My Sharing Process

So, even when I had started shooting in late 2018, I would always take a lot of pride in sharing my photographs with my collaborators within 2-3 days of the shoot. I feel, everyone is excited to see the results of something we have done, and making them wait endlessly is not fair. Even though, I always show my collaborators a lot of what is being shot during the shoot itself, on the camera LCD, still seeing it as a set is different. 

So a sharing process for almost all photographers I spoke to involves the following:

1. Downloading

2. Culling

3. Selecting for Edits

4. Editing

5. Sharing

this is the entire post process exercise. Each step takes a bit of time. Also each step is an important part of making the shoot look good and cutting edge. 

But for me, I started to find ways to eliminate some steps without having to put out substandard photographs. The balance has to be between speed and good work. So , firstly I put step 3&4 for much later, at my convenience. I would first folderise the pictures based on shoot look etc and share almost all my photographs with the collaborators. This would give them a general sense of the shoot as well. Then I would request them to share some elected few that they like and want me to edit for them.

Over a period of time I realised, that editing activities like PhotoShop etc consumed a lot of time and energy, and really ended up creating photographs that I did not associate with as strongly as I would like to with them.

Also I feel, as you shoot more and more, you are able to plan better, control things better, foresee things better, compose and frame better and thus shoot better. This automatically should reduce the time and need for elaborate edits. 

Next step was to try and share straight off camera. RAWS tend to be a bit flatter, so started shooting in Raw + JPEG. The Jpegs turn out just the way you set your camera for the shoot. With new gear, I am also able to create custom film looks prior to the shoot and that gives me additional flexibility and choice.

This has helped me save a lot more time even on basic edits. And most importantly if your collaborators know your idea about shooting, and editing much before you shoot, they are in for no surprises. 

I would rather spend time learning to shoot better, than to edit better, After all I am a photographer, in this for the love of shooting, and not an editor to show off perfect non-existent people :)

Also, my collaborators are free to use any or all my images as shared. I discourage any self editing, and they all agree to it :)

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By Ash