Let’s face it – digital photography is a whole new world when it comes to workflow. Analogue was a simple affair in some ways. Of course, the bar was also a lot higher in some areas. You actually had to get it right “in camera” a skill that many photographers today seem either not capable of, or perhaps maybe more accurately, they are simply beguiled by the instant nature of digital and the power of Photoshop and just don’t see the need to nail it in camera.
I understand the lure. Adobe spends millions of dollars on marketing to persuade us to upgrade every other year (either on one of its workflow methods – Photoshop / Bridge / Camera Raw or its Parametric Image Editing cousin, Lightroom). Their widespread adoption and success is subconsciously giving us the message that the image is no longer good enough without it. And it’s true in a way. Digital images do need some editing to look their best.
But looking at photography from a professional workflow point of view, the old school ways are very attractive. Back then, you did the work in camera, and off it went to the lab. Maybe it was pushed or pulled, but apart from some basic tonal corrections, that was the file that went to the client. These days, a file has to be pushed, pulled and twisted in a dozen directions before it sees the light of day. We deal with conversions to dng files, ratings, rankings, metadata , basic processing in Camera Raw and then touch ups in Photoshop before outputting. Alternatively we do the whole thing in Lightroom or Aperture or whatever.
But there are two approaches. One is to just shoot like crazy and work the files to within an inch of their life in Photoshop or Lightroom and hope we can make a donkey look like a stallion. Alternatively, and much smarter for the long term in my book, is to focus on our technical skills and our shooting techniques and try to get as close as possible to the desired final image in camera, so that our workflow is exactly that, and not a workslow.
I suppose being surrounded by students learning photography highlights these issues for me. But it’s not just students. Even shooters who have been doing this for a long time have to tussle with these issues. Hell, I am dealing with them as I write. I look at various workflow methods, and am becoming less and less interested spending hours in Photoshop, dealing with masks and layers and blending modes. Instead I just want to come in, do a levels adjustment and maybe a bit of a clean up and sharpen on the way out.
I accept that not everyone wants to work this way. Some photographers rely on the magic of Photoshop. My friend Jacqui Whiley for instance is a magician in PS and her images couldn’t exist without it. And all power to her. Her vision is amazing and she is realizing it through the power of pixel pushing. But I am heading down another road, looking for a shooting style that will minimize my workflow and enable me to get busy on other stuff besides Photoshop.
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