Lessons

Lesson Info

Class Introduction

Well, hi, guys. And high out there in the world. Thanks for being here. I'm I want to just tell you briefly a little bit about me because I don't know all of you. I've met some of you before and where I come from and why I'm why I'm here. Why you're here with me today and I have been a professional photographer for just about years, coming up on 25 years. And but I've been in photography since I was a kid. Loved it. You know, like some of you start off very young, but I never thought you could actually make money. Being a professional photographer, my dad was a great amateur photographer, and it just never hit me until I I lost my job. My real job selling shoes at Nordstrom's years ago that I realized I got to do something creative and just started doing photography, and it kind of went from there. I'm sure a lot of you have a similar story. How you got photography is like you're you're feeling the need for something creative. And that's one of the reasons I'm here today is to help yo...

u regain that love of the creativity of photography and get out from under the burden of the post processing and maybe the post processing fun. Because to me, that's actually kind of exciting. The post processing Because I have my systems in place and I know how to get what I want quickly. It's actually fun, and I look forward to some of that, not hours and hours of it, of course, but some of it I would look forward to it. So I started photography, and about 10 12 years ago I started to really grow. That moved into Ben and my wife, Claire joined me in my business, and we started to have Children and not many Children. Just a couple. That's it. Just so you know, that's done. And, uh, I started to bring in employees, and our business grew from our my back bedroom of my little apartment to separate out onto our house to a little commercial building. Until a few years ago, we actually built our own building for our businesses, and so it's grown and grown and add people to it, and I find that I have been very good at putting systems into place And that's kind of how I've been able to grow and keep pace and manage for different businesses. Now, including my photography business is by having good systems and a good workflow like what we're gonna talk about. But for business overall, there's, you know, there your sales work full. There's a lot of different other work flows that we could talk about a different workshops. But today we're gonna focus on the post processing workflow. But it's worked for me to grow these businesses Onley because I've had a good workflow. Otherwise I'd be struggling. I'd be my family. Life would suck. I wouldn't have time when I go home. When I go home at the end of the day, which is generally about three or four o'clock, I'm done. I go pick up my kids. I do what I need to do at home. Sometimes I can go to my watch, my son do his martial arts class or whatever, but I'm generally done about three or four o'clock every day Monday through Friday. Never work on the weekends unless I'm teaching or something like that. So I retire from shooting weddings after 20 years ago, Um, last year. I shot my last wedding, and I only do weddings now for special charity needs cases or special cases, and I have several those that I do. But so now I have a lot of time to focus on personal projects, charity work in general, and it's kind of where I want to be with my business. I want to do the photography for the things that I really want to do to help other people and to be coaching other photographers to help them get to where you want to be. And that's kind of my goal. And that's where I'm at now, and I'm really excited about that. So I'm I'm happy to be here and help you guys get to where you want to be with your business in your life. So when we talk about workflow, I find so often when I'm talking to students in classes, they come to my workshops alive and online classes. They all have the kind of similar things, like I'm struggling. I spend too much time on this. I spent too much time on that, and yet we have. We're all used to having a workflow. And so let's say, For example, um, our daily workflow, your commute to work. Let's say you get up every morning and you go to work. You take the same path in your car. You have to work, right? This is this is a workflow. So you get up, do your breakfast, brush your teeth, you comb your hair. If you have hair, you again to the You have big breakfast, You get in the car. No, no, no, no. Uh, you get in your car and you drive the same way to work and you get to work and you do the same thing. Okay, so let's imagine this is your workflow and it's great and it works and you do it without thinking and it's smooth. So let's say one day you decide to get up and But instead of getting up, you get up, roll over the other side of the bed, you get off, you fall on the floor because you're not used to get it that way. So you stub your toe, which I would challenge. Takes you a couple extra minutes to get a band aid out. Now advantage up your toe. Then you go downstairs and instead of making yourself a normal breakfast, you decide. You know, I'm gonna try some new fangled breakfast idea, and you pull some some raw told me all that out of the fridge for the cabinet, and you just eat it raw and you're sick. So you a couple more minutes, you gotta go down bar from the bathroom, right? Then you get outside to get in your car to go to work, and you forgot to put your pants on. So you just go toe, you know, no pants going out to work to the car. You get to the car, but you get in on the other side of the car, you climb in through the back, you gotta climb over the seat and then you say, You know, instead of using my key to start the car, I'm gonna just hot wire it. Why not? It's something different. I gotta try this. So is he going your phone? You look up on the internet, Hot, hot, wire a car, and then you figure it out. I got cat. Sounds pretty cool. You figured out. And then, of course, you gotta take time to twitter out. Dude, I just figured out Hotwire my card so easy. Can't believe so you Facebook that out there. Then you get you get the car going and you drive and it's everyone the normal ways. I'm gonna take the long way this time going this other road, You go that way and there's construction. So you sit and you wait another 30 minutes and you finally get through it. You get down to work instead of parking your normal spotted office, you decide. You know, I'm just gonna parking on the street. So you get out parking on the street in a no parking zone. You start walking your office and you see the parking meter maid come up and start giving you a ticket. So you run back. Take another 10 minutes to deal with that. No, don't. Don't tell my Carl. Move. I'm moving in with you. Put it back on the site. You see where this is going. If you don't have a system that is consistent and efficient the time to get to work. It's two hours later. You have no pants on, which is not always bad. But you know, sometimes bad you've got a stubbed toe Band Aid you got your stomach hurts because you just threw up raw oatmeal into the everything is screwed up. Everything's wrong. And then the tomorrow you said I'm gonna try a little different tomorrow, but not the same. Okay, so this is what most people's workflow often looks like. They're they're just reaching for different things. They don't know if it's gonna work or not. They get sidetracked, they do something wrong. So they get off this little rabbit hole and go off chasing something else instead of just sticking to Here is a cool system that works to get me to work on time. So what I wanna help you guys do is to find that path toe work, to get you to work on time that you can stick to and follow that because that's naturally. What we tend we want to do is is humans. People is efficient people. Okay, that makes sense. It's the questions that if you guys have struggled with with workflow for your photography business a little bit, I hope you have. Why would you be here? So that's that's kind of what we're going for. And one of the benefits as I talked about of having a great workflow, and I hear this from a lot of people From me, especially is when you got it dialed down. You don't have to think about it anymore. You have time to do what you love to do, whether it's spinning with your family or doing creative projects or just working on your photography skills. Taking creative photography workshops because that's what we love to do is just be photographers or be with our families or go play tennis or whatever it is that you do. And that's what I want to give you guys back. Is the time the ability to go and do more of what you really love to do, even if have nothing to do with work on photography, that's some good. Okay, so here's what I want you guys to do over the course. First of all, the system that I'm gonna talk about might be really, really different for some of you if you've already got a system in place and one of things I find in my workshop that it can be very frustrating is if you've already got some sort of a system that you've hobbled together and you're not 100% sold on it. And then people come to the workshop and they see what I'm doing there, OK? I like that. I like that. I like that. Can I put this into my system? How about if I use that? But I'm doing it this way. But can I still do that you're doing there and that generally is a little harder, then just 100% go with what I'm trying to show you. Give it a chance after the workshop, run through a couple sample jobs with it, maybe spend a day, two days and just do it exactly. I'm showing you and then you decide if what you were doing before is better or this is better. Or then you can say, Well, I can take these things that I was doing before because I like that better. And now incorporate these things that I've learned from you at Boom. I've got the perfect system, but you can't know that unless you try it. So in, instead of trying to take little bits and pieces and squeeze it into what you already doing, give my system 100% a try the next couple of days after the workshop and see, give it a try and see, and then then make whatever changes you want. That makes sense. Okay, because that's the one thing that I get frustrated students is when they're trying to mix and match something else that they were already doing. That really wasn't working, but they want to make it work somehow, and they're integrating it with this. So start fresh. The next big thing I want you to remember is to use your shortcuts in templates, and we'll talk about a lot of different ways to use shortcuts via to shortcut keys via presets via actions and Photoshopped setting up light room, all kinds of templates. You can set up shortcuts and templates, save you tons of time. One of things denies. The years ago, I started teaching Photoshopped and in photo shop. I know the keyboard shortcuts for almost pretty much everything that I want to do, but I have no idea where they are in the menu anymore. So somebody asked me, Well, show me that in the menu will be, um, good question. Where does it have no idea that haven't touched the menu in like, two years. But I know the keyboard shortcut and which is also obviously a better way to go. So I'll talk about that when we start working in a photo shop in light room and how to train your brain to use keyboard shortcuts so that it's easy and become second nature for you, because that in itself is a huge timesaver. In fact, I watched so many students you know mousing around and choosing things from the menus and all that that if you on Lee did that. If you Onley trade yourself for keyboard shortcuts to do what you're exactly you're doing, you probably cut 10 20% of your time off your workflow. Over the course of everything you do in a day, it s you're already doing that, of course, but I'm just using that alone. So that's a big chunk of how reducing your time it's gonna work. The last part is be consistent, just like your drive toe work. If you are doing it differently every day, you might get there sooner one day. But most days you're probably going to take the wrong way, or it's gonna take you longer because you're not following the path of least resistance. So once you get a system in place, stick to it. A good example of that is my system that I use for my clients. I use the same for my personal work. You have the same kind of a light room catalogue system for my personal work. I organize. I edit. I do everything the same way just because I want to be consistent all your own. It works for both personal and jobs. Okay. All right. Any other? What kind of pain points Anybody have any pain points before? And I know you guys are all in pain just sitting there on your bets all day long, but, uh, tell me about what your pain points in your workflow. So far, uh, mind is almost like the very beginning is like, OK, where do I start? Once I figure out where I start where I'm going to start. It's okay. What am I gonna do next? How am I going to do it? Why do I want to do it this way? As opposed to doing it another way? Um, because I've heard rumors that it's seven different ways to do everything in photos out. And I'm always trying to find the eighth win and getting to a point ways like Okay, what? I will do that. So I try to do what I've been told. The best thing to do is try to give her things done in camera first, and it makes your workflow easier. But I'm still having a hard time, you know, just with the workflow and just trying to get the whole concept of it down. Yeah. Yeah, and that's good. Where do you start? And and that I agree that getting it is closer to Canon camera is really important. That certainly will help. Um, one of the big fallacies about digital imaging years ago was that Well, it wasn't a fallacy. It was true. For a lot of people is that people said What makes you a worse photographer? Because we're getting sloppy and behind the camera, knowing or thinking we can fix it in photo shop. Right? Have you heard that before and for a lot of people, that was true. Ah, and a lot of people for me, I was trying to be as great as I could in camera and then used photo shop as a boom. You know, the Sprinkles on top of the ice cream is Photoshopped, you know? I mean, so it is true. Get it right in camera. Get is closer to canon camera. Definitely gonna help your workflow get your white balance nailed. I don't have to do any color corrections. If you have your exposure nail, you have to worry about that. But the good news is that we have so many cool tools to fix minor things that are off. Like I don't shoot perfectly in camera all the time because I also like to shoot quickly and spontaneously. So sometimes I'd rather get a shot and make it, You know, maybe it's 1/2 stopover under exposed or whatever. The white balance isn't perfect, but I got this nice, cool, spontaneous shot That's more important to me than just making sure it's all technically perfect. You know, so fortunate. We have the tools, they're shooting raw. Of course, I'm gonna assume I make this statement right now. I'm gonna assume that we're all shooting raw and camera. That's really is the ultimate way to work. It's the only way to work. I think unless you have a very specific reason to shoot just J. Peg for high production or something like that. Okay, so we're gonna we're gonna consumed everybody. Even out there in the real world is a shooting raw files. So that's that's great, cause that's what we're gonna talk about. I'm gonna talk about even before you get into light room before you download your images. Where to start, how to manage your jobs, everything else instead of your computer, start to finish again. And it's one thing you can check it out and try it and see how it works with what you already doing. It sounds like your kind of one of those guys. It's always looking for the next best day, you know, a little improvement or something like that. Which is kind of how I am to what I'm I wouldn't even say looking for the next best thing. I'm just looking for something that's just like, you know, Hey, here's this is how you do it right go forth and go do it. And so I'm in them in them. From what you're saying is, pretty much this is what you're saying, Hey, here's the book followed step by step. If you do it, you won't have a problem. At least give me a starting point at the worst case. So on, I'm looking forward to it. So we're gonna try to Do you know anybody else got pain? Points out there, Nita. Kevin, I took a workshop from you four years ago, and, um, it was much taller than wasn't. I, uh, skinny eater you are. I am implemented. The workflow that you introduced back then. I am very happy with it. And I am here. Teoh, follow up on what I've learned, and I, um I'm consistent. I use it. I love it, but technology goes so fast and so far. And I'm curious what happened between then and now in your workflow. So I'm just going to on implement what changes you made. So that is my angle on the workflow. Cool. I'm glad to hear you've been consistent, and that's, uh, for the most part, conceptually hasn't changed too much. But there are little things that have improved and changes, especially with light room improvements and that change. So we'll talk about those changes for sure. I look forward to that. Cool. Thanks, Kevin. You want to take a couple from the Internet? Yes, because I asked the same question over there at me. And really, Chris has the same problem that I dio. My main bottleneck is processing after import and before development, picking the best photos and knowing what to keep and how to rate them. I waffle. Procrastinate. Frequent frequently. Yes. Waffling. Waffling long. Yeah. You know, um, that's great, because a lot of people do do with that, and I'll talk about that as we go through editing. But let me share one little analogy that I think it is really important. When, ah, when I started showing digital weddings years ago, I would edit agenda would shoot 1,502,000 images at a wedding between me and my second shooter, which is my wife, Claire. And we'd edit down to about eight or 900 images to show the clan. And we had a heck of a time selling because not because they don't like the images because people couldn't choose like, Oh, I like that 10 but I like that 10 but I like that 10 but I like that. I can't decide which one I want. Let me think about it for a month to get back to you. You know, it's like, OK, in your mind, it just wasn't working. So I realized that less is more. And so here's an analogy for you. Let's say Okay. You guys heard of Mona Lisa? You know this girl, right? Okay. Have you ever seen the Mona Lisa in person and potty in the new? Okay, so don't give it away. All right? So you're going to go see the Mona Lisa now, right? We're all going to take a trip right now. It's Paris. Go see the Mona Lisa in the museum, and you walk up the museum and you clear through the crowd and she's upstairs on the wall somewhere. So here we go. Come on, guys. Let's go see the Mona Lisa. We get their part, the sea of people. And there she is on the wall. Five different versions of Mona Lisa, each with a slightly different quirky smile. You're like, Wait a minute. I thought she was one of a kind. Now there's five. Mona Lisa's well in your mind. Now, how is the value of the Mona Lisa. It's gone down. She's no longer one of a kind, amazing, unique, you know, only one in the world. There's five variations, very similar, all nice, but not one but five and eventually probably threw away, You know, another 100 of them, but we didn't see those. But if you did, the value goes even further down. And I when I started thinking about things like that and actually something I realized from traveling because I would travel, see artwork like that and think if there was five variations of the same, you know, I see their their attempts at the Mona Lisa, their attempts and all the said. I'm not so excited about the real Mona Lisa, because in my mind it's like he just created this one day and boom magic happened. And there we have this amazing thing that stuck with us for all of humanity. That's how I feel. I want to feel about the Mona Lisa. But I really saw all the edits. They went behind the scenes for the Mona Lisa. I probably would be so excited about it, and that's the same when you show images to your clients if you're gonna show them 10 images from the same basic pose with slightly different head tilts and little different smiles like that, you're basically devaluing the main image than one that you should be selling there. And it's a supply and demand. Think about this. You go to a store. I learned this when I traveled in Europe. You goto fashion store who like to shop. Don't tell anybody, but and you go into the stores, okay. And the stores like in Italy, for example, a little boutique shops. You walk in there and they'll have one piece, one shirt, one pant, one different shirt, whatever on the racks you don't see like here we have walmart with 300 of the same shirt on the rack, right, and you gotta dig through their find your size. They have one, and then you look at that. You got one of a kind shirt. I gotta have it. Grab it off the rack and you, like, coveted while you walk around the store. You know, shopping for more stuff, but it's it's a small and you need a medium. So you like last the girls, he asked a girl. It's a small I need a medium is any chance check? Oh, I don't think that's very unique. Shirt. This is my best attempted a foreign accent. Let me check in the back for you, sir. It's kind of French, but I'm not talking about Italy. Right? Just pretend this A French girl working in an Italian boutique. Okay, I'd check in the back for you. Says she goes, it comes back. Mamma mia, have one medium left for you now I'm Italian. Here you go. Said you're so lucky today you put on this shirt as beautiful on you and you're like, Oh, yes, I'll take it My special 11 of a kind shirt in the back. She's got, like, 20 of them on the rack, right? This is exactly how it is. They have all tons of that, but the only put one out in the rack because to you that now is unique. Your shopping in a boutique. One of a kind kind of shop. And if I saw that same shirt in a department store in the US, with 300 of them in the same color and different sizes, all smashed together in Iraq. I just walked right past it because I don't want one of 300. I want the one of a kind that's our clients want. They want the one of a kind shot that makes sense. So the better you can edit down. This is a little tangent, but it's all related to this question. Sorry, Internet person. I got way off my soapbox here, so the better you can edit down and we'll talk about techniques for editing down those images, the better you're gonna do. Sales wise, the client can make a decision faster because they don't need to see all the other stuff They don't really want to. They say they do, but they don't. They wanted to see the best of the best. And if they ask of their other shots, you say no. This is the only one that I'm really in love with. The other ones you had your eyes closed or whatever. If they saw you take 10 shots and they know you took other ones. Say this is this is by far the best shot that I'm showing you. This is my favorite. Okay, so we'll talk about that. How to edit quickly, and a lot of it is due using your gut too quickly. Pull it up and you know what's the right shot. But a lot of times, we second guess you have somebody of your shoulder going. You know what? I knew the other one. Try the other one again. And so sometimes I disco real quickly. That's the one. That's the one. That's the one. That's the one. Okay, Was there another question present? You want to take one more? Yeah, Maybe this is Ah comment, Chris, Dina P says. I just recently realized while importing toe light room, I was actually double saving all the files and ran out of memory on my computer. I've been doing that since 2012. I'm definitely clueless when it comes to workflow, double saving double saying it's interesting. I'm not sure if she's exporting them after she imports him, because we'll talk about that. But it's a good segue way into our some basic concepts that we want to talk about here, which is the idea of catalogs and what account log is in light room. A lot of people don't understand that. So you guys Ah I'm assuming you're familiar like room because we're here for a light room class from this part light room creates a catalogue, and you think of your catalog just like you get a catalogue in the mail. Here's your J Crew catalog. You get in the mail and you open your catalogue and you see a little tiny thumbnails. Pretty pretty scarf, and you want that scarf. Can you take the scarf either catalogue and put it on. It's not the real scarf. This is a rhetorical, dumb question, but you can't write. This is a representation of the scarf, which lives at the factory, and that's a Libra. Miss Light Room is a catalogue with representations of the images that live somewhere else. The images are not in the catalogue, so if you just remember a catalogue, think of it as your J Crew catalog. It's just representation. That's information. The prices there, all the sizing is there. A little thumbnail image of it is there. If you pull it up close, you can kind of blow it up, you know, there, I got a blow up of it. That's what your catalog is. That's what a light room catalog is it's a representation of the real image is a lot of people get confused and they think, Why put my images in light room? So I must have the images in light room, but they're not. They're still in the hard drive where it is. You originally imported them, and that's one thing we're gonna cover is Where do you put them and where do they go and how do you back him up? Officer stuff. So back to the question from the Internet is how she's having double images. It might be that she's exporting them when she doesn't need Teoh. Maybe she's backing them up, and she doesn't know where she's backing them up or didn't know she was backing him up a lot of different possibilities. But again, Well, what kind of cover that as we go through the system here