Capture NX2 - Workflow?

<p>Hi all! I am new to digital photography and have really been enjoying my D300 that I purchased a few months ago. <br>

Over the weekend I downloaded NX2 and began working with it and am amazed.<br>

Does anybody have a very simple work flow that they use with NX2 that an amateur could use as reference?<br>

I have been shooting RAW and JPEG.<br>

Thanks in advance!<br>

Jeff</p>

<p>you may want to pickup Jason ODell's NX book.</p>

<p>It sort of depends on what I've been shootiing (and why). But it generally goes something like this:<br /><br />1) Dump my memory cards into a dated folder on a working drive (called something like '2009-04-28_Event_so-and-so'), then dismount the memory card, and set it aside. I then make two backups of the folder - one on a server elsewhere on my network, and another on an external drive for safety.<br /><br />2) I then tell NX2 to open up that folder of files, and I'll use a decent-sized thumbnail view to cull out the obvious trash, if there is any. Typically, I'm only working with RAW files, just FYI.<br /><br />3) With things whittled down a bit, I'll select all of the files at once, and then use the meta data editor to apply some copyright and basic keyword info to the file headers. <br /><br />4) Then I'll use the "star" scoring system to rate the images as to-be-used, keep-but-don't-use, etc. I'll usually set the folder display to only show me the un-ranked files, so that as I score, them, they disappear from view.<br /><br />5) Once I've got that done, I'll usually make a couple of folders in the working folder - something like "Not Used" and "Keepers" etc. I then use the folder display filter to show me only the keeper-or-better graded images, then I select them all and move them into their own folder. Likewise with the keep-but-don't-use files, into their own folder. Separating them into folders this way is important because NX2's batch processing doesn't yet take ranking/scoring into account.<br /><br />6) The rest depends on what I'm trying to accomplish. I might then go into the "Keepers" folder and do some white balancing, cropping, etc... and then run a batch process to produce a pile of renamed JPGs that will actually do what I want, and then use a gallery generator (like JAlbum or Portra, etc) to produce something web-friendly, or CD-friendly, as needed.<br /><br />7) I make take a few of those images over into a more specialized Paint-ish program to add a border, a watermark, or something else necessary for posting or showing to someone. From there, it's all case-by-case. Especially since NX2 has a healing brush, I'm pleased with how often I do NOT need to invoke another paint application for most proofing/previewing and web gallery prep tasks.<br /><br />Have fun with the D300, and enjoy NX2. It definitely has its own way of doing things, but it's well suited to certain types of work, and there are some things about how it handles editing (like the color control points) that can get kind of addicting.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>you may want to pickup Jason ODell's NX book.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I second that - I found it very useful. To be clear, it is an e-book in PDF format, not a physical "codex".</p>

<p>that's why god created color laser printers at work :)</p>

<p>Ben Long’s book, Real World Nikon Capture NX 2, is another book to get. I just finished it over the holiday. I will be getting <em>The Photographer's Guide to Capture NX2 soon. </em> Long's book showed me a few things that really helped me edit RAW files in NX2. I have some photos taken at night in a poorly let garage where the light was from tube lights. Even with a SB800 the photos were just too dark. With a few quick edits in NX2 I was able to turn something that was not worth printing to a printable photo.</p>

<p>Frankly, I think I will need both books to get close to knowing all there is to know about NX 2. I had figured out quite a bit on my own but the Long's book really helped safe some photos and enance other photos.</p>

<p>Workflow wise. I stopped shooting RAW and JPG. Now its only RAW. NX2 can easily create the JPG or TIFF.</p>

<p>I download the photos from the camera into my computer.<br>

Look at the images and delete whatever is not in focus or sharp. <br>

As I do this I grade the photos with the "stars" Which is funny since that is what I used on my old slides with a pen years ago. Depending on the photos I might group them as well. Along with the grading I might make some edit changes like using D Lighting or cropping. The new edit I use is to change the histogram if required by the photograph.</p>

<p>After the edits and "grading" is complete the photos are batched to create JPGs or TIFFs to be sent to the web or printing.</p>

<p>Later,<br>

Dan</p>