How to post process numerous RAW files?

[astroNikon]

I like car shows.
But after being to several now I see repeat cars, so I don't take so many photos.
At the last one there was this one Photog going crazy wild with photos of everything, anything, all things. I think he took about 20 as I was just standing there for a few seconds.
I took over 100 easily.
But each individual shot is individually set as the sun comes and goes, etc.
So normally I end up tweaking each photo individually.

Lightroom contains the SYNC feature which lets you take one setup and push it too all the other ones.
There's also some "Apply during import" settings where you can do stuff to the entire set during IMPORT.

So I would use a product like Lightroom to manage your photos.

 

[Scatterbrained]

So you're keeping 500 pictures out of 1,000? That's phenomenal! I'd be lucky to have 10% be worthy of saving. Actually it's more like 1% for me.

And you're posting 200 pictures of an event? Do your viewers like them all? That again is utterly fantastic!

I never understood why people only have such a small amount of keepers. Is it the machine gun shooting mentality? Inexperience? Something else? I personally, don't take a shot unless I think it might be worth keeping. Shooting film helps with that, but I try to have the same mentality with digital because I hate processing files.

I'm not picking on you 'Designer', just using your comment as an example. Sorry for getting OT..

I don't see why people see the need to share every image they take. Maybe your idea of a "keeper" and mine differ, but when it comes to processing images, I'll pick my favorite from a set and that will be it. If I go to an event, I'm not going to shoot every car/bike/competitor/etc and post it. I'm going to pick the images that I both like, and feel represent the event or activity. That doesn't mean that I'm "running and gunning", it just means that I'm even more selective once I get home and start culling. Just because every image on my card is technically sound and properly composed doesn't mean they're all keepers.
Do you think people shooting for companies like NatGeo and Time are just running and gunning? Of course not. Do they share every shot they took? Oh no. Not even close. To bring up the oft quoted Ansel Adams,

Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.

 

[cheshirecat79]

I don't see why people see the need to share every image they take. Maybe your idea of a "keeper" and mine differ, but when it comes to processing images, I'll pick my favorite from a set and that will be it. If I go to an event, I'm not going to shoot every car/bike/competitor/etc and post it.

It varies by the scene. If you're running a car photgraphy group, many followers want to see pictures that you've taken of their rides. Having pictures of other people's vehicles may also bring more followers when their friends tag them. There's certainly a reason to post them all if you're trying to build followers. As it applies to a portfolio, I agree- there's really no reason to exhibit anything other than your best or most representative work.

 

[mkoller]

In Lightroom 5 you can A) add processing on import B) use auto sync in the develop module and batch adjust like images. This makes things much quicker for large groups of images.

 

[cheshirecat79]

Raw processing questions/workflow

You may want to check out The DAM Book | DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS . It may give you some insight. Asset management, especially for someone like you that deals with quite a few photos, can be a real bear and time-sucker, but once you get into a habit of culling, sorting, and tagging your library, you may find you have more time to work on developing/enjoying your best photos.

To specifically address your questions about working on RAW versus Jpeg, you'll get used to quickly adjusting your RAW images. You will have to export or publish them, however, once you're ready to share the photo. RAW is certainly the way to go, especially for auto phography, which usually suffers from bad lighting conditions. The amount of detail you can salvage from shadows w/raw is huge.

 

[xzyragon]

So you claim to be a graphic designer and familiar with all of post processing, but you're asking a question directly related to post processing?

Anyways, in lightroom, you can copy your "develop" settings for a photo, and copy those settings over to as many photos as you select. For shoots, I'll edit one image until it's to my liking, and apply that to all the photos that were taken in the same series (same angle, lighting, exposure, etc), and then cull and do the fine touches on those photos after.

 

[astroNikon]

Sync Settings across multiple photos ...

 

[Nakz]

So you claim to be a graphic designer and familiar with all of post processing, but you're asking a question directly related to post processing?

Anyways, in lightroom, you can copy your "develop" settings for a photo, and copy those settings over to as many photos as you select. For shoots, I'll edit one image until it's to my liking, and apply that to all the photos that were taken in the same series (same angle, lighting, exposure, etc), and then cull and do the fine touches on those photos after.

Yes I am, but like I said I'm new with RAW and Lightroom and am adjusting to this type of workflow. And thanks that is batch processing I believe?

 

[Nakz]

Sync Settings across multiple photos ...

View attachment 81580

Thank you that's very helpful!

 

[480sparky]

......... And thanks that is batch processing I believe?

Batch processing performs the exact same steps to all the files selected. This is fine if all the adjustments apply to all the images.

 

[Santa_Claus]

Cull, cull, cull. Ruthlessly cull. You don't want to waste progress bar time processing bad images. Unless you are going to start it and leave it I would avoid import processing, too. Render 1:1 previews on import since they will help you cull.