Photography Workflow Tips

Practical thoughts and tips on how to expedite your photographic workflow:

1. What device should I use?

To laptop, or to iPad, that is the question?

Both are good, and have different advantages. Let me share some of my practical thoughts.

2. iPad

The iPad is fun for selecting and processing photos because:

  1. Looking at photos on an iPad (especially the iPad Pro) is superior than looking at photos on a laptop. The iPad (10.5 inch pro) is brighter, more vibrant, and crisp than looking at photos on 13” MacBook Pro (touch bar).
  2. iPad is more fun to look at photos on. Also simpler user interface. Furthermore, using your fingers (touch) to look at photos feels more direct than using a keyboard and track pad (laptop).
  3. More fun to process photos on iPad (the built-in Photos iOS is very good).

I use the apple SD card to lightning adaptor to import my photos.

3. Laptop

Laptop is faster to select and process and export them. My current workflow on laptop is using Lightroom CC (the new one), and exporting my photos as JPEG into Dropbox. I’m much faster at selecting and processing photos on a laptop, but the process is more fun (albeit slower) on iPad.

4. Which photos should I choose?

The most difficult thing in photography is to select which photos to keep.

Generally speaking when I’m choosing photos, I choose photos based on my gut.

If a photograph makes me smile, if I like the composition, if I like the colors/tones/textures, or if it sparks a joyful memory, I pick the photo.

5. In praise of Dropbox

I keep all my exported JPEG photos synced in Dropbox. I pay for the 1TB storage (around $10 a month). At this point I don’t want to keep any more external storage devices.

I don’t keep my raw files. Once I’ve imported all the photos on my SD card to my iPad or laptop, and once I’ve selected and exported the photos I like as jpeg to Dropbox, I format my SD card.

6. Uploading photos

Once I’ve exported the photos I like, I upload all the jpeg photos of my picked photos to my blog media library. Then when I do blog posts, I will select photos I like to include in my blog posts.

7. Your taste is always evolving

Allow your tastes in photography to change. Photos you pick and like today won’t be photos you will like in the future. But that is part of the game! God forbid if your photographic style never changes until you die at age 120.

Conclusion

Your photographic workflow is like your feeding and bodily-organic nutritive process. You will keep eating food, assimilating nutrients, and expelling whatever your body cannot absorb or appropriate.

My ultimate tip:

Never stop shooting, selecting, processing, and sharing your photos.

Delight in the artistic ecstacy of the “eternal return” to the photographic everyday!

ERIC