Testing, testing – this photo was uploaded from my iPhone to Flickr and now this blog post is being made from the Flickr website. Just curious to see how all this linking works!
Hmmm, it seems to work pretty well~!
Oak
Jul 1
Digital Workflow
Jun 30
I was listening to the This Week in Photography podcast Episode #63 Resolutions and the guys were discussing their digital workflow. In other words, what do they do after downloading their photos from the camera cards to the hard drive.
Steve Simon’s workflow is somewhat similar to mine so I thought it best to write it down here. If I write down my workflow then I can edit it and revise it and memorize it until it becomes routine. If it becomes routine then it becomes a task I can do quickly and efficiently and not one of those tasks I dread and put off till later.
My process is based on Aperture but, it works just as well in Lightroom or ACDSee or any other program that lets you manage your photos with keywords and/or rating systems.
My Digital Workflow:
- Import the photos into the software
- In the first pass toss the obvious losers. In Aperture press the 9 key which gives the photo a [X] rating hiding the photo from view.
- In the second pass rate keepers with 1 to 3 stars [Aperture keyboard shortcut - press the 1-5 keys to give the photos 1-5 stars].
- Rate killer photos - ones good enough to go into a portfolio or enter a contest – with 4 stars. These are the photos that deserve your love when it comes to making adjustments.
- At the end of the year go back through all the 4-star photos and give the best of the best 5 stars.
Project List
Jun 29
What sort of projects should I work on? Here are a few ideas I’ve heard over the past few days:
- Take a photo a day for a year
- Leading lines
Ok, so its a short list! I’ll try to expand on it over the next few days.
UPDATE: No need to add any more project ideas. I’m going with the project that will exercise my left brain the most – taking photos each and every day for the next year. I’m allowed to take as many photos as I want and to use any camera I want – including my cell phone – but, to keep things honest I have to upload my favorite photo – or my only photo – to Flickr each day.
Task List
Jun 29
All my life (44 years) I’ve been a snap shooter. My approach is like every other parent with a camera – capture memories, perhaps print a few or one day print a photo album. How’s that going? Not so well! I haven’t printed a single picture yet! Is it too late for a 2009 New Year’s Resolution?! Well, maybe not resolutions so much as a task list.
So here goes - in no particular order – my plans for 2009:
- Print something – anything! My wife and I were married 9 years before we had kids. Old folks used to chide us, telling us that we really weren’t married until we have kids. I’ve heard pro photographers say something similar – a photo isn’t a photograph until its printed.
- Pick a project or two. Without a project then a photographer wanders aimlessly from one snapshot to the next. A project helps focus your efforts. Gives you a goal. Keeps you from getting distracted. I need a photo project!
- KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid. Stop taking snapshots – so full of information that you can’t really tell what the subject is. Simplify.
- Finish my slide project. I’ve scanned 200 Kodachrome slides from the 50’s. The slides are sitting in my Flickr account and on my hard drive. Turn them into a book or something!