| Article Index |
|---|
| Digital Photography Workflow: Fashion Photography |
| Capturing |
| Organizing |
| Back on the Editing Path |
| FASHION LINGERIE EDITORIAL POST-PROCESSING |
| Image Processor |
| Billing |
| Conclusion |
| All Pages |
Digital photography requires a solid workflow, allowing for professional preparing of digital photo files for the web and print.
For the Digital Photography Workflow series, we consulted with a number of experienced professional photographers to walk us through their specific digital photography workflow.
In this article, Patrick Lavoie discusses his unique digital workflow process tailored to meet the needs of his professional career as a photo retoucher and digi-tech working with high-end fashion photographers, the set of software and tools he prefers to use, and goals he accomplishes with his digital workflow. The article is enhanced with illustrative figures and screen shots, and includes examples of photo retouched jobs from Patrick Lavoie’s portfolio. Whether you are just entering the world of digital photography and need some tips and advice on how best to post-process your images, or are a seasoned pro, the insights shared here should be helpful with your own digital photography workflow and fashion photography post-processing.
My life as a Professional Photo Retoucher and Digi-Tech
As a professional photo retoucher and digi-tech (digital assistant), my job is fairly simple yet stressful during a photo shoot. My job is to make sure everything is under control, backed up, and retouched before delivery. I work with many different fashion photographers, and all of them during the day rely on my expertise to create a workflow that works for them and for me—a workflow that is easy, reliable, and effective so the photographer can quickly see anything he needs to approve over my shoulder. The following is my workflow, the one that work for me and my client. It is by no means the best workflow nor the only one you should consider, but its the best for us and our needs. Let’s get started!
The Editing Station
Depending on where the photo shoot is, on location or in a studio, my computer setup will differ a bit; on the road I have a MacBook Pro with 3 GB of RAM.
If the shoot is in a hotel room, apartment or studio, my preferred setup is the following:
I usually arrive by about 7:30am. I set up my station in an area that will allow the client to easily review the work, but also will give me privacy during the shoot. Since I have to open some images during the shoot to look at them to detect potential problems, I don’t want the client to see those possible problems and make unnecessary comments about them. I also make sure I’m not in front of a window or close to one, as the reflection would cause bad viewing evaluation and will be pretty disturbing all day long. If there are no other options, I use 4×8 ft foam core to block any problematic light. I place my iMac 24-inch computer (4 GB of RAM), plug it into an APC battery backup (for protection against power outages—that APC gives me around 27min of running time, enough to close and save the day in case of power failure). I then plug the following into the iMac: my graphic tablet, my LaCie rugged hard drive 160 in the Firewire 800, and the card reader in the Firewire 400. The last step but one of the most important, I calibrate with a device on my monitor. I’m ready to start my day!
Computer System, Tools & Utilities
- MacBook Pro 3GB
- iMac 24in 4GB
- APC Battery Backup
- Graphic tablet
- LaCie Rugged Hard drive 160GB
- Card reader
Digital Post-Processing Programs
Pre-capture
Before we’re ready for the shoot, I pick up the camera to verify the basic settings and apply some corrections as needed. Here’s what I look for:
- Ask the photographer at what ISO he intends to photograph and make sure the camera is set to the proper ISO.
- Set the white balance to 5000K (can always be changed in the RAW processor).
- Verify that the camera is set for capturing in RAW; I don’t set the camera to shoot RAW + JPEG as I find that very confusing if I trash a bad shot, I have to make sure that BOTH files are gone. I find it’s easier to process a RAW and export it as JPEG or to create a web contact sheet.
- Set the camera to a basic setting (for location photography or in studio with flash, a good basic setting is ISO 100, 1/125s, and f/8 to start). Indeed, those settings will be changed by the photographer or his/her assistant later, but I set it just in case someone forgets until I get the first card.
- Format all the compact flash (CF) cards (not just a quick erase), put them back in their plastic cases and give them to the first assistant.
When those 6 checkpoints are done, I speak with the first assistant to define a secure method for when he/she will give me the card when I’m at my computer. I like to have the new card arrive face down on my left side so I know they need to be copied, and after I have copied everything onto my iMac I put them face up on my right side. This method helps me stay organized. Since the photographer normally has multiple 2, 4, or 8 GB compact flash cards, I keep the cards until the shoot is done, and the photographer and client like what they have on set. After I have backed everything to an external drive, I give the card back to the assistant so they can be reformatted and reused. Thus, I ensure that I have two copies of this first shoot—one on my iMac, the other on an external drive. It will be like that forALL the shoots during the day. No one would like to stay another eight hours on the set because I didn’t do any backup during the process.
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