The Photographer’s Workflow is a 130-page, 10-step guide to establishing a reliable and consistent digital photography workflow.
Chapters include Data Management and Data Risk Analysis, Working in the Field, Colour Calibration, Naming files and Folders, Configuring Adobe Lightroom 4, Importing Images, Image Processing and more.
Also included with the eBook downloaded are:
- 65 Lightroom 4 Development Presets to help give your processing a more consistent linear structure
- A series of Lightroom Smart Collections which build a step-by-step workflow for managing digital photographs
- Links to a series of free, online video tutorials
The Photographer’s Workflow is priced at $30 for the complete download.
“The clearest description I have read about using LR4“ (Robert Dingwall)
“You probably saved my marriage with this one. My husband and I disagree on how to process photos on almost a daily basis“ (Katie Billings)
“I think it really is a must read for any photographer“ (Karin de Winter)
“This should be an essential addition to your library“ (Craig Ferguson)
“We haven’t found anything as comprehensive or actionable as The Photographer’s Workflow“ (Photoshelter Blog)
“If I could use one word to describe the book, it would be “brilliant”. It is very well-thought out, clearly written and carefully organized“ (Sabrina Henry)
“Of all the books I have read, and there have been many, none were as well made and designed“ (Marc-André Pauzé)
“If you are a Lightroom user, and you only buy one photography book this year, I strongly recommend that you make it this one.“ (Ian Mylam)
“Great points for the pro and priceless for the novice“ (Jay Goodrich)
“Your book is a goldmine of workflow ideas and best practices.“ (Bill Freud)
I have compiled the Photographer’s Workflow in response to questions asked by many students and fellow photographers. Whilst we enjoy the benefits of digital capture, knowing how to manage our digital photograph archive can be confusing and there’s no clearly defined way to deal with all those images.
Using the tools built into Lightroom 4, I have created a linear workflow, which takes my images from the camera to their final destination in a consistent, predictable fashion.
Chapter 1 in the eBook looks at how we manage those precious files and suggests ways of safeguarding our precious images. The first five chapters will help you to create a robust digital workflow that’s appropriate for you. In Chapters 6-8 we look at implementing a simple workflow, using Lightroom Smart Collections to build a straightforward path which our images can follow. We explore metadata, captions, keywords and image tagging with Lightroom’s flags, ratings and labels.
In Chapter 9 we look at processing and explore ways of bringing the best out of our digital files.
The Photographer’s Workflow is my workflow. It’s the system I use every day to manage my digital photographs and I’ve shared the structure, principles, presets and the best of the knowledge that I have acquired over ten years as a professional photographer.
The contents of this eBook will give you a comprehensive guide, with lots of tips and realistic advice, from which you can build a process which suits you. It will reduce the amount of time you have to spend managing your digital photos, leaving you with more time to do what’s really important – taking photos.
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I have just downloaded my copy of this fantastic e-book. In just a few minutes of scanning it I have picked up some useful tips.
I am not a newcomer to Lightroom, but having viewed the preview video, I already knew that this was going to add something to my understanding of using Lightroom in a more meaningful and structured way. I thought I was already structured in my approach to managing my Lightroom catalog, but already I have seen I need to make some adjustments to my workflow.
And the additional goodies such as the presets, video links etc are the icing on the cake.
Thanks Gavin – this is just what I have been looking for.
David
Noooo!
https://www.e-junkie.com/ej/images/nocart.gif
Yay, it’s fixed!
Just finished reading this fantastic hands-on workflow manual. Really starting to rethink my own workflow, which I thought was reasonably good…..until I found out what is missing. Highly recommended.
Thanks Gavin!
-Mark
Gavin, on the usage of DNG, which I have not yet adopted, I am wondering what your thoughts are on the ‘embed original raw in DNG’ option. If I were to go the DNG route, and I do see the benefits of faster workflow now that I am processing D800 files, I don’t think i would really want to keep the original raw files as well. So – is ‘embed’ in DNG a viable option, allowing one to delete the original?
Glenn, personally, I would not want to embed the original RAW file as it would make the DNG files much larger than necessary.
Also, I would think that it’s better to keep them separate because if your DNG file is lost or becomes corrupt, the RAW file could be lost too.
i would definitely recommend that you seriously consider keeping the original RAW files. Storage is relatively inexpensive these days and, as you’ll see in the eBook, it’s really important to have a back-up version of files which can be kept physically apart from the working files.
So, no, for me, I would keep the original RAW files and would not embed them into the DNG files.
Gavin, great book. I hoping to pick up some workflow and processing improvements and I wasn’t disappointed.
One comment and one question:
- Regarding converting to DNG…aren’t you relying on Adobe’s “interpretation” of the correct RAW to DNG conversion since Canon won’t publish the spec? I know you are keeping the RAW, but I also know a lot of folks who convert to DNG and dump the RAW.
- X-Rite Passport: I have owned one of these but I struggle with getting a profile that doesn’t oversaturate reds. X-Rite hasn’t been any help. I’m a Canon shooter as well (5DIII, 7D). I’m on a calibrated system. Any thoughts or should I just resolve myself to Camera Faithful (I think Adobe Standard is a bit over saturated as well).
- Don
Hi Don
I don’t think the conversion to DNG is a problem and, as it says in the book, make sure you keep the RAW files.
The ColorChecker Passport gives really accurate results in my experience. But you will, of course, need to have a monitor which is carefully-calibrated otherwise the benefits will be lost.
Hi Gavin
Outstanding work you put in the ebook. During the x-mas holidays, I’ll adopt some of your ideas into my own workflow.
Lately, I started deleting 1-star and 2-star images (non-processed) from my catalogue, since they aren’t developed (after a backup …).
What do you do with images, that aren’t processed (one and two star). Do they stay in your working catalogue, or what ?
Kind regards,
/Anders
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Absolutely awesome book. Probably the best investment I’ve made so far. Lots of valuable info that I couldn’t have figured out in lifetime. Thanks for sharing!!
One question though. Why is that my after I import and convert my RAW files to DNG, the DNG files are actually larger in size than RAW. The book says DNG are smaller…I want to use DNG but just want to understand am I missing something in my workflow? I have a Canon 1100d…
Thanks Ved. It may be that you are embedding the original RAW files inside the DNG, which is possible but probably not necessary if your RAW files are backed-up. Check the DNG settings to see if you are embedding the RAW files too.
I did find that setting when I converted a RAW file and embedd raw file was actually check marked. When I unchecked it the DNG file was a bit smaller. I’ll have to search DNG settings in lightroom and update import preset. Thanks again!