Sorting of Pyroklectic round one is done…..whew!

Tommy with a slight "grunge" effect thanks to Topaz. ISO 3200, 1/100th, f/2.8, 70mm

Ok, the better part of the morning was spent on sorting.  Literally 50% of the shots I flagged as rejects.  That took a while.

I guess we can talk workflow for a moment.  I wasn’t planning on it, but it’s on my mind after all the sorting.  So, what’s my non-HDR workflow?

1. Go out and do the shoot.  In this case, week two of photographing Pyroklectic at Sundance.  Extra memory cards on hand in case (shooting 21MP after all).  Used 12GB last night!
2. Return home, late, and start offloading the photos to Lightroom.
3. Take an initial pass through the photos to find a “stand out” or two that I can get up on the web quickly.
4. Go to bed…….well, in the case of last night.  Otherwise I would have been up past midnight sorting.  We all know that I do in fact turn into a pumpkin after midnight!
5. Back to sorting!
6. Flag Rejects and first round stand outs.  Anything that clearly sucks gets rejected.  Anything that says to me, “I’m a half way decent photo, take a closer look later” gets flagged as a pick.
7. Once finished with the first round, delete the rejects.  I know, that sounds harsh, but it has to happen.
8. I’m left with picks and things that I just quickly passed over.  What to do next?
9. Select all the picks via the attribute selector in Lightroom.  Create a quick collection out of the picks.
10. De-flag everything in the new quick collection and sort through again.  Now I pick what I really like…….

I’ve finished the first major phase.  Rejects are done, toasted, outta heeya…..  Next I get to resort the picks.

Of course, I don’t stick perfectly to the work flow.  If something jumps out I might throw the image over to Photoshop and play with it a little.  Those types of images are guaranteed picks, so easy to deal with.

The fire breathing shots kept distracting my work flow! ISO 200, 1/500th, f/5.6, 46 mm

There, hope I’ve satisfied some questions about my workflow!

Now, on to some other things regarding last night’s images.  As I sorted I wondered about a few things.  What types of things you ask?  Well, White Balance things.  See, the fire dancers are out at night and their being lit by extremely yellow flames.  Makes their images look a little warm.  So, I experimented a little.  Look below.  I’m not sure what I like more………

The image as shot. No adjustments. ISO 3200, 70mm, f/4.0, 1/40th of a second

Adjusted the white balance manually. ISO 3200, 70mm, f/4.0, 1/40th of a second

Another white balance reset just to see.....same settings.

One final white balance adjustment. Same settings as above

So, what do you think.  The White Balance as shot, or the reset white balance?  I’m just not that sure.  I like both ways, but I’ll continue pondering for a while.

As you can see, I didn’t stick right to work flow.  I deviated, edited here and there, and played with images that caught my attention.  More of that will happen in the next go round of sorting.  But I think I’ll take a break for a while.  I’m all sorted out!

Think I’ll go read about the Grand Esalante Staircase for a few moments.  It’s quite at the gallery this afternoon…….we’ll pick up the sorting later.

Here’s a few more photos for you to enjoy!

For some reason, I like using Topaz on Tommy's images.....

I've been wanting a good shot of this guy. ISO 4000, 1/160th, f/2.8, 63mm

I so wish the truck wasn't in the background! Ah, photoshop time!!!

Hoola hoops with fire? Yes. ISO 4000, 1/80th, f/2.8, 70mm

Can't end the post without a fire ball! ISO 200, 1/500th, f/5.6, 67mm

And one more for good measure. Same settings as above.