Batch Workflow (link)

[Dylan & Marianne]

Hi all, I thought I'd have a go at verbalising what my wife and I do in the so called lightroom after the end of a wedding shoot with 2000 RAWs to go through.

Link here:
http://everlookphotography.wordpress.com/2010/05/20/evolution-of-an-image/

[campo]

nice one dtoh - Do you do this for all images (ie. run all 2000 RAWs through PS?)

[Dylan & Marianne]

of the 2000 , usually we pick 800-900 at most to export from LR
then yea - each individual one gets that scrutiny in PS; I still have minor alterations to make for most of the pics
I'd be really keen to hear what kind of batch work other people do in the same situation too of course.

[kiwi]

import while applying same "kiwi" preset to every photo, then export to online gallery

:)

[campo]

my workflow in a nutshell (which is subject to change depending on client etc)

1) Photo Shoot
2) Backup
3) Load into LR
4) Pick/Reject images
5) Do minor corrections/edits (generally in LR) for the picks
6) Hand pick a handful for display etc...ie. photographers picks (LR/PS)
7) export and upload these as proofs
8) Spend additional time on client picks for prints/albums (LR/PS).
9) final export and delivery to client

[Dylan & Marianne]

hmm maybe I spend a little too much time on the proofs ... oh well, those weddings don't happen too often for me :P

[campo]

at the moment i still work full time so i try and minimise the amount of time i spend processing

I'm still tweaking my process anyways

[etherial]

Thanks for posting this Dylan, it's handy for newbies to get a grasp on batch workflow. Before this year I was doing every shot individually and it would take forever!

My workflow at the moment (as I learn it is being tweeked all the time!), is:

1. Import to LR including:
-Renaming to image date_time_#,
-General Keywording,
-Apply copyright to metadata,
-Adjustment preset - this is just a starting point that I found I was normally doing to almost every picture anyway so saved it as a preset for the start of the workflow.
2. Then go through each image and rate from reject through 0, 1, 2 or three stars. Delete rejects.
3. Keyword each image.
4. Then starting at the higher star ratings and working down, image adjust individual images in LR and PS if need be. ie overall exposure, saturation, clarity etc, spot healing, noise reduction and sharpening. I'm learning to use more adjustment presets for more specialised image effects.
5. Export to where-ever it needs to go via my export presets.

As I said it is a work in progress; as I read more articles and tutorials I'm finding ways to improve it. My PP time has reduced dramitically since I started using Lightroom at the start of the year. The one area I'm struggling with a bit is sharpening and noise reduction. Think I'll have to invest in the plugins used in the birding tutes.

Also wondering where I can fit watermarking in easily. Have tried a couple of methods but haven't found one that works for me yet. I hear LR3 does a better job of this.

Anyway thanks again for posting, I found it interesting reading.

[Dylan & Marianne]

I do have a batch watermark action as well - but you have to be not fussy about where the water mark goes on each image.
I usually star the proofs too
We also batch tag them according to where in the time of day it was taken and our name.