My Workflow

Ingredients

• Photo Mechanic 4.5.4
• PhotoShop CS3
• Laptop Computer
• Mobile Phone

My workflow has changed a little in recent months, I have upgraded photoshop from Photoshop 7, through 9, CS, CS2, CS3 and CS4, however Adobe's software is becoming more like Microsoft's "Bloatware" every incarnation increases in size and dependency on processing power. So even though I like PhotoShop CS's browser (Bridge Application) it is just to slow on my old G4 PPC Laptop.

So in recent months I have moved back one generation to Photoshop CS3, and would go back further if my disks were not in storage, and rather than use the Bridge application i am now using Camera Bit's Photo Mechanic, which I haven't used in years.

So on with the workflow then.
Firstly I have set up a directory on my hard disk called Card_Dump which is to be the repository for everything that is on my CF/SD Cards. Seeing as I currently shoot the majority of my stuff using Jpeg only this is reasonably quick to do.

Having completed a shoot, first thing to do is (in Photo Mechanic terms) is to "Ingest" the Disks I use

Incremental Ingest, which means that only new images added since the last ingest are copied to the Card_Dump Directory, speeds things up when you have forgotten to clear the cards from the previous shoot.

I also ignore the Source Directly Structure, irrespective of how many directories the camera has seen fit to create on the CF card, I want all images in one single directory on my hard disk. So the copy photos option is set to "directly into primary folders.

So Primary Destination is set to /Card_Dump

The Filter Files Option is set to Copy Locked and Unlocked Photos (seeing as I seldom if ever if ever lock images on the camera. The second option is Copy RAW and non RAW photos.

Apply IPTC Stationary Pad to Photos is Checked, and the IPTC stationery Pad is set to have the basic details of the shoot.

I don't rename my images as I ingest them as I I will sort, edit and delete images before renaming.

I also unmount Source Disks after Ingest, as that is the quickest way (for me) to see when the copying is complete.

Once the images are ingested then I open a contact sheet of the Card_Dump and browse the images that have been ingested. I will more often than not work in the preview screen, which provides a larger image to work with, plus you can also scroll through the images one at a time, having found an image that I want to work with I click on the edit button on the preview tool bar.

Once opened in PhotoShop the images go through the usual PhotoShop processes, Copy, Paste, move (Oops, Sorry no I don't work for Reuters) So it is just simple AutoLevels, if this does anything strange then the Levels are adjusted manually. The Image is then Rotated (if Required) Then Captioned (if the basic caption applied in Photo Mechanic is not enough) Then, assuming that the image looks OK, I will Sharpen, using UnSharp Mask.

Then save the file with an appropriate name in the Pix to Send Folder, ready for transmission, usually via Email or FTP.

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