Ahhh Editing and Workflow

Seedpod Heartfelt Opening

What the heck do I do with all the images I have and how the heck do I go through them? Editing is crucial to creating a cohesive body of work. I include the amateur to the pro-no one is exempt. I load my images in Lightroom. For my personal and portrait work, this is the easiest route for me. I organize by date, which somehow my brain remembers when I was where photographing what. I suggest you ask yourself how to best organize for your brain. In Lightroom, you have an option to create catalogues or mini portfolios. I tend to create a new one or go right to an ongoing one, simply dragging and dropping the images. I premise this all by saying I have already set up a template for my metadata and keyword upon downloading. This makes my editing time significantly faster. I evaluate my images first by quickly going through the images-ranking as I go. Once at the end of the roll, I filter to only see those images I ranked. Again, I go through evaluating  each technical aspect of an image from composition to visual meaning to useage. Once I get down to the keepers, I process through Lightroom's Develop module. I set the correct White Balance (WB) using the dropper. Although I do have a series of steps, I experiment with all the options provided in the development tool until I feel I have reached a printing point. Often I will go into Photoshop (CS3 for BW and CS5 for color) to create layers using a combo of curve adjustments, gradient tool, and the history brush. My goal is to create visual depth with light and shadow and reveal or dim texture. I am for the preservation of my pixels and have non-destructive development techniques. This is very significant for me as I am a photographer, not a digital artist. Once I cross over into destructive techniques, I create a (beautiful or not) piece of digital art. I have some friends who are amazing digital artists. For me, I find my place is in photography-both within the capturing of a scene and through the process of printing.

Just a side note: I use CS3 for printing all my black and white images because I use a Quad tone Profile that has had some issues with compatibility in CS5. Otherwise, I use Lightroom to print my color work even if I do make adjustments in Photoshop. Believe it or not that is my work flow process. Some images take hours while others perhaps just one hour of processing. I will also add that as I begin to put a cohesive body of work together I print on a variety of papers to find the 'right' one. I do use luster or enhanced matte paper for proofing.

Next article: Preparing to make a photographic print....some old school rules applied to the digital work flow

Ritta Island, Lake Okeechobee: prepping for field work

Ritta Island, Lake Okeechobee-all that remains of the Pond Apple Forest Belt that once ran from Port Mayaca to Clewiston (almost 2.5-3 miles of forest on the southern area of the Lake that was destroyed during the 1940's)



Since I am heading out for some field work next week, my mind has been pre-visualizing some of the photographs I know that are important scientifically and personally. I find I get so excited once I am emerged in the natural landscape that I need to bring a small list with me. I just tuck it in my pocket and am sure to write with a ball point pen or sharpie (both water proof). I also review the edited images from previous trips as a reminder of things I missed or technical settings I want to experiment with. Sounds like a little work? Don't let the ease of point and shoot cameras or even moderate DSLR's fool you. Preparing for field work is extremely important not only to ensure you have charged batteries and CF cards, but also to mentally prepare for any lighting/weather situation, animal encounter, and have a good list as previously mentioned.
The digital technology has eased almost anyone into photography. To be a pro, one needs to have the photography skills, confidence, and vision on a consistent basis with images that are dynamic. As I have stated before, we are lucky to have Photoshop, but in camera is where I make my decisions. The software is just there for white point balancing, curve adjustments, and sharpening. These are all basic overall corrections. When I make my prints, (yes, I still do my own, but that is soapbox I'll save for another blog) I still examine and correct as I did in the wet darkroom with burning and dodging using the history brush. I choose this method of workflow to maintain the integrity of my pixels and not destroy what's there.
More to come on workflow....