my RAW edits so that should a buying customer want any of the photos I simply have to change the photo size on export (I normal size to fit my website or social media)
7. NEO can't update the metadata so I do that in Win Explorer for all the photos - tags and titles normally
8. If I revisit the photos I will edit and export them in the folder they are in
9. I back up to a separate PC - an old one that gets switched on for weekly updates.
10. The PC backs up to a separate hard drive that I might be able to grab as I run out of the door in the event of a fire or flood
11. The PC also backs up to BTs cloud service but I will run out of the 1TB of space they give me soon I guess even though I'm picky
12. When all is backed up I removed photos from my camera and Dropbox

So, all that sounds very lovely and robust, but it changes at least a few times per year as and when I find some tweak that works better.

I wrote an article on the subject of storage and backup. Point 11 is incredibly important as, having all the backup in your house alone, is useless in the event of a fire, flood, natural disaster, etc.
 
Mine is to

Open Lr. (I changed from Lr6.12 last year, to subscription based with Ps and Lr).
Connect camera wire to PC and Camera.
Make a new folder, within the County and Year folder.
Import using a custom Preset to Remove Chromatic Abberation and Enable Profile Correction.
Tag the crap photos.
Remove and delete crap photos from drive.
Edit what's left.

I usually back up on external hard drive once or twice every month.
 
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