Defining My Digital Workflow, Part 1

Goals for what I want to do with pictures:

1. Scrapbook my favorites to document the everyday, the special, and the insightful.
2. Share with others on Flickr, AllThoseLayouts.blogspot.com, and Facebook
3. Print some for frames.
4. Add to digital frame.

Steps in the process from taking the photos to final product.

As I write this I am using pictures taken yesterday at Wiers Beach. I took about 50 pictures.

1. Take pictures, lots of pictures, lots and lots of pictures. Shooting in RAW??
2. Upload to computer using PSE7 Organizer. Files loaded into folder for date: One folder for each month within a year. Format file name "yyyy mm dd". Add copyright info in upload screen.
3. Keywording, Captioning, and Rating:
1. Geotag Batch while in small import folder. (Where?)
2. Tag for Places We Go/Things We Do-any tags that can be generalized (What?)
3. Find Faces for Tagging (Who?)-this won't get all of them, but it's a start
4. Move through deleting and captioning photos. Checking basic keywords, tag for edits (if a certain effect is in mind), apply star rating
1. 1-star: Might Scrapbook or have some caption
2. 2-star: Great Images that represent the event
3. 3-star: Gotta Scrapbook-The BEST
5. Write metadata to files. (Do this while you are still in the new batch window or else select batch and write. Otherwise, it will write metadata for ALL files.)
6. Show "To Be Deleted" and delete those.
7. Backup to Maxtor. (Maxtor will backup automatically any day that I upload. Make sure to do so before I log off. The files are backed up initially. The original versions are kept in the "History" folder. The current version of the files is in the folder labeled "C" or "D" drive. Once metadata or edits have been made those will be saved in the current folder.)

The last two steps I need to work out:

1. Before any sharing can happen I have to convert files from RAW to JPEG.
2. Upload 2-stars and higher to Flickr-even without any edits-just to get that backup. Any edits can be made later.

I can't upload RAW files to Flickr. When I open them in Camera Raw and edit them, I am saving them as dng - another incompatible file type. Maybe I just export them. I don't know I have to figure this out. RAW definitely gives me more flexibility with the photos and helps me to make up for the fact that I make mistakes as a beginning photographer. 

More work to go!

These are the basic steps for setting up my Library of Memories. Now I have to work backwards by date and/or in 15-minute batches practicing applying these steps. Next I will define my inspiration workflow which will outline how to share these photos.

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