What'syourworkflow?

Findingtherightworkflowforimporting,storing,editingandbackingupimagestakestime.Asyourneedsanddemandsdevelop,sowillyourworkflowprocess.Everyphotographershouldestablishhisorherownwaytogetorganized.Whilemyworkflowwillnotcompletelyfityours,Ihopethisarticlewillhelpyoutofindtheworkflowsolutionthatworksbestforyou.BeforeIstarttodescribemypersonalworkflow,IwouldliketopointoutthatIwon’tdiscusseverysingleoptionorpieceofsoftwareIuse.Thisarticlewillmainlyfocusonmyset-up,explainwhyIchosecertainpiecesofhardwareandhowthesechoicessuitmyworkflow.LookingatthewayIusedtowork,Irealiseittookmeyearstoestablishanefficientworkflow.Forover20years,Ihavebeenahard-coreWindowsuser.SostickingwithWindowsasaprofessional,seemedlikeanobviouschoice.IstartedoutwithacustombuildworkstationwithasixcoreCPU,12TBofinternalstorage,32GbofmemoryandawholebunchofexternalWesternDigitaldisksasabackupmedium.WhyIchoseinternalharddisksasmyprimarystorage?Oneword:performance.Internaldisksstillhavethefastesttransferspeeds,nomatterwhatexternaldiskorinterfaceyouuse.Somycomputerwasequippedwithseveralharddisksindifferentsizes,thatcontainedallofmydataandimages.AbackupprogramcalledSynbackSE(http://www.2brightsparks.com/syncback/sbse.html)keptmyinternalandbackupdisksinsync,whilefromtimetotimeathirdbackupcopywasmadetoanothersetofexternaldisks(olderdisksthatgrewtosmallasmynumberofimageskeptincreasing).Istoredthisthirdbackupatmyfather-in-law’shouse,incaseIgot

robbedormyhouseburntdown(whichofcourseIhopewillneverhappen).AsmybusinesskeptdevelopingandIstartedtogoonmoretrips,lecturesandworkshops,Iwasconstantlycopyingfiles(e.g.PowerPointpresentations,articles,websitefiles,invoices,Lightroomcatalog,etc.)fromonecomputertoanother.Itbecamearealhassletokeepbothcomputersinsync.Aroundthatsametime,IwasalsoinneedofanewlaptopanddecidedtoswitchtoaMacbookPro.Itsimpressivescreenresolution,performanceandbatterylifeconvincedmestraightaway.Butthisdecisioncomplicatedmywholesynchronisingprocessevenfurther.Thetwosystemsweresimplyincompatible.Itwastimeforachange.Prettysoon,Ifoundthesayingtobetrue:onceyougoMac,younevergoback.Machasanundeniableeaseofuseandsimplicitytogetcertaintasksdone.Allofasudden,Icouldworkfor8hourson1batterycharge,switchfrommirroredtoextendedscreensonmybeamerandnolongerhadtowaitforupdatestofinishwhenputtingmycomputertosleeporshuttingitdown.WithitshighperformanceandlightweightOS,IwasslowlygettinghookedonApple.Idecidedtosellmyworkstation,buyaniMacandupdatemyworkflow.Nomoreinternalstorageandendlesssynchronising.Iswitchedtoexternaldisks,whichcaneasilybeusedbothoniMacandMacbook.However,theexternaldiskshadtobefastandreliableortheywouldslowdownmyworkflow.Afterextensiveresearchonline,Iendedupwith5disks:• ASeagateBackupPlusfast4TB(http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/products/laptop-

mobile-storage/laptop-external-drives/backup-plus/)whichIuseastheprimarydiskforallofmydata(workshopsfiles,presentations,invoices,etc.).Thisdiskdoesnotcontainanyrawfiles.IchosetheSeagatediskbecauseitisthefastestbuspoweredharddiskavailableforthemoment.Youdon’tneedanexternalpowersupplytouseitandwith4TB,ithasplentyofstorage.Thediskusestwo2,5’’harddiskinRAID0toobtainhightransferspeedupto200Mb/s.

• An512GbAngelbirdSSD2goPOCKEThttp://www.angelbird.com/en/prod/ssd2go-pocket-662,whichIuseformyLightroomCatalog(includingsmartpreviewsandbackups).Despiteitssmallsize,thisAngelbirdSSDdiskisincrediblyfastandallowstransferspeedsupto450Mb/s,makingittheperfectchoicetorunahuge4GbLightroomCatalog,withouthavingtosacrificeperformance.

• A12TBG-TechnologyG-RaidwithThunderboldhttp://www.g-technology.com/products/g-raid-thunderbolt-2,whichIuseasthemainstorageforallofmyrawfiles.TheG-Raidusestwo6GBdisksinRAID0andallowstransferspeedsupto400Mb/s.ItboastsabeautifuldesignandmetallicfinishthatmatchesmyiMac.

• Ahuge16TBG-TechnologyG-RaidwithThunderbold,whichservesasabackupdiskfortheaforementionedthreedisks.

• A512GbAngelbirdSSD2goPKT.Thisdiskisevensmaller(notbiggerthanaboxof

matches)thantheSSD2GoPOCKET,whilestillachievingthesametransferspeeds.Iuseitasabackupdiskwhentravelling.IalwaysstoreanothercopyofthoseonmyMacbook’sinternaldisk.Bettersafethansorry.

Nowhowdothesehardwarechoicesfitmyworkflowprocess?WhenIreturnfromashoot,IimportmyLexarmemorycardshttp://www.lexar.com/products/lexar-professional-1066x-compactflash-card?category=77intoLightroomusingaLexarProfessionalWorkflowHR2http://www.lexar.com/workflow?category=203cardreader.IchoseLexarseveralyearsagoforitsreliabilityandspeed,bothduringcaptureandwhencopyingimagesandvideostomycomputer.WhenimportingimagesintoLightroom,smartpreviewsaregenerated.BoththepreviewsandthecataloguearestoredontheAngelbirdSSD2gopocket.AllIneedwhenIamworkingonlocationortravelling,isthesmallSSDdisktoeditmyimagesonthego.AssoonasIgetbackhome,thechangesmadetothesmartpreviewsaresynchronisedwiththeoriginalrawfiles.WhatabouttheRAWfiles?Istoretheseonthe12TBG-Raiddisk.IusuallydonotneedthemwhenI’mtravelling,sothisdiskalwaysstayswithmyiMac.AbackupprogramcalledChronoSynchttp://www.econtechnologies.com/chronosync/overview.htmltakescareofdailybackups,copyingtheRAWfiles,theLightroomcatalogue(abackups)ontheSSD2GOandthedatastoredontheSeagatedisktothe16GbG-TechnologyG-Raiddisk.ThisSeagatediskcontainsallofmywork-relatedfiles,suchasPowerPointpresentations,workshopdocuments,invoices,websitefiles,software,etc.IalwaystakeitwithmewheneverI’mworkingonlocation.EventhoughIdon'ttakemyRAWfileswithme,IdokeepahighresolutionJPEGversionofmyfavouriteimages(whichIflaginLightroom)ontheSeagatedisk.Doingso,Ialwayshavemyfinishedimageswithmeincaseaclientasksforaspecificimage.Finally,IstillusemyoldWesternDigitalexternaldisksasathirdbackupcopy,storedonanotherlocation.Ittookmesometimetogeteverythingrunning,butthisnewsetupandworkflowseemstobeworkingwellnow.TheharddrivesarereliableandfastandIhaven’tnoticedanydelaysbyusingexternaldisks.Themostimportantthing,however,isthatIcankeepworkingonmyfilesandeditmyimages,withouthavingtosynchroniseanythingwhenIreturnhome.Ifyou'rewonderingwhetherthatswitchfromPCtoMacwentsmoothly,Icanconfirmyouthatitdidn’t!There’salottolikeaboutMac,butthesystemalsohassomedrawbacks.Firstofall,Macisverypickywhenunmountingdisks.IwasusedtojustpullingdisksoutofmyPC.DothatonaMacandyourdiskswill-moreoftenthannot-endupcorrupted.Sointhebeginning,Ispentalotoftimerepairingdisksandgettingthemtomountagain.Furthermore,thesayingthatMacnevercrashesissimplynottrue.Recently,myMacbookdidn’tallowmetologinanymore(eventhoughIwasdefinitelyusingthecorrectpassword).AsthishappenedminutesbeforeIhadtogivealecturetomorethanahundredpeople,my

unconditionalloveforApplesufferedaseveredent.Butallinall,Iwouldstillrecommendit.Ithascertainlyfacilitatedmyworkflowprocessandhey,nobody'sperfect,right?BartHeirweg–www.bartheirweg.com