Lightroom Workflow
This section is intended to describe my typical workflow, how I organize my photos and the tools I use to do it. It doesn't cover the actual taking of the photos themselves, which is of course the most difficult and most important part! All my photographs are now taken in RAW format. The RAW versus JPEG debate is one that is well documented on the Internet, but I personally prefer the additional flexibility that RAW brings.
Initial Import
Importing direct from the camera via USB tends to drain battery power, so I always use a card reader. I may have already done a very quick cull on the camera, but basically all the files get copied over into an 'upload' folder in my Lightroom catalogue. This is done using the import options from within Lightroom. At the same time the files get renamed (appending the shooting date to the filename, adding my own numbering system) and have basic metadata associated with them.
Image Assessment
The Lightroom Library Module is then used to look through the images and remove those that are very obviously no good. At this stage I will still tend to keep images that may have some potential. For images that I'm not sure about I'll usually experiment with them for a while and decide if there might be some hidden qualities within them.
Next stage - Backup! This is such an important part of any digital workflow. You may not need a backup often, but if you do you'll be extremely glad you made them.
For the images that are being kept I then add in the appropriate metadata and keywords. I don't use a pre-defined list of keywords - I will add new ones as I go along, but now my library has been around a while there are not many new keywords that I need. The images are then moved into my 'Storage' folder. Sub-folders within here are organised geographically. I prefer to sort my files in this way, rather than by date. If I do need to find images from a specific date then I can easily do so by using the search facilities within Lightroom.
Developing The RAW
The next stage for me is to rate the images that I am keeping - using the 'star' system within Lightroom. Images that have been assigned at least one star will then be adjusted using the Lightroom Develop Module. I enjoy this stage of the workflow, and may spend some time with each image. One of the good things about working with RAW is that all the changes are non-destructive, and so for some images I may well produce several snapshots. At this stage I may also decide to alter the 'star' rating for an image - often careful development of a RAW file can really bring an image to life.
Next Stage - Backup! Yes I know I've already done it once - but I don't want to lose the time I've just spent editing, so at this stage I'll back up again. I personally use an external hard-drive that is then stored in a separate room. Dual backups are a good idea - particularly if photography is your main source of income. The Lightroom Library data is also backed up at this stage.
Further Usage
The good thing about a program such as Lightroom is that you never really alter the original file - you are just saving the instructions on how to modify it. If I need to convert the images for the web or for print I can do this from the original, using the export and print tools within Lightroom. This helps to reduce the number of copies of an image sat on my hard-drive. If necessary Photoshop is used to perform pixel-level work on an image and depending upon the dynamic range of the scene I may also use Photoshop to combine to RAW files, normally using a graduated layer mask.
The Future
At the moment my workflow works very well for my needs. It may however change. If a more efficient tool or workflow becomes available then it would be sensible to look at it. Lightroom works well for me at the moment, but who knows what the future may hold.
FAQs
Below are answers to some of the common questions that I receive about my workflow. If you have any other questions that you would like to see answered then please contact me.
Q: Do you make use of the colour labels within Lightroom, and if so how?
A: Yes I do. Photos with no colour label have not been edited or had metadata applied to them. Red is used to indicate that metadata has been applied, yellow used to indicate an initial edit has been made and purple used to indicate that final editing has been completed (including any Photoshop work if required). One feature I would like to see added to Lightroom is the ability to 'lock' a photo against further editing - currently this cannot be done.
Q: How do you generate the various sizes and finish of image required for your website?
A: This is all done through Lightroom. I use three separate export processes - one for the thumbnail images, one for the normal sized images and one for the large images with border. Within the export options in Lightroom I use the excellent LR Mogrify plug-in by Timothy Armes. This plug-in provides very good control of borders, text placement and a whole host of other image parameters. If the default Lightroom export options aren't providing you with the flexibility that you need then I strongly recommend checking out this plug-in.
Q: Do you use Lightroom Collections? If so, what for?
A: I make use of Lightroom Collections a lot. The whole idea of collections is to be able to pull together photos that don't reside in the same folder on your hard-drive. My main use of collections is for my website galleries - each of these lives within its own collection in Lightroom, making it easy to update, manage etc. I also use Smart Collections to dynamically pull together images - for instance all pictures of my family. Collections are a great time-saver and allow you to structure your images in many different ways.