This exercise has asked me to create and evaluate my own digital photographic workflow, from shoot inception through preparing for the shoot, shooting, post production and eventual publication/dissemination of the final images. Therefore I will plan my workflow in advance, follow it as closely as possible during the planning/shooting/editing phase and then evaluate it at the end, assessing where I would need to change the workflow or where I have deviated from it.
What is a Workflow?
A workflow is the processes in the order required to complete any given task. In this case, a photographic workflow, relates to everything from the planning phase of a shoot, through actual shooting and eventually the editing process. A photographic workflow can vary dependent upon the type of task being completed, i.e. a portrait shoot may require the completion of a model release form however a landscape shoot wouldn’t or if a certain session were being shot on film, the workflow would need to reflect the film processing and possibly scanning. However the workflow usually sticks to a very similar format with just the addition or subtraction of some sections for each shoot.
Planned Workflow
Below I have laid out the workflow I plan to work to; this includes every stage I could possibly foresee from planning straight through to the final image.
I didn’t want to over complicate the workflow. I kept it as linear as possible therefore making it easy to work through each step before progressing to the next. I feel that this should account for every possible step necessary, however I have left the shoot section as a single point on its own. This point is very ambiguous and I felt that I shouldn’t tie my self down and be restricted by a specific set of steps during the shooting process.
During a shoot, especially when working with a model, I prefer to allow the shoot to move in whatever route it takes, with as minimal direction from myself as possible. I find that just talking and interacting with a model I am working with creates the most natural images, but obviously when I have a specific image or thought in my mind I will express it, and work with the model to create it. Whereas if I were to have a workflow for a shoot and try and rigorously stick to it, I think it would take the natural element out of it and that could be detrimental to the final images.
The Exercise
The exercise was to be based around a portrait session. I decided to make it a couple’s shoot, I personally find it easier to pose and work with a couple compared to one person on their own. The session was to be time constrained and have an element of image development.
Below I have detail how I worked through my workflow, I’ve provided a description of what I did at each stage and a rough time guide to show how much time I spent on each section. I’m hoping the time guide will be useful helping me assess if workflow is efficient and time effective.
Planning the Shoot – 30+ Hours
I already knew that I wanted to shoot the session at Crumlin Glen; I had used this location for one of the exercises in the ‘Art of Photography’ course and I’m sure this won’t be the last time I will be using this location either.
The next step was to find my subjects; for this I used a local Facebook group and offered the shoot for TFP (time for print), they provided their time in return for a copy of the images. I had quite a few replies and narrowed it down to one couple who I though I would be able to work well with (however I do have a few subjects available for future exercises)…and so I found Loran & Ross!
The final step in the planning stage was research. I used the Internet for this to find out what photographers in the industry were doing in this sort of situation. My main source was Google, with searches relating around ‘Engagement Photo Shoots’, ‘Couple Photo Shoot’ and ‘Wedding Photography’. I was mainly looking at poses, as this was the area I had the least experience in but I was also looking at overall composition. I eventually comprised a booklet containing lots of images I had taken from all over the Internet that I took along with me to the shoot to refer to for inspiration.
Prepare Kit – 3-5 Hours
The night before the shoot, I ensured all batteries for my camera and speed-lights were fully charged. I gave my equipment a thorough clean including using an air blower to clean the sensor and cleaning all the glass on my lenses.
Shoot – 2 Hours
The shoot was planned for a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon at Crumlin Glen. However, due to the predictably unpredictable Northern Irish weather, the planned sunny afternoon turned into a complete wash-out and we were forced to cancel before we even got there!
There were two or three planned opportunities, but all of which were marred by the weather. So, when we got the opportunity one evening after Loran, Ross and I had finished work, we didn’t hesitate to get out and get shooting (I’d had my kit packed and ready to go just incase).
The shoot went well, however being the end of summer, the intensity of the sun was waning even though it was still light even at eight o’clock in the evening. This pretty much gave us a two hour window between 17:30-19:30, in which we did as much as possible. However towards the end of the shoot it started to become apparent to me that we were losing the light and we would need to bring it to an end!
Not only was I concentrating on shooting for this exercise, but also I really wanted to create something that Loran & Ross would enjoy and want to display in their home.
Upload Images To Computer – 1-2 Hours
The first part of my upload was creating the file structure I use for filing my images. The file structure I use is displayed below:
I like to keep all my files, especially those which relate to my work, extremely well organised which facilitates easy retrieval and location in the future.
The top most folder is the specific year, followed by the month in which the images were taken. The next folder in the structure is one that specifies the individual task, which is named to my own convention. The SA relates to my initials. I keep each task in a register for easy retrieval if ever I need to find images in the future. Each task is given an individual four-digit identifier number as denoted by the ‘0001’ and then the final section is a small free text that provides a small descriptor or the task.
In the individual task folder there is then four separate folders:
- RAW – The images straight from the camera go into here.
- PSD – Once I have finished editing my images in Photoshop, prior to flattening them, I save them (as PSD’s) in this folder if ever I need to make any adjustments to the edit.
- OUT – This is where the final Hi-Res images go, for printing use or sending on to the model.
- LOW-RES – As the title states, this is where I keep the low-resolution images for use in my blog.
Once the file structure is created, I then copied my images across into the RAW folder ready for the addition of file information. I only really add very basic file info to my images, just stating the copyright information and usages and also my contact details for future reference if anyone finds my images and needs to contact me.
I then rename the images to my own file naming convention taking a form similar to this:
SA_14_0001_RAW_0001
The SA relates to my initials, the 14 denotes the year they were taken, the 0001 denotes the task number. The RAW denotes the stage at which the images are in the edit process and which folder they are from therefore, this part could also state ‘PSD’, ‘OUT’ or ‘LOW-RES’. The final part is the individual image number.
The total number of images taken during exercise was 180. This may seem a lot however over two hours of working with a couple seemed a very small amount of images to take.
First Selection – 30 Mins
I then use Adobe Bridge to go through each image in preview form, checking for the two most basic image elements, exposure and sharpness. I use the ‘Label’ function in Bridge to colour code the images with regard to what I want to do with them. In this first selection, I label all the images that have not passed the basic image quality using the shortcut ‘CMD + 6’. This places a small red bar under the image which when I look again at them later allows me to disregard that image during the edit. Bridge will also allow me to sort by this label; therefore I can filter out these images when I come to look for my main edit but still keep them if required. 
Second Selection – 1 Hour
The second selection allows me to look at the overall image for composition, facial expressions, and to decide if I personally like image. This stage is where I will decide which images I am going to edit and those that I am not. Those, which I decide to edit, will be labeled with a green bar underneath, I will usually decide upon one from a small set of similar images.
Image Edit – 5-6 Hours
I use Adobe Photoshop to edit all of my images. I first ensure that the exposure is correct, where it may need a slight tweak, by adjusting the levels and histogram, then I colour correct the image if required. I feel it is important to mention that I keep my 27” iMac monitor colour calibrated usually once a month using my Spyder Pro.
Once the image is corrected for exposure and colour I will then look to do a creative edit. This may involve turning the image black and white or in this case flattening the tones of the image and creating a matte effect that I used throughout the series. The matte effect I feel worked well with the woodland theme of the shoot bringing out the natural browns and greens in the image without detracting from the main subject of the image.
Final Selection – 30 Mins
This is where I will select the final images to release. I may have multiples of an image in various different edits, and this is where I will select the best for release. In this case I was happy to release all of the edited images to Loran & Ross as I felt it gave them a wide variety to choose from and keep as a reminder.
Release of Images – 1 Hour
The final stage in my workflow was preparing them for WordPress, which included resizing and compressing the images to a WordPress friendly format. One of the simplest stages in my workflow, this stage is merely running a set of actions on the images in Photoshop to resize, compress and save them in the Low-Res folder.
Results
After completing this exercise I have calculated that I have spent around 48 hours in total working through my workflow. This is a considerable amount of time to spend on one photographic tasking, however the bulk of which was spent in the planning stage researching. If I were to complete this task again it would be likely that I would spend much less time on this stage as the research has already been done.
My workflow is fairly streamlined towards the way that I like to work. I have done this over many years working as a photographer to ensure that it is both efficient and thorough. Take the ‘upload’ stage as an example, spending two hours creating a specific file structure, file naming convention and adding file info, may seem like spending an excessive amount of time on something that should take only a few minutes. However, I have found that taking the time to correctly file my images may not be the most efficient in the short term, but when coming back to relocate images at a later date greatly reduces the time required to search for them. In this case, efficiency is compromised for being thorough!
I feel that my workflow suits my needs and has already gone through many revisions prior to this exercise, to get me to a point where I use my time resourcefully, and in the right areas whilst working towards the end product.
Simon's OCA Bloggy-Thingy! 