My second week of our basic digital photography class. We talked about work flow.
We discussed the process flow that you should follow. While this may seem really simple, it is good to have a checklist. The following steps are suggestions to help you not forget a step.
Step 1: Shoot your photos (Duh)
Step 2: Remove the card from the camera. (Do not use the usb cable. It has issues with power loss that could create issues)
Step 3: write protect your card (VERY important to prevent the computer from corrupting the card if a problem occurs)
Step 4: Put memory card into computer via a card reader
Step 5: Transfer photos to your computer (Preferably by hand, but use your transfer software of choice that can organize your photos by your own preferences). There is much debate on the proper way to do this. Do what works for you.
Step 6: Remove the memory card from the computer. (Did you eject or just yank it? This is why you write protect. Yanking the card can cause data loss)
Step 7: Double check that your photos are on your computer. (Do this with the card out to make sure your not looking at the card instead of the hard drive)
Step 8: Backup your files (Do this before working on your photos.)
Step 9: Put the card back in the camera.
Step 10: Reformat the card in the camera. (This will format it with the folders/format that your camera requires.)
You want to do steps 9 & 10 so that you know your card is blank and is ready to use again.
As part of your post-processing you should rate your photos. In your software like lightroom or iPhoto or aperture you should use the star rating system. Don’t spend time on your photos until you have rated them all. This will allow you to go over all the photos before you start spending hours of time on a single photo.
We learned a lot about the auto focus settings on the camera. I am still trying to figure out how I can use live view and auto focus at the same time.
Our assignment for this week is to use our built-in light meter and take a portrait photo of a human subject. Any volunteers?
Step 2 helpful; I use USB cables on all cameras…worth pursuing a card reader & will research “power issues.”
iPhoto loads as soon as I attach my camera and sucks everything out after telling me to name the event. So easy.
I took a class on self-portraiture, always a good subject! I’ll change my FB profile picture to one result tonight.
I appreciate the excellent notes.
I am lazy and skip your steps 2 – 9 with: http://www.eye.fi