[Digikam-users] RAW workflow & digikam

[Daniel Bauer]

On Tuesday 26 August 2008 00:04:20, Mikolaj Machowski wrote:
> Dnia Monday 25 of August 2008, Sebastian Schubert napisał:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I'm just a newbie and would like to get some idea for a good workflow.
> > I want to shoot RAW files.  My idea:
> >
> > 1) download files to a backup folder
> > 2) copy them to another folder, scan through it, delete bad ones and
> > keep the others
> > 3) produce jpg from the files in 2)
>
> When you took all hassle to make RAWs don't develop them to JPEG, waste
> of time. Use PNG or TIFF - digiKam has better support for metadata in
> PNGs, but TIFF is industry standard (which is strange way to describe
> TIFF but that is another story :). JPEG only for web presentation,
> sending by mail, etc.

I fully subscribe to this view.

> > 4) tag and sort results from 3)
> >
> > after some time
> > 5) delete files in 1)
> >
> >
> > What do you think?
>
> Generally yes. After more time you can consider to backup files from 2.
> on DVD. Pro-photographer I know lately decided to even delete those
> RAW files. Once properly developed they are not useful.

Depends... I'd not delete the raw files as those are the real originals. 
Nowadays, where disk space is so inexpensive there's no need to remove data 
that you might want to use later. A DVD cost less than a negative film with 
12 or 36 exposures...

Some 25 years ago (yes, I am that old :-) )  I cleaned up my negative files. I 
threw away what I thought were bad pictures, of models I thought, they don't 
look good enough in the actual view of that time, of personal souvenirs I'd 
rather didn't want to remember...

I was sorry about that more than once!

Your personal view of your pictures always changes with time. Could be that in 
some years you consider a picture just valueless while you you now think it 
was perfect, while pictures you now think they failed could become your most 
valuable ones. Could be that the colours, the contrast, the clipping, size... 
you choose today are not what you'd choose in a few years. Could be that the 
colours, the contrast, the clipping, size... you choose today are not what 
you'd choose in a few years. Could be that something that is of no importance 
now get's important much later (like a detail in the background...).

If you choose photos of yourself, your friends, children... you choose those 
you now think that they look good in the pictures. But later you will choose 
completely different pictures, believe me!

So, if there is no really good reason to delete the RAW's, just leave them 
intact, unaltered.

kind regards

Daniel

-- 
Daniel Bauer photographer Basel Barcelona
professional photography: http://www.daniel-bauer.com
erotic art photos: http://www.bauer-nudes.com
Madagascar special: http://www.fotograf-basel.ch/madagascar/