This photo tutorial is written by professional photographer Doug Diamond. You can find Doug's biography at the end of this tutorial.

As a professional photographer, I find myself on many assignments shooting architectural images or just out shooting with no idea in mind. To deal with such volume, I have had to develop a system which lets me go from image selection to upload quickly.

This is known as the “workflow”.  My workflow starts when the shutter is released and ends when the upload is complete.  As of late I have been giving talks and teaching classes to fellow photographers and those interested in getting into the stock photography industry. Most, if not all of them, ask me about my workflow.

Knowing who is going to be buying your work ahead of time helps you make certain decisions on elements such as size, composition and style to name a few.  However since this article is for those interested in stock photography, your customer is potentially anyone. I will therefore describe a usable system that will allow you to upload with confidence the highest quality photographs that you can.  Your goal should always be to provide your future customer with your best work.  Remember, you want your pictures to stand out from the rest. 

This article is by no means the only way to have a proper workflow. Others may have a different system that suits them well.  The main idea is instead to develop a process for handling your work so that you can achieve a consistent quality before uploading your photos on iSyndica. 

One of the fist things to identify is who the customers are.  You know for example that the pictures will be distributed to all the stock agencies you may have configured on the platform. If you have just signed up with an agency such as Veer or Dreamstime, I recommend that you become familiar with each of their submission requirements.  One nice thing is that iSyndica will allow you to save time uploading and submitting your images once you know how to incorporate them into your workflow.  Keep in mind photos should be at least 4MP and not exceed 25MB in size. iSyndica has an excellent FAQ section that I would suggest you review and bookmark for future reference.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s go take some pics.  You spent the day and part of the evening shooting various sights and subjects.  Your camera is bursting at the seams with pictures.  You’re excited but the thoughts of dealing with all these pictures are overwhelming.   The volume I shoot in a day can vary widely. I probably average 1500 to 2000 pictures per month.  That may seem a lot to some but very little to others so it is all relative.

Below is one of the shots taken from a recent assignment for a company that wanted some architectural shots for their website.

STEP 1 - Hooking up the camera to the computer

I do not use a card reader as I like the control I get with the software I use.  I will either let my Canon software do the download or I will use Bridge.  I like the assigned numbering system.  It is Year, Month, Day followed by a numeric ascending number and finally the file type which in my case is CR2.  Once you download your images, back them all up.  You spent too much time shooting the pics so let’s not lose them now.  Remember that iSyndica offers online storage which is an excellent way to backup your images. They are easily transferrable if you need them at some later stage.

STEP 2 – Setting up my layout in Adobe Bridge. 

You can just as easily use Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperture.  The main function is to be able to easily select and visualize your pics to edit, rate and upload them.  When you open your images in Bridge the folders will be displayed at the bottom.  By double clicking on one of the folders it will open up the folder’s contents allowing you to view the thumbnail pics.

I lay out my work space to get thumbnail pics at the bottom and selected images on display in a larger window. I scroll first though the pics to get a brief idea of the shots, the lighting and different compositions. This becomes important when I decide that 20 of the shots have a particular lighting condition that all need the same adjustment.  I can process them all in a batch instead of one at the time.

The screenshot below shows a folder that I am browsing through to get a feel for the shots and their composition.

STEP 3 – Rating your images

After taking a quick review of the pics, it is time to rate and cull out the bad ones.  Some photographers have a real hard time getting rid of photos but it is necessary. My rating system is in stars: zero to five, with five being the best of course. A 4 star rating will, after a little work, be suitable for uploading to a stock agency.  3 stars may be suitable for uses other than stock photography. 

Here I am comparing several images side by side at larger scale to help me in properly rating them for use or deletion.

Please note that prior to uploading to a stock agency the images MUST be reviewed at 100%.  Be your own critic and be willing to delete the images that don’t meet the highest standards.  About 30% of my shots will eventually make it to a stock agency. Pictures I shoot in my studio will have a higher acceptance than those I shoot on a street shoot.

Here is a screen shot from a macro shoot of an anole lizard.  Notice the stars being assigned at differing levels to different pictures.  The thumbnails that display the two and one star rating will be deleted.

STEP 4 – Using RAW files

 All of my pics that I shoot are in RAW format as should yours be.  This means that all your files will have to be opened in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR).  One advantage of RAW files is that edits are nondestructive to the file as opposed to JPEG files. 

My ACR workspace is set to 16 bit, size 10.1mp (same file size as my camera), Prophoto RGB color space and finally 300 ppi.  Once the file is opened in ACR, I turn all sharpening off to match my camera settings.  The customer should be the one to set the sharpening.  Some stock agencies want NO sharpening and some will allow a little. 

While in ACR, check your white balance and perform the adjustments you need to get the photo to your taste.  You are now ready to open the file and edit it in Photoshop CS4 (CS3 for me).

STEP 5 – Processing in Photoshop

Now that you are in Photoshop some photographers recommend saving the file immediately as a TIFF file. A TIFF file offers the same advantage as a RAW file because it is not compressed.  I only do it if I need to make many adjustments to the image. 

Adjust your image, crop it, edit it, straighten it etc.  Now that you are done it is time to save the file.  You need to save the file in a format that is acceptable and meets the agencies’ requirements, in our case JPEG. I save my files in the highest quality that I can, level 12.  Remember that iSyndica only allows images of at least 4 Megapixels.

STEP 6 – Give your images a good filename

I now name my file.  I leave the numbering system in place and add what is the theme of the image followed by .jpg.  My file name may look something like this:  2009_06_28street fight.jpg.  This enables me to immediately locate the original RAW file because I have left the numbering system intact. 

STEP 7 – Upload your photos 

The files that I have saved for uploading to iSyndica will get placed in a folder for that specific purpose. I back up all my files again. One great advantages of iSyndica is that it has a storage system in place. Once your photos are uploaded, they are securely backed up. It is a very important step I learned the hard way, losing over 1000 photos from an irreplaceable shoot.

STEP 8 – Repeat

This is it: your basic workflow. The key to having a successful workflow is developing a system and sticking to it. The more you replicate the process, the smoother it will become. It then becomes second nature. This will allow you to spend more time where it is needed, working on the photos – not thinking about how you are going to get through those pics.  Hopefully you gained a few pointers to create or improve “your” workflow.

About the author.

Doug Diamond first started his photography career using a Kodak instamatic 126 he received as a Christmas present back in the early 1970’s. Although his pictures were awful there was something magical about being able to capture images and review memories over and over. He now instructs Digital Photography and Photoshop while providing his clients with the highest level of photography available today.  He enjoys street photography, macro, black and white, architectural and all forms of digital photography.  His desire is to share with others that same magic he first felt and still does, taking and sharing pictures.