mediableep

Ever wonder how exactly a professional photographer is able to sort through the 1000′s of photos that might be taken from a single photo shoot or a span of work over a months time? It is not the easiest task and there are many options out there that might or might not work.

However, in a day and time where time is money, do you have the time to sort through the numerous possibilities to find the one that actually works? Probably not.

Today, I offer up the following suggestion that I professionally use in my job as Computer Graphics Specialist for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Photo Department.

Tool #1 – Spyder3Elite by DataColor

Why is calibration important? One of the keys to getting good, consistent image quality lies in maintaining a calibrated monitor.

You do not have to go with the “Elite” calibration tool that I use for work, but it is important that you calibrate your monitor on a weekly basis. You determine how often based upon your workflow, but make sure you have a set schedule. If you are a Mac user, you have a built in calibration tool. This can easily be found in your system preferences (displays > calibrate).

Additional online resource: Try using an online calibration service before making the financial investment by using http://www.displaycalibration.com. At least it will let you know if you within reasonable range.

Tool #2 – Adobe Bridge

Quite simply – the most easy-to-use visual media manager for effective organization, browsing, searching, and viewing of any creative assets, i.e. digital photos.

I use Bridge for the organization and renumbering of images for our photographic archive files. It took me some time to get acquainted with Bridge. At first I did not realize the power it had and how much it aided to the simplification of “batch editing” photos. Prior to using Bridge, I had to manually rename each and every photo into our numbering system, but now with the automation process, I can knock out my work in 1/4 the time it previously took.

Tool #3 – Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop, or Photoshop, is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems. It is the current market leader for commercial bitmap and image manipulation software, and is the flagship product of Adobe Systems. It has been described as “an industry standard for graphics professionals.”

I use this daily for any and all photo retouching, manipulation, color correcting – you name it, I do it in Photoshop.

Alernatives:

1. GIMP – a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as
   photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.
2. Picnik – a web based photo editor that is cross platform since you
   only need a browser.
3. Adobe Photoshop Express – a free web based photo editor by Adobe.

Tool #4 – Imagebuddy

Once you have all your images (digital assets) categorized, organized, and numbered into a system that allows for quick retrieval, it helps to have and maintain a physical hardcopy of what you have on file. Imagebuddy allows me to created thumbnail sized proofs of all images to gain an overview of what we do and do not have within our 52+ years (approximately 1.5 million) of archived images.

As always, you can add or subtract from these tools to best fit your situation and use, but this is what works for us at the moment.

Brad Huss has worked for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in the position of Computer Graphics
Specialist for the past 4 years. He works directly under Russ Busby, who has faithfully served Dr. Billy Graham as his personal personal photographer of more than 52 years. Brad has extensive knowledge when it comes to digital photography and Photoshop and loves to share opportunities of learning with fellow enthusiasts. Brad has a background in photography that started back in high school and continues today as an active member of National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and Christians in Photojournalism (CIP).