Dan's Digital Workflow (DDW)
I've been shooting digital seriously for several
years. In this time I've used many tools and processes while
trying to optimize my workflow and minimize the amount of work I need
to do. I've always wished that someone had written a guide that
said "do this step-by-step and you'll be set", so I decided to write a
color-by-numbers approach for anyone looking to start a workflow.
First, you may be asking "what is a workflow?" and "why
do I need one?" A workflow is any set of steps you do to process
your pictures. It could be as simple as sticking your card into
you computer, downloading the pictures to your hard drive, and viewing
them with Windows explorer. For most people, though, it is
somewhat more involved.
The reality is that you already have a workflow whether
you like it or not. The only question is how complex a workflow
you really need, and how can you make it more efficient. If you
are an amateur shooting snapshots or an advanced amateur with minimal
processing needs, then you should go as simple as possible and use a
one-stop-shopping tool like Adobe Photoshop Elements or Google's free
Picasa. (If you fall into this category, you should stop
here.) If you are an advanced amateur or pro trying to get the
maximum flexibility and results you'll probably go with something more
optimized for each step.
Here are the basic steps in the workflow:
- Take the picture
- Download the files
- Pre-process
the images and throw away the junk
- Move from
Triage
- Catalog
the images
- Backup the files
- Additional
processing and printing
- Transfer to web
I'll go into the method and tools I use for each step
below.
Tool: Digital SLR
Obviously this will be highly personalized since this
depends on your gear and style. The only thing I will go into
here is file format- RAW vs. everything else. When I first got my
Nikon digital, I shot everything JPEG and scoffed at the idea of
shooting RAW. Why would I want the extra storage and
hassle? Well, there are lots of reasons- the most important being
that you have a master copy of the image that you can always go back to
whenever you need. Second, as good as the white balance is in
your camera, it isn't perfect- RAW lets you nail the white balance, and
that makes a huge difference (especially if you're shooting indoor
events like sports or theater). With memory as cheap as it is now
(1GB for < $99), the storage issues is a non-issue. I shoot
everything RAW now, so the following workflow is optimized for RAW.
Tools: PC, downloading utility (e.g. Nikon View 6)
You'll probably use the utility that came with your
camera for this, but any will do. I use Nikon View 6 (which is
far superior to the piece-of-crap "upgrade" that came with the
camera). I download everything to a directory called "triage" on
my hard drive- this is where I do all my initial sorting and processing.
The only processing I do at this stage is set the file
name. I convert all files to the following timestamp
format: {cam}_YYYYMMDD_hhmmss. For example:
nik_20050409_123455. This isn't descriptive but it'd easy and
allows for good sorting and easy location. It also ensures that
all files have unique names (so you don't have 500 cam_0001 files, one
in each download directory).
Tools: Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperature
This used to be the biggest pain in the process, but
both Lightroom and Aperature make it easy. I basically just point
it at my "triage" directory, wait while it loads the files and
previews, and then go assign a rating to each file (1-5). 1's are
junk, 2-5 are possible keepers. Once I have my keepers, I do can
then to some tweaking of the exposure, white balance, sharpness, and a
host of other settings.
Tools: Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperature
I store all of the images on a server class hard drive
in a directory structure that looks like this:
/[year]/[date] - [name]
For example, my 2008 directory looks something like this:
/2008/20080331 - studio shoot
/2008/20080415 - birthday party
I simply drag the images using Lightroom, and it moves
both the image and associated XMP sidecar.
Tools: Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperature
Cataloging or tagging is a pain in the butt, but once
you have 5-10K files (or more), you'll wish you had an easy way to
retrieve all pictures with your dog Fluffy in them without going
through all 10K images. I recommend taking the time to do the
tagging- it will pay off big time later.
I usually assign two types of categories to my photos-
general metadata (like location, event, etc.) and then meaningful
personal categories (like "my pets" or "best of - nature". I also
assign all photos belonging to one major catalog (like "Europe Vacation
2003") to one big category so I can pull them all down at once.
Categories are incredibly powerful, especially when you mix and match-
I'll try to write more about them later.
Make sure you turn on "store metadata in XMP sidecar"
(or similar) option so that all of your hard work in catalogging
travels with the photo in a portable fashion and doesn't stay locked up
in a proprietary database.
Tools: external hard drive(s), network storage
With the low cost of storage these days you have no
excuse for not making backups of your photos. All it takes is one
bad day for your hard disk or one nasty virus and you've just lost
three years of memories. (OK, I'll admit this is pretty anal, but
I really don't want to lose my photos!)
I used to have multiple copies of the photo on disks and
offsite DVDs, but with the amazing cost of unlimited network storage,
I've now switched to having one local copy and one network copy.
I use Mozy (~$8/month for unlimited storage), which automatically backs
up any new files nightly.
Tools: Photoshop
At this point you're done with the boring hard
stuff. It might seem like a lot but in practice it can go pretty
quick once you get the hang of it. Now you can have fun with the
pictures and edit and print them as you see fit. There are lots
of great programs out there but Photoshop is still the big dog and it
is so for a reason- it's that good. If you can't afford the full
Photoshop get the Elements package- it has the same tools but is not
capable of custom automation.
For printing I use the Epson 2200. It is truly
amazing. I'm sure there are other great printers out there, but I
can tell you straight up that you will not be disappointed with the
Epson, especially if you print on the Enhanced Matte paper and/or print
at 13x19". It's a little expensive but worth every penny.
Tools: JAlbum
If you're like me you want your photos to be available
for friends, family, and potential clients to view. There are
lots of web generators out there, but I really like JAlbum- it's
powerful, flexible, programmable, and free. That said, I'm also a
Java programmer and like that I can customize it- that may not appeal
to you. Even so, it's worth a look.
The "moving to the web" is a whole separate workflow-
I'm out of time right now but I'll try to get to that later. Or
email me with questions.
I used to run this website on my own PC at home, but I
recently moved to a hosted solution at hostmonster.com (actually, I
started at ipowerweb.com, but the service was awful). For
$7/month I get all of the bandwidth, tools, and capacity I could
need. I recommend that option to anyone.
That's about it. I hope this was helpful to you.
At the same time I have no illusions that this is the best process out
there- if you know of better ones or see ways for me to improve mine,
please let me know. My goal is to spend my time taking the
pictures, not processing them, so I'm all about making it easier.
Cheers!
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