January 20, 2015 Presented by Jim Evrard 1
What is a Workflow in Digital Photography? 2
Many photographers associate digital workflow with the post-processing activity after an image has been taken. 3
Not so fast The post-processing activity is only a subset, just one step, of the overall workflow process 4
Digital Workflow Definition A digital photography workflow is an end-toend system of working with digital images, from capture to delivery. It is comprised of a series of interconnected steps developed by photographers to simplify and standardize their work. Simplification and Standardization are the key words 5
Almost every professional photographer has and follows a fairly strict workflow Time is money to a professional! Amateurs also have a workflow process but may not realize it! The number of steps involved in the workflow process varies, but generally consists of the following: 6
1. Plan photo shoot/activity 2. Setting up the camera and capturing images 3. Transferring images to a computer 4. Backing up images 5. Organizing and sorting images 6. Post-processing images (usually takes up most time) 7. Exporting images 8. Backing up images 9. Printing or publishing images/web-delivery 7
Where, what, when, how and whom to photograph Checking, cleaning and preparing equipment Take extra memory cards and batteries-charge batteries Depending on the activity, take notes and rough sketches or take maps if needed Plan how to store the images securely until they can be transferred to a computer. Advisable to keep them on your person. Hard plastic cases are excellent for storing. Format memory cards. Pack camera bag and check contents. 8
An important step in the workflow process deals with the camera settings and capture. Manual, aperture or shutter priority? Shoot in RAW or JPEG? Raw takes up more space and can slow down import/export. Color profile and compression to use in JPEG. What white balance setting to use? Bracket settings if shooting for HDR process? Decide in advance, if possible, what settings. Take the pictures. 9
Note: After taking the pictures keep the SD or Compact Flash cards on your person. Importing step depends on method of transferring images to the computer. (Use mini card reader not camera). Adobe Lightroom and Apple Aperture will both copy the images and import them into a photo catalog at the same time. Tagging and organizing these images can be accomplished with these programs. 10
Backup, Backup, Backup! Backup as soon as possible after image capture! 11
There are a myriad of ways to do this but do it as soon as possible after capture. If using Adobe PS Lightroom backup the catalog immediately. Use an external backup device such as a 1 or 2 TB hard drive by WD, Seagate or Toshiba etc. Set to perpetual backup if possible to constantly capture all changes and additions to the picture directories/folders. Many professionals also use DVD s for backup. Use multiple devices such as internal and external hard drives. At least 2 media sources. 12
Consolidate into one folder. Add keywords and rank images using stars, colors and image groups. Identify images that are blurry and out of focus and delete. Keep all photos from a single shoot together in one folder. 13
This is actually a subset to the overall workflow. It is the most complex step in the workflow process. It can be a quick simple adjustment or can take hours to perfect. Nearly all RAW images will need some post work. Some JPEG adjustments can be done in the camera 14
Work from Global to Local adjustments Make the biggest changes first, then work your way to smaller details. Make global adjustments (those that apply to the entire image) such as crop, exposure and white balance before working on the local adjustments such as selective spot removal etc. 15
1. Lens correction-distortion, vignetting,chromatic aberration. 2. Framing- straighten and crop. ( sequence is controversial). 3. White Balance adjustment-temperature and tint adjust. 4. Exposure-compensation, highlight/shadow recovery. 5. Noise Reduction-with host application or external software. 6. Detail- capture sharpening and clarity enhancement. 7. Contrast-black and white points, Levels and Curves tools. 8. Refinements-color adjustments and selective enhancements. 9. Resizing- enlarge for printing/downsizing for web or email. 10. Output Sharpening-customize to taste and for subject matter and print/screen size. 16
Let s look at a few of the individual steps! 17
Crop and straighten. This can be the most significant change to a photograph since it changes the composition. It also will alter the histogram therefore it should be done early in the post processing sequences. 18
Adjust white balance and color. White balance is the single most important adjustment to the color of a photo. Exposure can be adjusted After adjusting white balance other color adjustments can be made to saturation, vibrance etc. for example. 19
Sharpening Be careful with sharpening. Too much sharpening and the image will look harsh and grainy and contrast and noise amplifies. Low resolution images are highly pixelated and sharpening will highlight the pixels. 20
Important to back up again at this stage since final changes and adjustments have been made. Follow same steps and guidelines as previous step 3. 21
This mainly applies if the images are going to a publisher or to a web site. Many considerations. Export in TIFF or JPEG. What image size? What color space SRGB or Adobe-RGB? Remove EXIF data if you do not want settings shown. 22
Important to back up at this stage if printing size changes and any misc. adjustments have been made. Follow same steps and guidelines as previous step 3. 23
The last major step in the workflow process is to simply file and enjoy viewing. There are many alternative ways of doing this. 24
Some don t need a formal workflow process Some utilize Excel spreadsheets to track workflowparticularly wedding and other professionals. Some utilize flowcharts such as the following these are great for engineers and accountants. This is one developed by N. David King a photography professor at a college on the West Coast and professional photographer. 25
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Establish a workflow and stick with it! It doesn t have to be written down if you have a good memory. As a photographer, either pro or amateur, the question is not whether you have a workflow or not, (because you already do), but how good and consistent it is. Every photographer s approach is different so put together a workflow that is convenient for you. Finally, utilizing good digital photographic workflow techniques will help you immeasurably to make better photos! 31
Thanks for your attention and get out and take pictures! 32