Blog | 73 - Workflow

January 03, 2020
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   Alistair Grant 

Freelance Photographer Cambridge & London

     
     

bokeh photographic: Blog No: 73

Freelance Photographer Cambridge Blog Image | Blog 73 | Workflow (Coded record of post-production develop edits). © bokeh photographic (Alistair Grant): Freelance Photographer; Food & Drink Photographer; Commercial Photographer, Product Photographer & Packshot Photographer; Event Photographer; Portrait Photographer; Corporate Photographer & PR Photographer; Engagement Photographer & Wedding Photographer and Photography Training Courses, St Ives, Cambridge.Blog 73 - Workflow (Coded record of post-production develop edits) | bokeh photographic - Alistair Grant | Freelance Photographer in Cambridge, Huntingdon, Peterborough, Bedford, Ely, St Neots, St Ives and London.Blog 73 - Workflow (Coded record of post-production develop edits) by Alistair Grant. Food & Drink Photography; Commercial Photography, Product Photography & Packshot Photography; Event Photography; Portrait Photography; Corporate Photography & PR Photography; Engagement Photography & Wedding Photography and Photography Training Courses in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire and across the UK.

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Workflow

One of the questions I invariably get asked as a professional photographer concerns post-production. Over my career I must have been asked about my workflow hundreds if not thousands of times. Each time the topic is raised there seems to be the expectation that I must have some kind of universal recipe that I can easily pass on to the person asking about post-production workflow. This post is for all those who have requested a blog on the topic. Hopefully it’s not too much of a spoiler to reveal that I don’t have a one-stop solution to workflow for reasons that will soon become clear. In truth, somewhat inexplicably it’s actually taken me a while to realise that people are effectively looking for a ‘magic bullet’. In general, people understand the need for post-production (otherwise why would they be asking about it and why would they throw money and/or spend time on post-capture activities?) although there is a naivety about what workflow entails. This suggests a lack of understanding regarding the fundamentals of photography which is perhaps understandable as topics such as tonal values and how these map to human eyesight can be complex. Consequently, much in the same way as some people put their trust in pressing the shutter button with the camera in full automatic mode, many seem to be looking for equivalent automation in photographic software. The pervasiveness of this attitude is exemplified by the popularity of third-party software plug-ins. For example, Adobe Photoshop ‘actions’ and Adobe Lightroom ‘presets’. Despite promising a simple shortcut to stunning visuals, practical experience of software plug-ins is on the whole as disappointing as shooting with the camera in full automatic mode. I should point out that at the other end of the spectrum are those (mostly amateur) photographers who spend hours and hours on post-production to the extent that post-capture time dwarfs in-camera time. Even if such enormous effort produces results it is unworkable for most full time photographers; post-production workflow needs to be as efficient as possible.

As already stated I don’t have an universal recipe for post-production and in my opinion there simply cannot be an (effective) one-stop solution to workflow. The simple (and surely obvious?) reason why is that a ‘one size fits all’ method simply cannot account for all the different variables that contribute to a photographic image. For example, when shooting Food & Drink Photography I may be in a dimly-lit restaurant basement kitchen or I might be in a brightly-lit dining area next to a large window. Overlooking for now the effects of using different photographic kit and selection of different camera parameters, the profile of a digital negative taken in the kitchen area will be hugely different to the profile of a digital negative taken in the dining area. Treating these two negatives exactly the same would completely fail to take into account the significant heterogeneity between the two and would likely result in an outcome where neither final image is optimal. The skill in post-production is to accurately interpret the digital negative profile and edit accordingly: unfortunately this is where many photographers (and software plug-ins) fall well short!

I can however give some general pointers on my approach to workflow. Firstly, I absolutely subscribe to the axiom that the best outcomes can only be produced by good in-camera capture combined with good post-production workflow. This is another way of saying that I don’t believe second-rate images can somehow be rescued via post-production. Secondly, I normally have an idea of what post-production methods I will use for a given shot before I even pick up the camera to take that shot. To reiterate: post-production workflow and in-camera capture go hand in hand. Thirdly, although I have a soft spot for early versions of Bibble, I favour Lightroom over Photoshop. The latter I find somewhat clunky in comparison to the highly intuitive Lightroom although Photoshop is invaluable for more involved work such as cut-outs etc. Note however that I don’t use the Develop mode of Lightroom in the ‘order’ that Adobe suggests or in way that most other people seem to process images. Fourthly, beyond basic conversion of RAW to JPEG, I believe in editing only when it is necessary and even then my edits are generally in small incremental steps. Incidentally, Lightroom was specifically developed to handle 80% of typical post-production tasks (with Photoshop intended for the residual 20% which require more advanced editing). Fifth, contrary to what you might expect I use presets! In fact I use both bespoke presets that I create for specific photoshoots as well as carefully selected third-party plug-ins although I rely heavily on Nate Photogaphic’s excellent OPAL software to control opacity: it’s my secret weapon that I can’t recommend enough! Finally, post-production of an entire photoshoot can be a complex task. Keeping track of what edits have been applied to what images is essential. During the post-production of each and every job I keep a written summary, coded for simplicity, of all workflow edits made. Although such summaries may perhaps appear unintelligible it is a workflow system that makes perfect sense to me as coding allows all edits to be easily tracked for all images. If you think this unnecessary try keeping track of the develop edits for every image you have worked on via Lightoom’s ‘history’ function. My biggest regret is that over the years these summaries have not been retained: generally scribbled on the back of the photoshoot brief or whatever piece of paper that was to hand, they usually end up in the recycling as soon as the job has been approved by the client.

NB: A ‘one size fits all’ approach to post-production workflow also doesn’t make sense as this risks rending all images the same whereas one of the most appealing aspects of photography is the incredible diversity of photographic images!

   
     

Call Alistair Grant on 07775 365507, Email [email protected] or click Booking Enquiries if you have any questions or would like to make a booking.

   
     

bokeh: "the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens"


Freelance Photographer offering Food & Drink Photography Cambridge; Commercial Photography Cambridge, Product Photography Cambridge & Packshot Photography Cambridge; Event Photography Cambridge; Portrait Photography Cambridge; Corporate Photography Cambridge & PR Photography Cambridge; Engagement Photography Cambridge & Wedding Photography Cambridge and Photography Training Courses in Cambridge. Also covering: Huntingdon, St. Ives, Ramsey, St. Neots, Peterborough, Bedford, Stamford, Newmarket, Sawtry, Alconbury Weston, Brampton, Hartford, Warboys, Houghton, Wyton, Godmanchester, Hilton, Hemingford Grey, Hemingford Abbots, Fenstanton, Whittesley, Yaxley, Needingworth, Somersham, Chatteris, Ely, Bar Hill, Grafham and Buckden.

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bokeh photographic - Alistair Grant | Freelance Photographer | Cambridge, London, UK

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