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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Tips for speeding up workflow on deadline?
Jim Metzendorf, Photographer
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Columbus | OH | United States | Posted: 1:54 PM on 09.07.07 |
->> Hello everyone,
This question is for all of you editorial shooters out there who make selects, edit (crop, very minor toning), caption, and file on deadline.
I use the latest version of Photo Mechanic along with Photoshop CS3, and I am finding my turnaround on images is too slow for my liking.
Let's use prep football as an example: I'll usually make around 600-700 frames throughout an entire game (including pre-game features), and need to file 10 images that night for web and eventual print use. How long would it take you to make selects, edit and caption based on this? It's taking me at least an hour, and often longer to do this. I have actions set up in Photoshop for everything I do except cropping, and Photo Mechanic is set up to create proper file names and embed common IPTC data.
I think what is slowing me down the most is making selects and writing the full caption. I use the ranking system in Photo Mechanic as I skim through the files to make my selects. I then cull it down from that. I'm also trying to reduce the volume of images I shoot. As I said, the Photoshop editing is minor - cropping, just a little curve or level adjust, convert to sRGB, Save As. That's about it. By the way, I use a reasonably fast computer and can get around the software fairly quickly using keyboard shortcuts whenever possible, so those aspects of the process are not slowing me down.
I actually recently spoke with my editor about it, and it takes him about an hour too when he shoots something similar, but he admits to being on the slow side. Even still, I'd like to get faster, without sacrificing the quality or accuracy of what I'm doing.
Any thoughts? |
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Thomas Boydston, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Georgetown | Tx | United States | Posted: 2:11 PM on 09.07.07 |
->> If you protect a file on your camera it registers as tagged in photomechanic, and you can just click "View Tagged". So if you're not shooting during halftime I'd start hitting the protect button on your camera.
I'm also not sure how long you've been shooting under deadlines, but you will find your speed increases as you go. |
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Jim Metzendorf, Photographer
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Columbus | OH | United States | Posted: 2:24 PM on 09.07.07 |
->> Hi Thomas,
That is a great tip. Thanks! I've been shooting editorially for several years, but the deadlines are getting increasingly tighter for me. Another thing to add is that I typically stay for the duration of a game in case the story changes. Obviously, this makes time even tighter and all that much more important that I increase my speed.
Thanks again, and please keep the tips and tricks coming!
-Jim |
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Dave Cone, Photographer
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Jacksonville | Fl | | Posted: 2:53 PM on 09.07.07 |
->> Jim-
I know you have CS3 and PM -- but have you thought about taking a look at Adobe Lightroom?
I never thought Lightroom was worth the fanfare -- even after I demoed it for awhile. But after regular use, I rarely even pop open Photoshop or PM. There's really no need for editorial work.
I can do all my editing, cropping, metadata within LR. It's incredibly efficient. You can batch any command like crop, color balance, metadata, etc. Say you have a sequence of vertical football shots that have a slightly titled horizon -- crop the image as to level the field on one shot and batch the rest. Total time saver.
When shooting, I shoot nothing but RAW files. LR is made for this and exporting JPEGS is a breeze.
It's well worth the money ... I would at least download it for the trial and really get into it. There are tons of free video tutorials on the web to get you started.
-DC |
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Rodrigo Pena, Photographer
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Palm Desert | CA | USA | Posted: 3:03 PM on 09.07.07 |
->> Everyone always makes fun of folks that chimp on the sidelines, but under tight deadlines, chimping is useful in speeding up the workflow. I do what Thomas suggested. In other words, after a break in the action, I take a look at the images that I have shot to see if I've got the moment. I tag or lock the photos that look good and then when it's time to edit, I use Photo Mechanic. I hit "apple T" which is a shortcut for select tagged. Then you can view the photos you like best. This helps, but sometimes I don't have time to chimp on every play, so sometimes I still have to look at all of my take. I'm getting better at making sure I tag my best photos.
It sounds like you're up to speed on the rest of the stuff. Here are a few tips I recently gave a friend of mine:
Before I even get to the game, I make folders for all of the photos that I will be shooting. Each compactflash card gets it's own folder. This helps for speed.
Next I pre-write my caption and save it in the metadata. Here's an example using the mandated style for our newspaper:
FRIFOOT07ripA.jpg
( 09/07/07, Palm Springs, Sports ) during first quarter game action at
Palm Springs High School on Friday, September 7, 2007. (The
Press-Enterprise/Rodrigo Pena)
The caption can be changed, but I've got all of the necessary stuff pre-written, like the location, date, slug, photo credit, etc.
Also, I don't know about you, but in the past I have wasted a lot of time going back to Photo Mechanic to look for jersey #'s that are not visible in the main frame. So when I make my edits, and choose photos, I open them in Photoshop and name the photo with a temporary slug. Here's an example. Let's say the kid on the left has a jersey # that you can't see, then I look to the other frames near it to see if I can spot the number. Let's say the kid on the left is #15, the kid in the center is #5 and the kid on the right is #35, and let's say the action is in the first quarter. I would label the photo like this: 1Q150535. This tells me the jersey numbers of the kids which I will look up on the roster for names. The 1Q tells me which quarter the action took place. Some Photographers are more detailed than this and use the recorder on their camera to do the same thing or get more detail. Whatever works for you, just as long as it doesn't waste time.
We have tight deadlines, so we shoot the first 2 quarters and then run back to our cars to edit, tone, caption and transmit. Then we go back out to finish photographing the game for the audio slideshows that we produce after the game is over.
I hope this helps. Best wishes, Rodrigo Pena |
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Jeffery Patch, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Huntington Beach | CA | USA | Posted: 3:13 PM on 09.07.07 |
->> Thomas' tip on tagging (locking/protecting) your images is a good one.
If you are fairly certain you tagged plenty of good keepers, you can tell PhotoMechanic to only inject locked files so that you don't spend 20 mins downloading the ENTIRE card.
I usualy do this when on a deadline. As soon as the tagged images are downloaded, I go back and start ingesting the rest. That way I can get started on the ones that I know are good. If I need more I can start browsing the rest that I didn't lock in-camera. |
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George Bridges, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | USA | Posted: 3:30 PM on 09.07.07 |
->> Take advantage of the tools PhotoMechanic gives you.
As said, tag in camera and go ahead and tag an image or two before to make sure you have the numbers. Shoot the players as they get up from the pile to make sure you have who you need.
When you look at the disk select tagged only to see you in-camera edits.
Then do a quick run through those selects and use the color tagging to cut it down even more.
Then drop out all but the color you have selected to get down to those edits.
If you still need to cut down, go through those selects quickly and use another color. Drop out the first color and you have your final edit.
Then go through your opening, cropping, toning and save to an edits folder.
In this folder have your shell caption already made as suggested before. All the IPTC data filled out and a base caption such as " in the half of their 4A game on Friday, September 7, 2007, in Columbus, Ohio."
Then all you have to put in is: "Cental's Joe Smith is tackled by South's Roger Wilson after a five-yard gain" and then the half and you are ready to send.
Also, don't wait until you have all captioned to send. Send after you get two or three done so the editors already have something to work on as you finish the rest and send your best first!
Once you've got your transmits you can come back and transfer all the images over to your computer and do another final edit to make sure you didn't miss anything in camera.
Also, use multiple disks so at half time you can pop in a first-half disk and maybe get a couple early edits ready to go and then put in a new disk for the second half. Even if you don't send, there is no reason you can't get 3 or 4 images ready during a regular half time. |
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Ian Halperin, Photographer
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Plano(Dallas) | TX | USA | Posted: 3:33 PM on 09.07.07 |
->> Along the lines on what Rodrigo was saying I keep a notepad and write the same basic info, based on the frames. When I get a keeper, I look at all the frames I need to and write something like "DCS001-#22 hits by #99, 1stQ"
Also, when I'm in a big hurry I don't ingest the entire card. I edit on the card and send just my picks to a folder on the desktop and crop, caption, etc. from there.
Pre-writing captions is also a big help. If you know what the big story is, you can even do a caption just for those shots.
And...what are you using to read the card? The faster your reader, the better. |
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William Luther, Photographer
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San Antonio | TX | USA | Posted: 4:15 PM on 09.07.07 |
->> Putting audio annotations on your files through the in-camera audio recorder as you shoot also keeps you from having to do the Photo Mechanic image shuffle to look through before and after images to find players' numbers.
With football, especially, there is generally enough time after most plays to shoot, look at the frames, get the IDs from the surrounding frames, make a voice recording with the IDs and other importnant information, and then tag the image.
Obviously this can't -- and shouldn't -- be done on every play and can't be done very well on non-stop sports like soccer or lacrosse, but the better you get at doing this the better you will be on deadline. |
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Ian Halperin, Photographer
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Plano(Dallas) | TX | USA | Posted: 4:55 PM on 09.07.07 |
| ->> If you do what William is suggesting, be sure you check the box to "Copy WAV files" when you are using PM. |
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Ron Scheffler, Photographer
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Hamilton (Toronto area) | Ontario | Canada | Posted: 8:07 PM on 09.07.07 |
->> If you are submitting to a publication with a prepress department (or there is someone else who will handle the technical preparation of images for print/publication), the biggest time saver is to eliminate Photoshop and all the related toning, color corrections, sharpening, etc., from your workflow.
You can do everything you need to in Photo Mechanic - caption, crop and ftp. There is no need to do anything else to your photos, it just slows down the process. The goal is to get something to the editor ASAP, even if it's technically a bit questionable - the prepress department will take care of that. As a photographer, I know this is a concept many of us have trouble with because we want to bring out the best in our photos. But in deadline situations, it wastes a lot of time and is something you have to get over. Trust someone else to do their job prepping your images. Being someone with both prepress and shooting on deadline experience, I can attest that it is usually better to receive a Jpeg straight from the camera than one the photographer tried to touch up first. Often times the photographer–made adjustments, no matter how well intentioned, cause issues during image preparation, resulting in more time needed to achieve the desired final result. And from the POV of shooting on deadline, it's great not to have to worry about color correction and tonality adjustment.
It helps to send a few photos at the half, just so they already have something to work with. If you're fast enough, you could even send a broad selection from the first half, getting that all out of the way so you can concentrate on the second half images after the game. Waiting until the end of the game means your recollection of the first half will not be as fresh. Definitely make audio notes! While you might hate to miss much of the game by working past the half time break, don't worry too much about missing the first few minutes of the 3rd quarter if it's a late game. It's a gamble, but more often then not you won't miss much and making deadline is more important.
Set up a generic caption in Photo Mechanic as a snapshot (the lightning bolt symbol). It allows you to quickly drop in players' names and what they are doing. If you have time before the game, use Photo Mechanic's code replacement feature to prepare a file from the rosters (preferably by copying an online roster to ensure proper spelling). Code replacement will let you drop in names and phrases with only a few key strokes, without the need to double check spelling once the code replacement source file is properly set up. But it's important to double check your code replacement source file against the actual game day roster to ensure you have an accurate and up to date player list.
With a generic caption, enhanced by a few relevant details and player names dropped in with code replacement, you could send a file in less than a minute. Once you get the hang of it and do all the work within PM, it's not difficult to send a good selection within 5-10 minutes.
While ingesting only the tagged files will save some time, there is a risk you will have good images of players you can't quite identify. Here's where having the images before and after the tagged image is useful because they may clearly reveal the jersey number, etc. (Assumes you weren't able to include all that info in an audio file)
Turn on the incremental ingest feature. That way you can ingest a card, continue shooting with it and come back later to only ingest the new images.
I'm not a big fan of making all the edits directly on the source card. If you copy to the computer first, then you automatically have a backup in case something happens to the card (i.e. loss, damage, file corruption). If you have a limited number of cards, then you won't suddenly find yourself in a bind if the game goes to overtime, etc. and you are running out of card space. A copy already exists on the computer allowing you to erase already used cards.
But cards are cheap. Buy the fastest cards and card reader you can find. Right now that means UDMA CF cards, like the Sandisk IV, Lexar 300x and Transcend 266x series. These download 2-3x faster than the previous generation if paired with a UDMA compatible firewire reader. Otherwise, use two card readers at the same time. Insert a card in one, ingest it with PM, then insert the second card and ingest. This ingests both cards in parallel and with previous generation 120-150x cards will give you the same combined download speed as one UDMA card. From my understanding from Kirk at Camerabits (authors of PM), if you select both cards at the same time in the ingest tool, PM will ingest one card at a time, which you don't want to do.
Here's how I do it:
Ingest card(s)
Apple+T to select only the tagged images.
Apple+R to go to preview mode.
Quickly scroll through tagged images to find the best ones.
While in preview mode, settle on a preferred image, hit "I" to bring up the blank IPTC fields.
Click on Apply Stationery Pad to paste in the previously prepared generic caption and relevant IPTC fields.
Using code replacement, add players' names and flesh out the caption with relevant info.
Click OK (or Apple+return) to apply the IPTC fields.
Apply crop if desired.
Hit "1" or whatever desired number for a corresponding color code so I know the image is captioned and xmitted.
Still in preview mode, hit "U" to bring up the FTP As dialog box, click OK.
Move to next image, meanwhile the previous image is in the process of being transmitted.
Sounds longwinded but can be extremely fast once you get used to the procedure. |
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Jim Metzendorf, Photographer
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Columbus | OH | United States | Posted: 12:51 AM on 09.08.07 |
->> Thanks again for all of your help, everyone. I was able to read all but Ron's suggestions prior to shooting this evening, and it made an immediate improvement in my turnaround time after incorporating several of the techniques.
Ron - You bring up some great stuff and I definitely work it in to my newly tweaked workflow! I hear you about not touching Photoshop at all, but this particular client needs their photographers to give them just a bit of a head start in terms of cropping and toning.
This is truly what Sports Shooter is all about. I got my money's worth in only one thread!
If any of you are interested in checking them out, I updated my member page with the selects along with quick and dirty captions from the game.
Cheers,
-Jim |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 1:41 AM on 09.08.07 |
| ->> jim. all of these tips were fantastic. but to be honest, in my humble opinion you are your own worst enemy. why are you shooting 600-700 images at a high school game? a high school football game usually consists of four 12 minute quarters. that's 48 minutes. 2880 seconds. I'm really bad at math and please correct me if I'm wrong (which I frequently am) but that comes out to you shooting about 4 frames a second. no wonder you have editing problems. calm down. step away from the motor drive. you might find it easier if you're not, as we say "making movies". |
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Jay Mirasol, Photographer, Assistant
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Chicago | IL | USA | Posted: 6:08 AM on 09.08.07 |
->> Chuck -- as my high school algebra teacher used to often tell me, "You're not too bad at math, but you might want to check your units."
:-)
700 images in 2880 seconds is actually averaging one image about every 4 seconds or so, not the other way around. You make a good point that applies to lots of folks (OK, maybe just to me), but it seems that making movies isn't really a contributing factor for Jim. |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 10:19 AM on 09.08.07 |
| ->> thanks jay. mr. bill frakes alerted me to my error also. now my math skills, always suspect, are now LEGENDARY!! also I was dealing with beer math. no excuse, I knew something looked goofy with those figures but just couldn't figure out what it was. geez, I guess I need a new abacus.......... |
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David Harpe, Photographer
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Louisville | KY | USA | Posted: 4:57 PM on 09.08.07 |
->> I only skimmed the other responses...but did someone mention Code Replacement in photomechanic? This is a huge timesaver in captioning.
I also use the chimp/tag method of editing in the field. Very helpful. |
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Andrew Knapik, Photographer, Assistant
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Lincoln Park | MI | USA | Posted: 9:59 PM on 09.08.07 |
->> The tip for PM is great, but does anyone know if you can use that option of tagging an image in Adobe Lightroom, or even in Apeture. I have yet to play with Lightroom, but I am starting to use Apeture, and would love not having to buy another program.
Thanks |
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