My Workflow Part 1

There is probably no more individualized aspect to digital photography for the photographer than his or her workflow. From how they conceive of and set up the shot to how they archive and post process their images. Today I want to focus on my post shot workflow.

The post shot process for myself has evolved over the years. I've gone from Lightroom on a PC to Aperture on a Mac. Today it goes something like this...

1. Copy the RAW files to an external hard drive. Gotta have a backup to the backup.
2. Move the RAW files onto my computer into a "working directory".
3. Import RAW files from the working directory into Digital Asset Management application. In today's world for me that is Corel's AfterShot Pro. Yes I know it is primarily a RAW editor, but it does a good job of management. And it's what works for me.
4. I apply an import preset that has my copyright information.
5. I rate and flag images that I want to revisit and work on.
6. I remove from the AfterShot catalog all images that didn't make the cut. This just helps me keep my virtual desk clear. I still have the RAW files if I want to revisit them at a later date.
7. I then edit the flagged images in AfterShot correcting exposure, contrast, sharpness, noise etc.
8. Then I have to decide on what type of output to produce. Today it is mainly digital, meaning my images are not going to necessarily hang on a wall as a print, most probably they are going to be used on a website or blog as a micro stock purchase.

That's it in a nutshell. Eight overly simplified steps. In the upcoming posts I'll delve deeper into these eight steps where shedding light on the techniques used will hopefully help a young or old aspiring photographer make the most of his or her work.

Part two of this post will concentrate on what I have under the hood so to speak. I'll talk about why I choose Linux as an OS and why I paid for AfterShot Pro as well as why I didn't mention GIMP. I will also be posting examples images edited in AfterShot.

What! Another blogger trying to convince the world that "open source" software can do everything the big boys of photo-editing software can. Well not exactly. I hope to only to show how I use openSUSE a few pieces of software including Corel AfterShot formerly Bibble 5 for RAW editing and photo organization as well as GIMP for minor photo-manipulation. I will discuss creating Panoramas and HDR images from open source software. There will be a number of how-to post covering the software I use as well as various aspects of photography.

I hope those that visit will be patient as I flesh out a robust blog that will, I hope, be informative and entertaining. I plan on a weekly post, but on occasion there will be more than one a week.