5 replies to this topic

[james]

Hi Gang,

Let's talk about what to do with your photos - all the way from after a dive until eternity...

I shoot in both RAW and JPEG. Most of the workflow is the same. I'll hit JPEG first 'cause that's what most people use.

I use a 1 gig microdrive in the camera and an "Image Tank" to store photos on divetrips. You could easily substitute "laptop" in place of imagetank.

After each dive or 2-tank daytrip, I copy all of the Jpegs to the Image Tank. I don't delete any of them.

Next, I pop my card into any computer available and check my exposures. Does the LCD really give me a true rendition of what the photo looks like? Are my strobes firing OK, etc. Make adjustments accordingly.

After I get home - Make a complete dump of the Image Tank to my desktop computer. Sort the photos into different files by day shot, but that's it. Immediately make a complete backup of the unedited unsorted pictures to CDrom. This can take a while. On my last trip, I had 6 gigs of Jpeg's to back up.

Go through and look at the shots for "total losers." Look at them first and LEARN FROM THEM what went wrong (Strobe didn't recycle, no autofocus lock, etc) then delete them from the desktop. I use Windows XP's "Filmstrip" view to do this.

Sort the shots by dive site and put them into folders. Then within each folder create a "Keepers" and a "So-So" file. Put all the "eye-poppers" into the keepers file and keep the so-so shots for ID pix, etc.

Convert all the keepers to TIFFS and save a copy of the tiffs in a separate folder. Create a folder called "Web" and put all the tiff's in there.

Open each TIFF in photoshop and adjust Levels, Curves, Unsharp Mask, etc. Use Adobe Web Image Gallery to resize all the pix and make thumbnails. The thumbnail pages are also good contact sheets.

Upload the keeper images and thumbs to my galleries on www.reefpix.org

Print some of the TIFF's on my Canon S900 for my dive buddy and friends. Print some of the TIFF's on the Fuji Frontier as gifts, etc.

Phew! Ok, that is a quick overview. I'll hit RAW management next or hopefully Eric can help out - he has much more experience than me.

What about everyone else?
Cheers
James

[yahsemtough]

Actually that is pretty close to what I do.

I take a laptop with me instead so that I can review photos and adjust for my mistakes.

I sort in a very similar way. But, usually will break down to categories of what was shot. That way if I am looking for the hammerhead I shot on the Bahamas 2002 trip I can go right to that subfolder. Works for me later down the road when I am trying to find that one shot but cannot remember the day it was taken.

I will backup to CD on trips now. I could not in the past but have the capability now. I would hate to get back and lose my shots for some stupid reason.

I have shot in JPEG as that is what was recommended to me. I now have RAW capabilities but, I still think I will stay with JPEG. (Unless someone can tell me there will be substantial benefits to switching)

I currently still print at a local photo shop. I have considered a printer.

Maybe we can start a discussion on printers and recommendations. Maybe there has been. I'll have to check.

[james]

Todd, How about starting a separate thread for printing. It's a BIG topic. I have some good links for color profiling, calibration, etc.

I don't organize my photos by folder because I plan to do one of two things. Use a portfolio management system (like Cumulus), or use the database search functionality at reefpix (it wrocks) to find the files I need.

Cheers
James

[yahsemtough]

I think I should take a close look a cumulus. I have it as it came with the cp5000 but have been too busy to take a look at it.

[craig]

Being a video guy waiting for the right moment to pounce on digital still, I can't comment directly, but...

I edit my video during the trip and load each tape as soon as it comes out of the camera. That way is easiest because the dives are still fresh in your mind and you can actually remember what you shot. Video editors can tell you that loading and cataloging footage is the worst part.

I'm sure stills are the same. Reviewing and discarding bad shots as soon as practical would be an advantage. On a Kenya trip in 2001, I shot stills with a D1 and did all my reviewing after each game drive.

[TJO]

I do it a little differently. After each dive (or earlier after I developed the 35 mm slides) I do the first screening as soon as possible. Throw away at least 75% right away. At the end of the trip (usually 3-5 days) I do a second screening and throw away 50% still knowing I have kept too many... B) Name all with a site name and date, and burn it on a CD. When I need a pic I download it and print it, adjust it in PS, change file format and save that with the same name (+ a note) on the harddrive. I always keep the original raw files. The reason I thow away so much is that it is just not practical for me to save a lot of images. James idea about starting a section on the board about Priniting is a good idea. I haven't done that much of it yet. Only some postcards, posters.