15
Jul, 2017
My Work Flow
A big part of photography is something called Work Flow, which is basically the processes through which a piece of work passes from initiation to completion. Everyones work flow will differ slightly but will usually follow similar steps. As I'm interested in other photographers work flow, I thought I'd share the process I take my photographs through & a few of the programs I use along the way.
Step 1:
This obviously starts with making the photograph, which I use my Nikon D7200 to do. Depending on my subject, will depend on the lens I use.
Step 2:
Once I've made my photographs, I need to get them onto my iPad Pro. Although my D7200 has Wifi capabilities, I prefer to use my Wifi Keenai {previously Eyefi} SD Card & App to do this. I just find it much more straight forward to use as once my iPad Pro is connected to the Card's Wifi, it uploads all my photos to the App. Once all the photos are uploaded, I then go through them & save all the ones I want to edit & check to the iPad's Camera Roll.
{Using the D7200's Wifi & App, I have to go through all my photos on the camera & select all the ones I want to upload - a major job when you're taking 100's of photos!}
Step 3:
Now it's time to do some post-processing or editing. My chosen program/App for this right now is Snapseed. It's such a lovely, straight forward App to use, there's plenty of options to help get your photo looking just right, including a number of different filters & as a bonus it's free! I'm quite minimal when it comes to editing my photographs, I'm not one of those people who when taking a shot think "I'll fix it in editing" I prefer to get it right in Camera.
When post processing I generally will up the Structure & Sharpen the image a little. Then I may alter the Brightness, Contrast, Shadows & Warmth {If needed} It's all about personal preference & the feeling I'm trying to convey with the photograph in question.
If I find something in the photo that draws my eye in a negative way, I'll either use the Healing tool in snapseed or I'll use an App called Retouch to remove the offending object if I can.
I have a number of other editing Apps which I'll also use if I decide to have a play & practise my editing skills. I think it's good to have programs/Apps that do lots of different things as it helps teach you how the different options can effect the exposure & look of your photographs.
Once I'm happy with how my photograph is looking, I'll export it & then I'll add my watermark using the Text tool in Snapseed & then export again. This means I always have two copies of the finished photograph which comes in handy in a future step.
Step 4:
Once I've finished the post processing, I then delete all the original unedited versions from my camera roll {don't panic, they're still on my SD Card} I then use my iStick & App {a memory stick with lightening connection on one side & USB on the other} to do my first backup. It simply plugs into my iPad Pro & then select all the photographs I want to copy onto it.
Step 5:
I'll then decide which photographs I want to share to my Instagram {I'm going to do another post in more detail on how I work my Instagram} & add them to my Instagram Album in Photos {this is why I always have a watermarked version}. At this stage I may also double check my portfolio & add any to that as well. Once I've done, I'll generally delete most of them so I don't have an overload of photographs on my iPad Pro {even though that's purely what I use it for}
Step 6:
Time for more backing up! Using the USB connector on my iStick, I plug it into my Laptop & transfer all the photographs to my Master Photograph folder, which is then broken down into Month & then date. In each date folder is "Edits" & "Originals" folders.
Once all the edited versions are on my laptop, I then get SD card from my camera & transfer all the original copies into the corresponding date "Originals" folder. After that, the SD card goes back into the camera & I format it.
The final backup I do once all my photographs are on my laptop is to copy them to my WD 1TB hard drive.
{I do need to give this a major over haul & get it more organised. I'm also at some point going to get another hard drive as an extra backup}
Step 7: {optional}
Print your photographs. This step is entirely optional of course & can come earlier in your work flow. You can either do this personally or send your photographs to a professional photo lab. This is not a step I personally do often {hence why I added it at the end} & when I do, I'll send my photographs to Loxley Colour to have them printed.
I would love to print my own but my printer decided to die the last time I tried to print a couple of photos on it. I'm hoping to be able to get a new printer in the future, but printing via Loxley colour isn't too expensive & the quality is amazing! Plus their delivery time is very fast if your wanting normal prints & nothing fancy or framed. I definitely recommend them.
There you have, my work flow. sometimes I'm really productive & do all the Steps in one day & other times, I do them over a few days or a week. But one thing I will say, is always always always are sure you back up your photographs & have at least one back up of the back up. Laptops & portable hard drives can be temperamental creatures & so having multiple backups is definitely a safe guard just in case.
If you have any suggestions on how to make my work flow better or have any editing App recommendations, please leave them in the comments.
Take care,
Louise
Step 1:
This obviously starts with making the photograph, which I use my Nikon D7200 to do. Depending on my subject, will depend on the lens I use.
Step 2:
Once I've made my photographs, I need to get them onto my iPad Pro. Although my D7200 has Wifi capabilities, I prefer to use my Wifi Keenai {previously Eyefi} SD Card & App to do this. I just find it much more straight forward to use as once my iPad Pro is connected to the Card's Wifi, it uploads all my photos to the App. Once all the photos are uploaded, I then go through them & save all the ones I want to edit & check to the iPad's Camera Roll.
{Using the D7200's Wifi & App, I have to go through all my photos on the camera & select all the ones I want to upload - a major job when you're taking 100's of photos!}
 |
| Keenai App |
Now it's time to do some post-processing or editing. My chosen program/App for this right now is Snapseed. It's such a lovely, straight forward App to use, there's plenty of options to help get your photo looking just right, including a number of different filters & as a bonus it's free! I'm quite minimal when it comes to editing my photographs, I'm not one of those people who when taking a shot think "I'll fix it in editing" I prefer to get it right in Camera.
When post processing I generally will up the Structure & Sharpen the image a little. Then I may alter the Brightness, Contrast, Shadows & Warmth {If needed} It's all about personal preference & the feeling I'm trying to convey with the photograph in question.
If I find something in the photo that draws my eye in a negative way, I'll either use the Healing tool in snapseed or I'll use an App called Retouch to remove the offending object if I can.
I have a number of other editing Apps which I'll also use if I decide to have a play & practise my editing skills. I think it's good to have programs/Apps that do lots of different things as it helps teach you how the different options can effect the exposure & look of your photographs.
 |
| My Editing App Options |
Once I'm happy with how my photograph is looking, I'll export it & then I'll add my watermark using the Text tool in Snapseed & then export again. This means I always have two copies of the finished photograph which comes in handy in a future step.
Step 4:
Once I've finished the post processing, I then delete all the original unedited versions from my camera roll {don't panic, they're still on my SD Card} I then use my iStick & App {a memory stick with lightening connection on one side & USB on the other} to do my first backup. It simply plugs into my iPad Pro & then select all the photographs I want to copy onto it.
Step 5:
I'll then decide which photographs I want to share to my Instagram {I'm going to do another post in more detail on how I work my Instagram} & add them to my Instagram Album in Photos {this is why I always have a watermarked version}. At this stage I may also double check my portfolio & add any to that as well. Once I've done, I'll generally delete most of them so I don't have an overload of photographs on my iPad Pro {even though that's purely what I use it for}
Step 6:
Time for more backing up! Using the USB connector on my iStick, I plug it into my Laptop & transfer all the photographs to my Master Photograph folder, which is then broken down into Month & then date. In each date folder is "Edits" & "Originals" folders.
Once all the edited versions are on my laptop, I then get SD card from my camera & transfer all the original copies into the corresponding date "Originals" folder. After that, the SD card goes back into the camera & I format it.
The final backup I do once all my photographs are on my laptop is to copy them to my WD 1TB hard drive.
{I do need to give this a major over haul & get it more organised. I'm also at some point going to get another hard drive as an extra backup}
Step 7: {optional}
Print your photographs. This step is entirely optional of course & can come earlier in your work flow. You can either do this personally or send your photographs to a professional photo lab. This is not a step I personally do often {hence why I added it at the end} & when I do, I'll send my photographs to Loxley Colour to have them printed.
I would love to print my own but my printer decided to die the last time I tried to print a couple of photos on it. I'm hoping to be able to get a new printer in the future, but printing via Loxley colour isn't too expensive & the quality is amazing! Plus their delivery time is very fast if your wanting normal prints & nothing fancy or framed. I definitely recommend them.
 |
| Main Apps are all on the top line. |
There you have, my work flow. sometimes I'm really productive & do all the Steps in one day & other times, I do them over a few days or a week. But one thing I will say, is always always always are sure you back up your photographs & have at least one back up of the back up. Laptops & portable hard drives can be temperamental creatures & so having multiple backups is definitely a safe guard just in case.
If you have any suggestions on how to make my work flow better or have any editing App recommendations, please leave them in the comments.
Take care,
Louise