What have you learned about workflow this year?

[theresa_skutt]

<p>I saw an ad recently that had a man with his head in his hands looking down. The caption read,"Is your workflow controlling <strong>you</strong>?" I laughed so hard it isn't funny! That's me! Just wondering if anyone came up with some ah-ha moments about workflow in 2009!</p>

[KenPapai]

<p>Just reinforcing stuff that should be 2nd nature:<br>

<br>

NEVER Delete the image files/reformat the card(s) until you've made a backup of that day's shoot -- one copy to your primary work drive and a second copy/backup to another device, generally an external hard drive (CD-ROMs and DVDs are yesterday's news and are not helpful to an efficient workflow).</p>

 

[py-photography]

<p>A single back-up isn't enough.. ie One backup drive.<br>

I lost my laptop to hardware failure(plug fused to case) and even though I said don't touch the software I can take of that myself, I even called to remind them not to touch the software... yeah you guessed it.. the techs ran a system restore... killing roughly 400 photos<br>

These are the files I could not backup, the battery died in the middle of me trying to rescue any important files. UGH!<br>

So now its download images to computer, backup to external drive, and make dvd copies.</p>

<p>Hard lesson to learn, even though I shouldn't had to learn it..</p>

[theresa_skutt]

<p>I learned to check for details, both during the shoot, and before sending to the lab! Little things that irritate & distract take away from the final product!</p>

[mrraz]

<p>Nothing I didn't already know. The key word is the first 4 letters of workflow. Many times there is no flow about it.</p>

[thomas_sullivan]

<p>Lightroom 2.....I shoot mostly RAW, and before getting Lightroom, it was a juggle fest between Adobe Bridge, Adobe Raw, and Photoshop proper to get my images assorted and editted the way I wanted them. Now, 98% of it is done in Lightroom. So easy!</p>

[User_276104]

<p>I'm not saying this to be a wise guy or start any format arguments, but I've learned to trust slide film, enjoy transparencies on a light box and scan the good ones. The workflow part is all "in the field" for me these days.</p>

[rossb]

<p>Workflow sounds like a good way to ruin a hobby. I prefer to just have fun and shoot when I feel like it. It's just a hobby. No hurry, no worries.</p>

[vrankin]

<p>Last spring I developed a custom camera setting for shooting landscapes in broad light on high desert, in canyons and mountains. It involved workarounds for the typical highlight clipping, lack of shadow detail, and over-sharpening effects of the small sensor. The straight jpeg <a href="http://lightpat.zenfolio.com/p1034133160">results</a> I brought home seemed pretty good. Fortunately, I also shot RAW versions of the most difficult subjects, and now four months later I'm going back and re-interpreting them in even more satisfying ways.</p>

[Leonard-just-Leonard]

<p>it is time consuming. <br>

some of my allegedly best shots were right out of the camera, NO editing other than minor tweaks. </p>

<p>it is also pointless (to me anyways) to try and make a nature shot something you couldn't capture properly with the camera in the first place.</p>

<p>so I guess my ha ha moment is I messed around for a long time trying to make a shot "better" and it still sucked. </p>

[bob_bill]

<p>The worst part of my workflow is lugging a truck full of gear into and out of a location. Santa is on his way with a ladder/handtruck combo that Nadine posted a while back. Will make for faster loading and unloading and moving around within a site. No more trying to see how many sand bags I can carry in one trip with other gear over shoulders. Gives new meaning to "beast of burden." Plus, it will get me off those rikkety chairs when I want a higher pov. </p>

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>I'm a bit like Ross except I learned I was going to be forced to do this as a hobby when I found how much work is involved to the point I couldn't see decent hourly wage doing it as a business. I have to edit almost everyone of my images because I'm so picky.</p>

<p>At least for me shooting digital Raw is much easier and enjoyable over scanning film or shooting jpegs.</p>

<p>I'm still trying to come up with an efficient workflow routine. Several years have gone by and I still haven't backed up my images off my 2004 iMac. How's that for living dangerously?</p>

<p>Two days ago I ordered a Macally SATA to firewire/USB 2.0 enclosure to go with my 160GB Seagate 7200rpm 3.5in. HD so I can finally get around to backing up around 400 images I've accumulated over several years. I just figured out the Sandisk 8GB USB micro drives I bought are too small in physical size and capacity to allow me a functional method of writing what I put on them in an organized way in keeping them in my safe deposit box. The external HD setup seems reasonable for the $78 I paid on Amazon with free shipping.</p>

<p>Please, no lectures. I know I've been putting this off too long.</p>

[fate_faith_change_chains]

I learned that I don't have one. But I do have a flow that seems to work.

[tompickering]

<p>Make a backup as the very first thing you do after you move the pictures from the camera to the computer - then put the backup somewhere super safe and separate from the computer.</p>