We all know the temptation... to rush home from the shoot and download those images to see if all the effort was worthwhile... have we got that killer image we hoped for?
As we look through what we have in the back of our mind is all we went through to get the shots. The rise before dawn, that long drive in the dark, the back breaking walk up the hill with all that kit that cost so much, the sweat and toil. At that moment so many images seem to have cost us so much that it is hard to delete any... so they linger on our hard drive.
The bracketed exposures, the power wound images rattled off at 7 frames a second all virtually identical. While the pain and effort in getting them is so fresh in our mind it is hard to delete any because of the personal cost.
Maybe in the days of film it was good that it took a week of two for our prints to come back from the developers. Those passing days allowed the effort and pain to diminish in our minds, the fog of time clouding our memories. So when we opened the folder and did that first flick through the prints or transparencies we had distance between us and the event. The stand out images did just that - STOOD OUT. The rubbish, the mediocre was more easily discarded.
The same is true with our digital images. I sometimes think it is best to edit our images some days or even weeks after the shoot when the distance between us and the event is sufficient for us to judge the merits of our work more dispassionately. To dump all the rubbish and the almost identical shots.
Of course, I can't do it. I know it makes sense, but I have to get on and process my favorite images as soon as I return. But what I do, do, is go back over my images about once a month and be a bit more discerning with what I actually keep and a bit more ruthless with what I delete.
What is the point of keeping hundreds of images a month no one will ever look at, that even we will never look at? The wise photographer only ever shows the world his very best.
Sure, some images have sentimental value. They may be of no real artistic merit, but the expression on our child's face that was captured, the funny moment, the antics of a pet or whatever do mean much to us (perhaps even more than that masterful landscape, in the big scheme of things) and so they must be kept because they record our lives and families.
I am talking about all the other stuff that is nearly good, but not quite, the stuff where the tripod head wasn't moved but we took several shots with varying exposures just to be sure - why keep it all?
Ikea said a few years ago - 'Chuck out the chintz'... perhaps we should apply the principle to our digital files... once the pain has subsided and the early start is just a distant memory.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Digital Workflow, Part 5
So, at this stage let's talk about backing up. (You do back up don't you?)
My warning is always that EVERY hard drive WILL one day fail. It is a mechanical device and it will wear out or develop a malfunction. Many people are blase about backing up, right up to the day they lose thousands of irreplaceable images and other files. They always seem to set up a proper back up routine after suffering a catastrophic loss. It is not a nice experience. (I can just see my mate, Chris, rolling his eyes at this bit - he thinks I am obsessed with backing up and take it far too seriously - needless to say he has lost loads of valuable images over the years...)
So ask yourself ' "how many of my images am I prepared to lose?". The answer to that will tell you how often you have to back up.
Backing up is dead easy and very cheap these days. It baffles me that people don' do it.
So what is my routine? Here goes (and I admit, I do have a very thorough back up routine - you may well decide you can do without some of the things I do).
I do not back up to DVD's anymore. They are too slow and it takes too many to back up my files. External hard drives are so cheap now and work so well it makes sense to use them. (I use Western Digital 'My Book' external USB 2.0 drives which cost about £60 (GB Pounds) for a 750 gigabyte drive).
1. When on a shoot I use several 2gb memory cards so that not all the images are on one card, Memory cards fail so if one does, at least I haven't lost everything.
2. When downloading the images from my memory cards into Lightroom 2 I set the import tick box to make a copy of the images onto an external USB hard drive at the same time. So the master copy goes into the 'My Pictures' folder and a copy goes into a folder called 'Lightroom Import Backups' on the separate drive. I go into this folder on the external hard drive about once a month or so and delete a few weeks worth of downloads - as the originals will now have been sorted and worked on and backed up elsewhere. Is this backup necessary? Well in the last year I managed to delete crucial files twice from both 'My Pictures' folder and another backup so it was brilliant to be able to get the original RAW file from this backup so all was not lost.
3. I then run Microsoft's free tool called 'Synchtoy'. This backs up the images to two different external USB hard drives. I will describe how this software works a little later and link to where to download it for free.
4. As described in my earlier posts I sort and work on the images and delete all the files I don't need. I then run Synchtoy again. This alters my backup to reflect the changes I have made.
So this means I have my original files on my C: drive in my PC. I then have two identical copies of these images and my Lightroom database files - each on a separate external USB hard drive.
(I then can take one of these external drives with me when I am away and I then have all my files with me in case I need them for clients, it means I have a copy of my files away from the home in case of burglary or fire and I can use the drive to back up the images I am taking while on the trip which can then be imported back onto my home PC when I return.
Now on to Synchtoy. This is a superb piece of Microsoft free software that I have used for years. You can download it from here currently - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=c26efa36-98e0-4ee9-a7c5-98d0592d8c52
Please note this location changes so just visit the download centre on Microsoft.com and search for "Synchtoy" and you will get the most up to date version download page.
The great thing about synchtoy is that once you have set it up it only takes 2 clicks of the mouse to back up everything - it is fully automated and works like a dream. I would be lost without it.
The software is designed for you to set up to copy folders from one drive to another. I use the 'echo' option. This is designed so that any changes you make to your originals will be mirrored on the backup drive.
I have Synchtoy set up to do this for all my images, Lightroom database files, all my other documents, internet favorites, templates, music and so on. If I lose my C: drive I can just copy the back ups back over and I am back up and running in minutes.
You can set synchtoy to copy any changes you make on either your originals or the backups (for example if you take the backup drive away with you to work on files from your laptop) - so when you return the changes on the backup drive overwrite the originals on your PC, thus keeping both drives in sync. However, I prefer the echo option.
It uses a wizard to help you set up the back up - you set up one for each folder you want to backup (for example I have one for 'My Pictures' another for 'My Music' and so on.
You can then select just one folder link to run within Synchtoy and it will just update the backup for that folder pair or you can select 'all folder pairs' and they will all run.
The first backup takes a while if you have a lot of files but if in future you back up regularly it takes little time at all as it only needs to update files that have been added, deleted or changed since the last back up.
So there you have it. My back up routine. Over the top? Perhaps. Do I sleep at night? Oh, yes.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Digital Workflow, part 4
If you have read the previous posts in this series you will now be at the stage where you have a set of images worth keeping and working on within Lightroom 2.
By using the various sorting flags you can mark images with in Lightroom you can focus in on your very best images to process further.
All photographers have images that are okay, worth keeping, but in reality are not good enough to show the world. The world is not interested in them - they are just for us.
The wise photographer doesn't bore people with hundreds of mediocre images. Look at any top photographer and every single image on their website is astoundingly good. As a result we gape in awe at their skill. But rest assured, on their computer at home they have hundreds of mediocre stuff just like us - its just they never show this stuff to anyone else.
By displaying only our best work we hold our audiences interest and start to build our reputation. I recently overhauled my website and removed over half the images because to be honest they weren't up to scratch. The result, hits on my website have more than doubled and visitors are spending three times as long on average on the site.
Less is more.
So now we have in front of us a manageable handful of images we have picked as four star. Out of these I am usually drawn to that one image that stands out as the best from the shoot and am eager to work on it.
We select that image in LR2 by clicking on it and then click on the develop module. Here Adobe have tried to organise everything in the order in which it is best to work on the image.
I firstly, before I go any further, right click on the image and click 'create virtual copy'. This puts a copy of the file beside the original so you can work on this without affecting the original. If you are worried about taking up loads of hard drive space doing this, don't be. Read on and I will explain why.
So at the top of the right hand pane are tools like crop, level and rotate. Then adjustment tools for the white balance before heading to exposure adjustment, clarity saturation and contrast.
By working our way down the tools in this order we often get the best results from the image. Only use the tools you need to and I take the image into Photoshop from here to make my final adjustments.
I find CS3 to be better for dust cloning for example.
Up until you move the image into CS3 (Photoshop) you have been working on the RAW file. But in actual fact, although you have seen the image change on the screen the RAW file itself has not changed because of the way LR2 works.
A RAW file contains every single bit of information the camera caught the instant you pressed the shutter release. Once this file is in Lightroom and you make changes what Lightroom is actually doing is recording those changes in a database and SHOWING you what the image would look like if you made that change. Each time you go back to the image in future Lightroom, in effect, looks at the original RAW file and then looks at its database of changes you made and applies them to a preview to show you the effect of those changes.
This is why, at any time, you can click the 'Reset' button and all the changes will be removed and you will be looking at the RAW file in its original state again.
This is also why you can create virtual copies of the RAW file without taking up any more hard drive space. When you create a virtual copy all LR2 does is create a new entry in its database saying apply these changes to that RAW file and display a separate preview - it doesn't actually duplicate the RAW file - GENIUS!
However, when you click to send the image to Photoshop, it does now create a new file. Photoshop can't open RAW files so LR2 makes a copy of the RAW file in either tiff or PSD format (I suggest changing the format to PSD in the preferences section on the Edit menu in LR2 - PSD files are smaller than tiffs and handle colour better, they are 16bit and so give full professional results). It is this PSD or TIFF that opens in Photoshop.
In LR2 you will see this PSD appear in the filmstrip beside the original RAW. Make sure you check the 'open with Lightroom Adjustments' option when you open the file from Lightroom. This will apply the changes you have made in Lightroom to the RAW file and show them in the PSD image.
I always keep the RAW file, even when I have created a PSD from it. I view the RAW file as my digital negative. I can go back to it whenever I want in future and undo changes, create new versions (maybe in black and white or a different crop).
The PSD becomes my main file now. Once I have made all the adjustments to it I want, I save it. These changes will be displayed in Lightroom.
If I then want to upload a jpeg of the image to Flickr, I convert it to 8 bit at 72 ppi and resize it etc and save it as a jpeg on my desktop, (USING THE FILE, SAVE AS OPTION - THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE THE ORIGINAL PSD REMAINS AS IT IS) do the upload to Flickr and then I can delete this image from my desktop. I don't need it.
I then reopen the PSD and make a copy as a jpeg to upload to my personal website as this requires different settings to the Flickr version. Once uploaded, I delete the jpeg again from the desktop - it is not required any more.
And so on. If it is an image for a client, I open the master PSD, make the changes needed - perhaps change it to a large Jpeg to be uploaded to my printer company - again, as always, using the file, save as, option. Once uploaded I can delete this jpeg.
By working in this way I don't create hundreds of copies of an image. I have the original RAW, my digital negative, and one full quality PSD file which is my working copy and that is all I need.
Next time I will talk about my backing up routine. (I know one of my students will be cringing at this - he thinks I go way over the top about backing up).
As always, if my explanations are unclear, please get in touch and I will try and help
By using the various sorting flags you can mark images with in Lightroom you can focus in on your very best images to process further.
All photographers have images that are okay, worth keeping, but in reality are not good enough to show the world. The world is not interested in them - they are just for us.
The wise photographer doesn't bore people with hundreds of mediocre images. Look at any top photographer and every single image on their website is astoundingly good. As a result we gape in awe at their skill. But rest assured, on their computer at home they have hundreds of mediocre stuff just like us - its just they never show this stuff to anyone else.
By displaying only our best work we hold our audiences interest and start to build our reputation. I recently overhauled my website and removed over half the images because to be honest they weren't up to scratch. The result, hits on my website have more than doubled and visitors are spending three times as long on average on the site.
Less is more.
So now we have in front of us a manageable handful of images we have picked as four star. Out of these I am usually drawn to that one image that stands out as the best from the shoot and am eager to work on it.
We select that image in LR2 by clicking on it and then click on the develop module. Here Adobe have tried to organise everything in the order in which it is best to work on the image.
I firstly, before I go any further, right click on the image and click 'create virtual copy'. This puts a copy of the file beside the original so you can work on this without affecting the original. If you are worried about taking up loads of hard drive space doing this, don't be. Read on and I will explain why.
So at the top of the right hand pane are tools like crop, level and rotate. Then adjustment tools for the white balance before heading to exposure adjustment, clarity saturation and contrast.
By working our way down the tools in this order we often get the best results from the image. Only use the tools you need to and I take the image into Photoshop from here to make my final adjustments.
I find CS3 to be better for dust cloning for example.
Up until you move the image into CS3 (Photoshop) you have been working on the RAW file. But in actual fact, although you have seen the image change on the screen the RAW file itself has not changed because of the way LR2 works.
A RAW file contains every single bit of information the camera caught the instant you pressed the shutter release. Once this file is in Lightroom and you make changes what Lightroom is actually doing is recording those changes in a database and SHOWING you what the image would look like if you made that change. Each time you go back to the image in future Lightroom, in effect, looks at the original RAW file and then looks at its database of changes you made and applies them to a preview to show you the effect of those changes.
This is why, at any time, you can click the 'Reset' button and all the changes will be removed and you will be looking at the RAW file in its original state again.
This is also why you can create virtual copies of the RAW file without taking up any more hard drive space. When you create a virtual copy all LR2 does is create a new entry in its database saying apply these changes to that RAW file and display a separate preview - it doesn't actually duplicate the RAW file - GENIUS!
However, when you click to send the image to Photoshop, it does now create a new file. Photoshop can't open RAW files so LR2 makes a copy of the RAW file in either tiff or PSD format (I suggest changing the format to PSD in the preferences section on the Edit menu in LR2 - PSD files are smaller than tiffs and handle colour better, they are 16bit and so give full professional results). It is this PSD or TIFF that opens in Photoshop.
In LR2 you will see this PSD appear in the filmstrip beside the original RAW. Make sure you check the 'open with Lightroom Adjustments' option when you open the file from Lightroom. This will apply the changes you have made in Lightroom to the RAW file and show them in the PSD image.
I always keep the RAW file, even when I have created a PSD from it. I view the RAW file as my digital negative. I can go back to it whenever I want in future and undo changes, create new versions (maybe in black and white or a different crop).
The PSD becomes my main file now. Once I have made all the adjustments to it I want, I save it. These changes will be displayed in Lightroom.
If I then want to upload a jpeg of the image to Flickr, I convert it to 8 bit at 72 ppi and resize it etc and save it as a jpeg on my desktop, (USING THE FILE, SAVE AS OPTION - THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE THE ORIGINAL PSD REMAINS AS IT IS) do the upload to Flickr and then I can delete this image from my desktop. I don't need it.
I then reopen the PSD and make a copy as a jpeg to upload to my personal website as this requires different settings to the Flickr version. Once uploaded, I delete the jpeg again from the desktop - it is not required any more.
And so on. If it is an image for a client, I open the master PSD, make the changes needed - perhaps change it to a large Jpeg to be uploaded to my printer company - again, as always, using the file, save as, option. Once uploaded I can delete this jpeg.
By working in this way I don't create hundreds of copies of an image. I have the original RAW, my digital negative, and one full quality PSD file which is my working copy and that is all I need.
Next time I will talk about my backing up routine. (I know one of my students will be cringing at this - he thinks I go way over the top about backing up).
As always, if my explanations are unclear, please get in touch and I will try and help
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Yes - it is an April Fools Joke!!
Yup, as thought, the Experience Seminars press release on the 20-400mm lens was an April Fools joke. They got me. Almost.
Breaking news - new Canon Lens - maybe?
Now this might be an April Fool as I can't find confirmation of this press release anywhere yet - so take it with a huge pinch of salt until confirmed.
However if it is confirmed it will be an amazing lens by the sound of things - as the press release from Experience Seminars (who are Canons approved training organisation in the UK) states, for many photographers it may end up being the 'only lens you will need'.
The lens is called ' EF 20-400mm f2.8 IO USM IS' - yup, f2.8 right through the range from 20mm to 400mm with a claimed 6 stops of image stabilisation. The release makes the point that with improved ISO performance, such as on the 5d mk2, this means virtually al photography could be done handheld... so not only no carrying a bag of lenses, no having to carry a tripod either.
The release is lengthy and detailed. It describes the lens as not being part of the L series (although the lens is white) and having a blue ring as opposed to a red ring to make it distinctive.
It has, they claim, special coatings on the optics which will require special filters - UV, protector and polarising, so as to work properly with the optics.
The weight is a little heavier than the 100-400mm L but lighter than the 28-300mm lens - but if you don't have to have a bag of lenses and a tripod on the shoulder, who cares? I can see it being the perfect walk about lens and ideal for holidays - if it does exisit, that is.
In my opinion a downside is the fact that zooming is done via a sliding barrel rather than a rotating ring - in the style of the 100-400mm L. My wife likes the way this works on her lens, but I prefer a rotating ring so that the physical length of the lens doesn't increase as you zoom in - as on my 70-200mm IS USM L f2.8 lens. (This new lens is claimed to have the USM motor too).
The lens has an 82mm diameter front element - I am suprised it is not bigger to get f2.8 across such a wide range of zoom.
Availability is claimed for autumn 2009.
Price, wait for it, and this is the suggested retail price, are you sitting down? £2799. Which while a huge amount of cash, doesn't sound so bad when you consider how many lenses you could sell on EBay from your current kit bag to finance it.
If this is true I can see this becoming one of the most popular lenses in the World.
I await a 16 - 500mm f1.4 USM IS L with standard zooming and 10 stops of image stabilisation and no increase in length during zooming. Make me one of those Canon, and we will be talking!
However if it is confirmed it will be an amazing lens by the sound of things - as the press release from Experience Seminars (who are Canons approved training organisation in the UK) states, for many photographers it may end up being the 'only lens you will need'.
The lens is called ' EF 20-400mm f2.8 IO USM IS' - yup, f2.8 right through the range from 20mm to 400mm with a claimed 6 stops of image stabilisation. The release makes the point that with improved ISO performance, such as on the 5d mk2, this means virtually al photography could be done handheld... so not only no carrying a bag of lenses, no having to carry a tripod either.
The release is lengthy and detailed. It describes the lens as not being part of the L series (although the lens is white) and having a blue ring as opposed to a red ring to make it distinctive.
It has, they claim, special coatings on the optics which will require special filters - UV, protector and polarising, so as to work properly with the optics.
The weight is a little heavier than the 100-400mm L but lighter than the 28-300mm lens - but if you don't have to have a bag of lenses and a tripod on the shoulder, who cares? I can see it being the perfect walk about lens and ideal for holidays - if it does exisit, that is.
In my opinion a downside is the fact that zooming is done via a sliding barrel rather than a rotating ring - in the style of the 100-400mm L. My wife likes the way this works on her lens, but I prefer a rotating ring so that the physical length of the lens doesn't increase as you zoom in - as on my 70-200mm IS USM L f2.8 lens. (This new lens is claimed to have the USM motor too).
The lens has an 82mm diameter front element - I am suprised it is not bigger to get f2.8 across such a wide range of zoom.
Availability is claimed for autumn 2009.
Price, wait for it, and this is the suggested retail price, are you sitting down? £2799. Which while a huge amount of cash, doesn't sound so bad when you consider how many lenses you could sell on EBay from your current kit bag to finance it.
If this is true I can see this becoming one of the most popular lenses in the World.
I await a 16 - 500mm f1.4 USM IS L with standard zooming and 10 stops of image stabilisation and no increase in length during zooming. Make me one of those Canon, and we will be talking!
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