processing | my lightroom workflow

One thing our members are often curious about is how others structure their workflow once they upload their images to their computer.  Our lovely CMmentor and Lightroom aficionado, Megan Moore, is generously sharing her Lightroom workflow here on the blog today.  Megan is a teaching assistant in our Processing 101: Lightroom Start-to-Finish workshop and knows her stuff – thanks for sharing with us, Megan!

processing |my lightroom workflow

by Megan Moore

Hi everyone! I wanted to share my Lightroom workflow today – this is always a work in progress, but this is what has been working for me for a while now. I do most of my editing in Lightroom, and bring everything into Photoshop (CS5) for cloning/cosmetic edits, and for a little polish.

The first thing I do once I get home from a session is get on the computer and import it. I don’t wait until later, I never want to risk losing a session due to a corrupt card, computer malfunction, or wild toddler and her sippy cup.

Here is what my Library Module looks like:

I wanted to touch briefly on the pink box on the left side of the screen. This shows how I organize my files within Lightroom. I use the same structure for my external hard drives, but I do not put these in my LR catalogs – they would be huge if I did. I organize my files by year, then month. Within each month, I separate personal and client work. I know some people keep separate catalogs for client and personal work, but I keep it all together by year – you can only have one LR catalog open at any given time, so this way is easier for me, instead of opening and closing catalogs while I’m working.

You’ll notice I have a folder called “*To Edit” at the top. The asterisk is there to make sure this folder is always at the top of my files. I import all images into this folder, and work on them from here. Everything in my To Edit folder is work to be completed. Once it’s complete, I delete these files from my computer (note: I do have a backup already created of them, which you’ll see momentarily). I like to work with RAW files whenever possible, so I don’t save my LR edits once I edit an image. I’m a “fresh start” kind of girl, I want to start over from square one if I decide to re-edit things down the road.

So let’s get on with this! Next up, importing. Here is what my import dialog box looks like:

1. This shows where I’m importing from. (I am using a card reader here, even though it says Nikon D700.) If I were importing from another place on my computer or hard drives, I’d just use the arrow to select the file path I want to import from.

2. This shows where I’m importing to. You’ll see the end of the file path shows these images will go to my “To Edit” folder I mentioned above.

3. I work with the destination folders option here, as I tend to put many days of images on one card, and I am always cautious about deleting images from my cards until those sessions or images are imported, fully edited, backed up, and even delivered to the client. This is the easiest way for my to quickly locate the images I want to import.

4. This is the SUPER important piece in my workflow. The second box is where I choose where I want a second copy of these images imported to – this is my back up. This goes to my external hard drive, in the client’s folder. This way I know I have a copy of the RAW files in a second spot, not on my computer, should I need them. (Normally, that “don’t import suspected duplicates” box is checked, but I’ve already imported the images you’re seeing, and they would be grayed out if I didn’t un-check that.)

5. This is just where I rename my files. I usually only rename client files, not personal ones. I also import my RAW files as .NEF files. I could also convert to .DNG, but I do .NEF out of habit at this point.

Once my images are imported, I go to that folder in the To Edit folder. I enable my filters (command + L), and select the middle flag for “unflagged photos”. I quickly go through and reject (using the “x” key) everything I know I don’t want. I work by process of elimination when culling galleries, so I just keep rejecting images until I get to a reasonable number, and a good variety from the session.

(Here I have shut off the filters, so you can see the grayed out images are rejected images.)

Once I get down to a good number of images, I will move over to the Develop module, and make all of my LR edits to the images. Once those are complete, I am ready to export.

Now this part is where I think I differ from a lot of people. I export my images into a folder, and open in Photoshop from that folder. I don’t go straight to Photoshop. I’ve found that for my workflow, I like to know that my images, with their LR edits, are stored safely somewhere that isn’t Lightroom. As I mentioned before, I like to do any re-edits starting back at the beginning image, so I’ll delete these once I’m done with them – no need for them to take up room on my computer.

I select all the images I want to export, and right click, selecting “Export”, and “Export” again. Here is what that export dialog box looks like:

Thanks, Megan!  Want more Lightroom?  Registration for Processing 101: Lightroom Start-to-Finish opens TODAY to Lifetime members and next Thursday to everyone else.  Spaces fill quickly – don’t miss out!  To register, click here.

Megan Moore
CM Mentor
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Growing up Megan was always the girl with the camera and her obsession with photography kicked into overdrive as she photographed the beauty of Hawaii while on her honeymoon. However, it wasn’t until her daughters birth, and subsequent month long stay in the NICU, that Megan realized how important photography and capturing life’s fleeting moments are. When she’s not spending time at home with her husband and daughter, with a son soon to be added, she enjoys having a “girl’s day” filled with “spa appointments, shopping, good food and quiet time.” A quick glimpse in Megan’s camera bag will reveal a Nikon D700, several Nikkor lenses and a Lensbaby Composer Pro.