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Archive 2015 · Help with a PP setup

  
 
gratefool1
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Help with a PP setup


Hey all. Just got some shiney new gear and learning to dial it in to improve my photos of highschool soccer and BIF. My biggest failing has always been with photo editing. I have totally clogged our iMac with scads of pics and have never been great at editing much.
Well, I am determined to do better so I have been doing my best to delete after every shoot and edit keepers. I still keep way too many (like to send them to many other parents, etc). And of course i keep those pics that i may come back and edit later (doubtful).
Anyway, besides discovering more self discipline, I would love to know a more efficient system for editing and saving, i use iPhoto currently and assume I will be switching to Photos soon. I have been looking into Lightroom lately as well. I would like to cut down on the post processing as much as possible. Of course, as i learn the new camera better, I hope less editing will be necessary, but I would love to be able to apply settings across a group of pics instead of one at a time. I thought i read something about selecting editing preferences and having them automatically applied with light room but i dont know.
I have an iMac as mentioned as well as a MacBook Pro. Would love to be able to switch between the two and edit in different areas so maybe store all photos on ext HD, etc. not clear on how that works thogh. Do you upload from the cards to the computer, then move to external drive? Can you just upload directly to the ext HD and work on the pics there? Seems like that would be ideal but not sure how to do it.
Anyway, thanks for reading this ridiculously long post and please excuse my ignorance regards to this issue. Have a great weekend all!
Ab



Mar 15, 2015 at 02:02 PM
Lauchlan Toal
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Help with a PP setup


I'm a pretty bad example, since I tend to delete 90% of photos, edit the 5% I really like in PhotoShop, and bury the rest in folders... But I do know a little bit about the other methods out there. What you want, the editing of many photos at once, is called batch editing. Lightroom is likely your best bet for this, and Lightroom also has a very extensive file management/organization system. If you get the Photographer's Creative Cloud bundle you can download both Lightroom and PhotoShop to a laptop and desktop for $120 a year, and upload files to the "cloud" so that you could edit them on both machines. Or just use physical memory sticks, whichever's easier.

Another way to cut down on editing is to make sure that everything's 90% perfect in camera. Using a grey card or an expodisc to set white balance, setting your sharpness/contrast settings in camera, and shooting JPEG could alleviate the need to do much editing. For photos that are just of other people's kids, who cares if they're JPEGs that weren't edited or raws which were edited over 4 hours anyway.



Mar 15, 2015 at 02:12 PM
ashley138
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Help with a PP setup


Trust me, once you use LR you'll never go back to any other method.


Mar 15, 2015 at 06:36 PM
Imagemaster
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Help with a PP setup


I wouldn't use iPhoto for anything.

Use Lightroom for cataloging and DPP for editing.



Mar 15, 2015 at 07:14 PM
roosteresque
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Help with a PP setup


Lauchlan Toal wrote:
If you get the Photographer's Creative Cloud bundle you can download both Lightroom and PhotoShop to a laptop and desktop for $120 a year, and upload files to the "cloud" so that you could edit them on both machines.


Echoing, the license allows for the installation on two computers simultaneously. And then syncing Smart Previews in Lightroom across the two computers thru the Creative Cloud service. That way you wouldn't need to have copies of the RAW files on both machines. Jared Platt has explained very well how to integrate Smart Previews into a multi system workflow. He described it as a portable library intended for assistants and post-production houses, but would work the same for multi system single person.



Mar 16, 2015 at 12:18 PM
schlotz
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Help with a PP setup


Ab,

This line of inquiry has many avenues and the path through it depends upon a number of things only you can answer. Some of those will morph as you spend more time doing it. I basically shoot two venues. Sports (mostly soccer, Pro and High School) and Landscapes. Below is my process based upon how I handle sports. You'll have to determine whether something like this fits with your style/needs or not.

- I use a iMac (i7, 16gb & 3TB fusion drive) with external storage via thunderbolt (many TB's).

- Current years work is maintained on the iMac along a copy made to the external system.

- At the beginning of each year the previous year photos are removed from the iMac after ensuring a duplicate copy is on the external (and validated) along with a third copy to another single external drive I place in a dock and then remove.

- All raws for HS are retained for 4 years. This is for when the mom's come back and request photos of their now senior kids. At the start of the 5th year, the set 4 years back of raws (those not in the picks folder) are deleted. ex) I recently just deleted 2012 non-LR-imported raws. I do retain the picks folders for a couple more years. Then pull them off the thunderbolt onto separate drive storage i.e.

- Pros I hold for 3 yrs and follow a similar process.

Each game (soccer) is located in the sport folder structure of \year\month\day\game\picks

-All raws are loaded in the game folder ex) boys-var, girls-jv, and for the Pro games its the name of the visiting team

-I review the raws and select what "might" be worthy via PhotoMechanic(PM). These are then flagged and moved in the picks folder again using PM. Loading everything into LR first is a major delay not to mention clogging it up to just then delete the obvious or retain those not deemed worthy of further review. IMO there should be a reason associated with the sports shot in order for it to be placed in LR for further eval/editing.

-The picks folder gets imported to LR.

LR editing is simplified with the use of presets for numerous conditions. One thing that's nice in LR is the ability to apply all (or some selected) edits done on one shot to multiple or all shots. As others have indicated and I too agree, just get LR and dive in. BTW: during editing, if I run across a photo that doesn't hack it, I delete it via selecting remove from disk so its totally gone, not just eliminated from LR's database.

There is more detail involved than what I've relayed here (especially when Pro soccer shooting is involved) but hopefully this provides enough to show the generic flow used.


Matt..



Mar 18, 2015 at 11:38 AM
UCSB
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Help with a PP setup


I would download the Lightroom demo on the Adobe site for free (30 days) and then go over to lynda.com and sign up for the free week of training and take Chris Orwig's Lightroom classes. You will be amazed at what you have been missing. Good luck.


Mar 18, 2015 at 02:30 PM
Ian.Dobinson
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Help with a PP setup


+1 on the demo LR For bit suggestions (version 6 will probably release soon) .
Also as mentioned try the tutorial videos etc . Linda.com is good as is Kelby .but there is a decent free YouTube channel by Adobe that has some very good tips also .

But as you use iPhoto at the moment maybe the new photos app will be what your looking for (it will at least be FREE) .
My main macince is a iMac but I like LR more than apples aperture or iPhoto . Plus the bonus with LR is it's totally cross platform so I can edit on my Mac or on my windows laptop which i couldn't if I used the apple offerings



Mar 18, 2015 at 02:53 PM





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