Cool stuff: Evernote...

At school I liked a tidy pencil case and took more than a little pride in having books neatly stacked in my bag. I got annoyed when brand new jotters and pads were scratched. A pretty scary primary school kid. 

Fastforward slightly to a young freelance photographer making his way and I recall a time when everything was printed out and chucked in a manilla folder (further fuelling my silent hatred for filing cabinets). Such actions were/are plodding and dull, with no latitude to fine-tune to your personal taste.

No more. Business life is now wonderfully digital and I am convinced Evernote was designed for me and me alone - the fact that millions of others use it every day must be a profitable bonus for the programmers. At the risk of coming across like a teenage girl on WhatsApp - I really couldn't get through a day without using it...

The key here is simplicity, because let's face it none of us have the time to faff.

In the office we have our entire client filing system on Evernote. To the extent that if I'm abroad I can instantly call up any invoice or doc relevant to any client. I can then resend it, annotate, or simply react to an email with info plucked from their contact history. This info is synced across smartphone, tablet, laptop and desktop.

Just a few years ago a filing system this powerful would have meant commissioning a specialist firm to create a bespoke software package. Assume a budget of tens of thousands even for a small business.

Try it, it's genius, and for lower usage users it's absolutely free!. Get a feel for the system via this video - or read this excellent New York Times overview

Cool stuff: Mark Seliger exhibition...

If you have 30 mins to spare and you're at a loose end anywhere near London's Piccadilly, you could do a lot worse than spend them seeing some amazing portraits.

For over 25 years, Mark Seliger's work has adorned the pages of Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and numerous other tip-top magazines. His work is clean, crisp and all about the subject. 

It's also a chance to see wonderful photography up close. So forget surfing the web, go all retro and visit a gallery... Beetles + Huxley, 3-5 Swallow Street, London, W1B 4DE

Workflow. Here's the skinny...

I'll warn you right now, this is geeky blog post. If this doesn't scare you, read on...

Workflow. The backbone of any professional photographer's day. Many moons ago life consisted of shooting film, processing it, editing selections and then filing - all these tasks involved physical contact with material things (chemicals, cabinets and that funny little place called the Post Office). 

Today's darkroom is lean and mean. It's about processing power and efficiency. Apps, plug-ins and passwords - and a cloud! In 2013 your darkroom is your Mac. And good luck if can keep it down to just one. 

Everybody is different. No two photographers work in the same way. But I am frequently asked by clients how I manage the process from creation and delivery. So here's a brief production overview, whether the commission is a three-day foreign trip or an hour of studio portraits…

On the job...

Regardless of the shoot content, all the photography originates in RAW format, recorded to several CF cards (compact flash). At the end of the shoot, but while still on-site, I download everything to a Macbook Air, still leaving the data on the CF cards. Two copies now exist of that day's work. For me, this is vital and it's the minimum I hold at all times.

A quick check of the material in Photo Mechanic (an extremely powerful software package for browsing large files), and then we're done.

At the office...

My workhorse back at base is a 2013 spec, RAM-tastic 27" iMac, with a well used and trusty Mac Pro as backup. The laptop is plugged in to the Thunderbolt port of the iMac and the files upload. Once the transfer is complete I immediately back-up the folder to an external 2TB G-Tech hard drive.

At this point I can erase the CF cards and also remove the files from the laptop, still leaving two copies; the copy on the main iMac and one on the external drive.

The RAWs are then loaded in Apple's Aperture editing software. This allows me to work on the set and as I progress, create 'versions' of the original, after I’ve completed tasks like colour correction and cropping, etc..

The great thing about Aperture is that regardless of the work I do on a file, the master always exists, so if I wish I have the security of going back to the original and starting over - or create a different type of version.

Any extra or significant work/changes can be exported to Photoshop CS6, with these changes then saved back into Aperture for archiving. Once the whole set is edited, I can prep the batch of files in any format the client demands (.jpg, .tiff, . psd) ready for the distribution.

Post edit...

There are still choices to be made. Some clients want their shoot on a USB flash drive some need the selection transferring via Dropbox. I also use WeTransfer, Box, and a variety of other digital media. Amusingly, almost nothing is posted. If the media needs handing over I'll do that during a catch-up drink or lunch. 

My role is to fit in with people's preferences and solve the problem. I don’t believe it's for the client to adapt to me. I am constantly amazed how many photographers don't get this is a service industry. The tail absolutely does not wag the dog…

If you got this far and you're still awake - bravo. Welcome to my day...

Cool stuff : The American...

Absolutely straight, it wasn't until after I saw The American that I found out director, Anton Corbijn, was first a photographer before he came to movies. It shows.

A slow burn, the movie is a terrific example of making every single frame count. Simply beautiful to look at, the story is basic, sluggish, but all the more effective for this approach.  I'm not a movie reviewer (see link above for an overview), but if you have any interest in stylish composition and like your flicks to ooze confidence, this is a must see...

 (Click below for the youtube embedded trailer)