Workflow /edit comments wanted

zorbo

zorbo

Messages
280
Name
john
Edit My Images
Yes
Last year i became interested in landscape photography and it was a whole new challenge of photography to me, after previously just shooting wildlife. Mainly birds. I am getting more confident with my settings exposure and composition etc. Although i know i have a long way to go before i can achieve the kind of images that i am aiming for. I research places and compositions also take the weather conditions and any information i can get on the area i will be visiting and ocasionally everything works out fine. I mainly try to get out for a sunrise shoot and mostly in the lake district.
After composing and taking the shot checking histogram etc all looks good in the screen and im happy.
So i get home and on the pc to process the image (i always shoot in raw ) This is where i begin to struggle . As i am working with an old version of photoshop CS5 . As this is just a hobby and i am a pensioner i am not able to pay out a lot of money on up to date programmes ,so im stuck with CS5. Sorry for this being long winded. Anyway im strugling with my editing After editing, my images always seem to look flat and boring .I am a slow learner and not technical minded and im getting slowly despondent with image editing. Due to this i find that i am deleting images that seem to have good potential and am getting reluctant to process them due to the end result. Any advise on how to process and get end results that would be pleasing. Thanks.
 
Chris makes a good suggestion. But I wouldn't worry too much about the latest and greatest software. Mostly it just makes things quicker and more convenient.

As a landscape photographer, if you can master layer masks and the Curves tool, you won't need much more.
 
@zorbo

What I am about to tell you, is only an idea, so it is up to you to decide if you want to try it or not, or modify the workflow to your liking. It is really up to you to create your own workflow, as everyone's workflow is different from each other, although some would have more or less similar workflow to each other.

Create the first folder, call it whatever you like, call it Raw Files or Original Files or anything like that.
Create the second folder, call it whatever , something like Work Folder, Processing Folder, Inbox, or In Tray.
Create the third folder, call it something like Archives, Outbox, Out Tray, Completed Folder, anything like that.

Import your raw files from your camera to the first folder and leave it there, nothing more to be done.

When you have time to spare or fancy doing some editing, cherry pick one or two or few images from your first folder, and copy them into the second folder. Make sure the original raw files are still in the first folder, just have copies in the second folder.

You use your Photoshop CS5 to edit only those in the second folder.

When you are happy with how you edited them, then save or export them into the third folder.

If you struggle with editing, you can just forget it, delete from the second folder (as long as you make sure the original files are still in first folder).

You could leave your original images in the first folder, maybe for the future, in case you have children or grandchildren who may benefit from your original files, and they could use them (ie: "Your great-great-grandfather took this landscape photo back in year of 2019").

Like in the old days before computers, when in an office, there would be an In-Tray, Progress Tray, and an Out-Tray, where paperwork would be put into the In-Tray, the office worker would take this paperwork, and start work on it. If not finished (like it's lunch time or at end of day) would just leave it in the middle tray so they could get back to it later and finish it off. When done, move it to the third tray, the Out-Tray for filing. If you are too stressed out with the paperwork, just leave them to pile up in the In-Tray, resign, and let someone else do the work.

I use a similar system, usually I call it Stage I, Stage II, and Stage III (making it easier to keep in the right order), and each folder have subfolders depending on the kind of files I want to work with.

Hope it gives you some food for thoughts?
 
Major Eazy said:
@zorbo

What I am about to tell you, is only an idea, so it is up to you to decide if you want to try it or not, or modify the workflow to your liking. It is really up to you to create your own workflow, as everyone's workflow is different from each other, although some would have more or less similar workflow to each other.

Create the first folder, call it whatever you like, call it Raw Files or Original Files or anything like that.
Create the second folder, call it whatever , something like Work Folder, Processing Folder, Inbox, or In Tray.
Create the third folder, call it something like Archives, Outbox, Out Tray, Completed Folder, anything like that.

Import your raw files from your camera to the first folder and leave it there, nothing more to be done.

When you have time to spare or fancy doing some editing, cherry pick one or two or few images from your first folder, and copy them into the second folder. Make sure the original raw files are still in the first folder, just have copies in the second folder.

You use your Photoshop CS5 to edit only those in the second folder.

When you are happy with how you edited them, then save or export them into the third folder.

If you struggle with editing, you can just forget it, delete from the second folder (as long as you make sure the original files are still in first folder).

You could leave your original images in the first folder, maybe for the future, in case you have children or grandchildren who may benefit from your original files, and they could use them (ie: "Your great-great-grandfather took this landscape photo back in year of 2019").

Like in the old days before computers, when in an office, there would be an In-Tray, Progress Tray, and an Out-Tray, where paperwork would be put into the In-Tray, the office worker would take this paperwork, and start work on it. If not finished (like it's lunch time or at end of day) would just leave it in the middle tray so they could get back to it later and finish it off. When done, move it to the third tray, the Out-Tray for filing. If you are too stressed out with the paperwork, just leave them to pile up in the In-Tray, resign, and let someone else do the work.

I use a similar system, usually I call it Stage I, Stage II, and Stage III (making it easier to keep in the right order), and each folder have subfolders depending on the kind of files I want to work with.

Hope it gives you some food for thoughts?
Click to expand...
This is a really good idea, sometimes you can get overwhelmed with the amount to edit or what’s going on with editing, using this technique could just give you a little more time, sometimes editing, especially landscape can be down to personal life.
 
I realise you don't want to buy software, but a year's subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan from Amazon is £99.99 - I think Lightroom Classic which is bundled in that should be a better solution for you than Photoshop as it's simpler.

Whether that's affordable or not I'd recommend watching this series of videos on YouTube (Joe Cornish on Lightroom for Landscape):

View: https://youtu.be/zsYpZNz3aV0


Also Greg Whitton and Alex Nail have done Lightroom editing videos on their YouTube channels (both are award winning landscape photographers). Even if you can't get or don't want Lightroom, the tips should be transferable as you can use Adobe Bridge to manage your image collection, and use Adobe Camera Raw in a similar way to Lightroom's controls.

The other alternative is to shoot Jpeg and get the image as perfect as you can in camera and not do any post production.
 
Thanks for all the comments much appreciated and i will post an image that i had a go at in photoshop. Sometimes i use bridge first and then into photoshop .My pc is around 5-7 years old and im using a 22 inch samsung monitor. I must admit that i dont calibrate as much as i should and am only using spyder pro2 (yes its an old one,but again its all expense.
I like the idea of the in/out tray idea because i have files allover the hd and the external portable hd and even some on cd. I will also admit to not very good with the layers palette and maybee that is part of my problem trying to rush things. Ill have a look at the joe cornish video and thanks mariner but at the moment i seem to be strugling with photoshop LOL ill try and put an image up And thanks for taking time to respond .
 
Certainly don't throw any images away.

I use LR - I find it really good & easy for editing. Be aware though, some older programs might not work with your camera depending on it's age.

Spend time reading blogs, watching videos, tutorials. Absorb the info, make notes if you have to.

You need to learn layer/masking. Adjustment layers/masking. Curves. Can you adjust HSL in CS5??
 
I wonder if Nik Filters is still available as a free download.

I downloaded them some time ago for free and they're easy to use with CS5.

Try Googling and see if you can get them for free. They may be an easy way to liven up a bit of a flat shot.
 
After all your comments its time to give an update .I have now calibrated my monitor and this has made a big difference to my images.Should have thought of that earlier. I also found a CS5 photoshop book by( scott kelby) and this is very helpful. I can work on an image and keep reverting back to it. Also found a few yutube videoes. So i need to practise .
I have also sorted out folder and am now down to the IN/OUT tray idea. Thanks for taking time to comment all of you.
 
zorbo said:
I have also sorted out folder and am now down to the IN/OUT tray idea. Thanks for taking time to comment all of you.
Click to expand...

The in/out tray is a valid solution but Bridge has this functionality without duplicating images - what I’d do is on your storage drive, create folders by year with subfolders for each month, put your raw files in the relevant ones and open the month folder you want in Bridge. Use the filmstrip view and do a first selection by right clicking on the images you like and selecting ‘second’. Once you’ve done a first selection, filter the view by selecting ‘second’ and do the same selection process again but right click on ‘select’ or ‘approve’, then filter again. The goal is you only pick your very best shots to edit. Once you’ve made your final selections, through Bridge open your images in Adobe Camera Raw and get cracking. Do the majority of your work in ACR then make more detailed edits in Photoshop (such as cloning if necessary). Basic photo management is what Bridge was designed for and makes it far simpler than creating extra folders on your computer and viewing in Windows, which is a frustrating experience in comparison.
 
zorbo said:
After all your comments its time to give an update .I have now calibrated my monitor and this has made a big difference to my images.Should have thought of that earlier. I also found a CS5 photoshop book by( scott kelby) and this is very helpful. I can work on an image and keep reverting back to it. Also found a few yutube videoes. So i need to practise .
I have also sorted out folder and am now down to the IN/OUT tray idea. Thanks for taking time to comment all of you.
Click to expand...
Seems a little late but have you tried lightroom ?
Photoshop is fine but I find it very difficult to use and a very, very steep learning curve if your not used to it or using it daily.

Lightroom is a much simpler program to use, doesn’t do anywhere near what photoshop can do but I only use PS once in while, everything is done in LR unless I need to heavily adjust or remove objects.
 
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