Digital photographers often face the challenge of managing an efficient digital workflow to get from capturing images to creating presentable images. I spent years perfecting my workflow and it’s an evolving process with constant tweaks and adjustments as new tools become available. In the past, my workflow involved multiple applications which were best suited for a particular task. Until the introduction of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, I simply could not find any single application that worked well for the entire workflow. In this lesson, I will discuss my workflow for a photo shoot with models which involves submitting images for their review. The same workflow can be used for any jobs involved others reviewing your images.

A good workflow should allow the photographer to accomplish the following tasks easily and efficiently.

  • Import images from camera to computer.
  • Allow preview of images once imported.
  • Rename images based on user definable templates.
  • Allow easy editing of images to set flags for deleting images or ranking images.
  • Allow mass adjustments of exposure, color temperature, etc to correct for lighting errors.
  • Allow easy creation of smaller size proof images.
  • Allow creation of contact sheets or web galleries for image review.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom accomplishes all that in a single application. My workflow includes the use of Photoshop to embed a custom watermark on the images. Lightroom includes the ability to watermark the images with text but I prefer to use a logo watermark. Note that the goal of this workflow is not to create final usable images but to separate or edit the vast number of images and filter out the usable ones. There is no need to spend hours tweaking exposure for images you will not use so the most efficient thing to do is to select final images for further processing.

My key to using Lightroom efficiently is not in the application itself but the addition of a programmable multi-button mouse. I want to be able to edit my images with minimal use of the keyboard. I find Lightroom’s navigation keys a bit cumbersome and the Logitech MX610 programmable mouse offers a solution.

My step-by-step workflow

  1. Import images -This step actually accomplishes several things. It imports the images, renames them, adds keywords, and creates preview images all in one step. Lightroom has the option to toggle auto import of images. You can turn this on and set the folder to your memory card. As soon as it detects a new card, the images will be imported. I suggest shooting with two cards and swapping them out occasionally. This allows you to import images while you are shooting the next set. To enable this feature, go to File-Auto Import-Auto Import Settings and fill out the fields.

  2. Apply global changes - Once you have the images imported apply any global changes such as color temperature, exposure correction, keywords, IPTC data, etc to the images. These do not have to be perfect. Just get the images to a point where they are viewable since they are just proofs. You may want to apply some image sharpening if you are shooting RAW. You can always turn it off later because sharpening for final images retouching should be done as a last step.
  3. Flag images for deletion/Rank images for first pick - This is the most time consuming part of the workflow. Editing is the process of flagging images for deletion and ranking images for later review. In this first pass, I like to concentrate on only two things, flagging the losers, and giving a one star ranking to images I want to include for the model’s review. I have programmed my mouse as follows to make this task a breeze. I can edit hundreds of images using only the mouse and just the number one key. In Lightroom, I go into the Library and go into the single image view. I minimize the top bar and the thumbnail bar at the bottom to maximize the image area. Starting with the first image, I simply use the side buttons to advance to the next images. If I see an image that needs to be tossed, I simply use the right wheel button to decrease the image flag. This gives the image a -1 rating which can be filtered out later for removal. When I see an image I like, I it the 1 key and a single star is added. These one star images are later filtered to create the proof gallery. Just repeat the same task for all the images.

  4. Delete images from disk - I have no problem trashing bad images so I simply click on the negative flag filter and delete all of them with the backspace key. If you’re one of those who cannot bring yourself to delete your trash, you can always move them to another folder.
  5. Create web gallery or export proof images - Now select only 1 star images by clicking one star. If you want to use Lightroom to watermark and create the proof gallery, you can do so without exporting the images. I like to export the images to small jpgs and adding a logo watermark in Photoshop. However you do it, the final result should be some kind of proofs for the models to review. This can be in the form of a PDF file, a web gallery, or a printed contact sheet.
  6. Get model’s picks - After I get the models pick, I go back and flag those picks with 2 stars. At the same time, I perform a second pass and make my own selections by flagging them with 2 stars. The final result should be a much smaller selection of candidates for final retouching.
  7. Rank images for final pick - Depending on how many images you plan to give out, you can further filter down the images with additional stars.
  8. Export full size tiffs for further retouching - With my final images selected, I can now export the full size images to tiffs for further tweaks in Photoshop. For models portfolios, I usually create 9×12 prints at 300 dpi with no watermark and smaller resolution web images with a watermark.

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