Workflow | Richmond Fashion and Lifestyle Photographer

I am often asked about how it is that I can edit and post photos so quickly to my blog and facebook. LOL… It’s simple really and boils down to two main things: I’m insane, work waaaaaaaay too hard and I have a pretty tight, streamlined workflow.

The insanity is hereditary: my mother is a workaholic and I have her obsessive, driven work ethic. Plus I lose track of time, all the time, into the wee hours of the morning and often find myself editing shoot images at 2am when I should be in bed LOL!

My workflow entails the following process:

1. download images immediately upon shoot completion and arrival home to office/studio.
2. Once downloaded, review, sort and rate all images as soon possible in Lightroom 3. The sooner images can be reviewed the better, because the look/lighting of the shoot is still fresh in mind and can be corrected more effectively if needed.
3. My rating system is two pronged. First, I rate all my images on an instinctual basis from 1 to 3 [1 being the weakest and 3 the strongest]. I rely on my gut instincts with this first sort/rate and evaluate images based on quality, light and composition. After the initial sort, I review my 3 rated images and re-rate them from 3-5 [5 being the best].
4. Review, correct all colour and exposure issues in the 4/5 rated RAW files and export all them as high res jpg and tiff files for client review and final selection.
5. Once selections are made by the client and myself, the photos are edited once more, giving each image individual attention and style as needed.

Here is where my workflow really hums along… Being a creative ‘techno-weenie’ as my friends and family call me, I use Photoshop Actions to streamline my PhotoshopCS5 workflow.

Every shoot has different lighting and environmental conditions to deal with, so I develop actions on-the-fly with the aid of professional action packs from various photographer websites. In addition to my custom, on-the-fly actions, I have as standard set that I have tailored specifically for Studio Lighting, Outdoor Natural Lighting, OCF [Off-Camera Flash] Lighting Outdoors, etc. needs. This workflow process, in conjunction with custom actions, allows me to ‘develop’ and batch process dozens and dozens of images quickly with consistent image style and results; it saves me a ton of time since much of the work is automated, with minor stops and tweaks along the way; and allows me to free up my time to shoot more and edit less.

Now to share a secret with you: one of my favorite websites for PhotoshopCS5 actions is a Canadian photography duo called Red Leaf Studios. They are a BC photography-magic-making-duo whose action packs have the look and feel of vintage film. Judge for yourself. The results are subtle, effective and have a decidedly ‘film’ look to them. I love them. The image on the left of the triptych is the original colour and exposure corrected image, the middle image is a BW conversion using FilmShift Signature Actions 2 BW and the last image is colour tweaked with FilmShift Signature Actions 2 Colour VII. Enjoy!