Workflow part 1

Whitby Pier
Originally uploaded by thefatcat44

As promised here is the first blog in a series about workflow.

Many of my students struggle to get a pattern of working with their images. Yet, this way of working with a methodical system really pays off. Images are easy to find, your processing system helps you develop your own style, your images are always backed up safely and best of all you spend less time in front of the computer working on images and more time out making images, which has got to be a good thing.

So, the first step in developing your own workflow is this. Realise the workflow must be yours - tailored to you and what you want to achieve. I will describe how I work and this way meets my needs but you will see things I do that you don't need or want to do. You will also have ideas about things you want to add in to your workflow that I have no need of - so make the workflow work for you.

Next, many photographers don't think about workflow until they get home in front of the computer. Much better to think of workflow starting on location. Getting the image right 'in-camera' is an essential part of an efficient workflow. If you take the view that you can correct the exposure, clone out unwanted items, crop in tighter and so on, later, you are just making work for your self.

On location think about moving the camera closer rather than cropping later. Rather than removing objects in software why not change your angle of view or composition when shooting. it can't always be done, but if it can it is so much easier than doing it later.

Work on nailing the exposure, use ND Grads rather than having to blend multiple exposures later. I view all of this as part of my workflow.

If you are doing a long shoot - a wedding perhaps or spending a day out doing landscapes or photographing a city - consider not filling your memory cards. Yes, you may be able to get hundreds of shots on an 8 gigabyte CF or SD card and they are much cheaper now. However, all memory cards WILL one day fail, sooner or later. How much better to have a few smaller capacity cards and only part fill them. Then if one fails you haven't lost a days work. Or, as part of your workflow in the field use a portable backup drive to back up as you work - download the mornings cards to it while you have lunch or a drink. Take a laptop with you and copy images over to it as you work.

If you do this, still don't format the cards once you have copied them. save them as a back up till you get home. After all, ALL hard drives WILL one day fail. If you have copied your images to one then formatted the cards and it is the drive that chooses that day to fail, a days work is lost.

So, to recap.

1. You design your workflow to suit your needs

2. Get the image as right as possible in camera to save time later.

3. Use smaller capacity cards and spread the days shooting across many cards.

4. If you back up in the field, don't erase the cards just yet - keep them as a back up in case the hard drive fails.

In the next blog I will talk about what to do when you get home in front of the PC or MAC, all keen to see what you've got. Is that killer image there?