Workflow, the process of managing and working with your digital photos, is one of the most daunting, yet important aspects of being a competent photographer in todays digital world. Even if you don’t sell your images, the ability to put a finger on a particular picture, at a moments notice, is extremely satisfying. Add to that the ability to make subtle to major changes, the power to produce a book, make a slide show with music, find all your images based on where you shot them, print your favorites, grab them easily for emails, post them to your social media sites, as well as dozens of other possibilities are all amazingly positive aspects of digital photography. Just last week I was asked if I missed film (I get that question at least several times a year), and my reply is always, “Absolutely not. I wouldn’t go back to film for just about anything”. I didn’t use the word “Never” since that old dog has come back to bite me more than once in my 52 years. But, until Kodak reinvents its original product to do all of the above, I can safely say, “No, I don’t miss film”.
Joseph Linaschke teaches a course on Aperture at the Apple Distinguhed Educators Summer Summit in Ottawa, Canada.
All enthusiasm aside there is the reality we all face of learning how to effectively work with our pictures. I’m still amazed at how many people I meet who are hanging on to Photoshop when 98% of us have no use for 99% of what Photoshop offers. There are so many better programs for doing what I mentioned earlier and cost a fraction of what we pay for Photoshop. The two most inspiring digital workflow programs are Aperture and Lightroom, and to that end I want to introduce a great guy I met a couple of years ago named Joseph Linaschke. Joseph used to work for Apple and he’s an excellent photographer, a great teacher and without a doubt an Aperture Expert. Joseph and I met at the Apple Distinguished Educators conference in Ottawa, Canada in 2010. He was helping teach a course to teachers on the use of Apple’s Aperture program. Ever since I’ve been following Joseph’s ApertureExpert.com website and it is by far the best collection of tips, tricks and workflow ideas of any site I’ve come across on the web.
Joseph Linaschke teaches a course on Aperture at the Apple Distinguhed Educators Summer Summit in Ottawa, Canada.
Aperture has come on strong to contend with Lightroom as the workflow software of choice. I switched to Apple computers specifically due to Aperture, however, Aperture wasn’t quite ready for primetime and I eventually moved over to Lightroom. With the release of Aperture 3, the tide has turned and I’ve now been using Aperture full-time for over a year. Both Aperture and Lightroom are fabulous workflow programs and I actually teach both on our Invitational Photo Tours since I’ve used each of them extensively. For me Aperture is just a bit more effective for the vast number of ways I use my photography. Aperture is working to catch up with the recent release of Lightroom 4 but we all know how the leapfrog thing goes, and we’re predicting an Aperture 4 any day now. Isn’t competition great?!
Since Joseph has such a vast treasure chest of knowledge and insight in to Aperture I wanted you all to meet him. Now and again, I’ll be highlighting some of the things Joseph is writing about on his own blog ApertureExpert.com. I’ll continue to discuss my own suggestions on workflow ideas and how to’s for Aperture and Lightroom, but I’ve been so impressed with Joseph’s work I wanted to make sure you have other options to learn as well. Make sure you sign up for ApertureExpert’s forums. The ApertureExpert forum is an awesome way for getting to know Aperture better. After you’ve spent some time with the best guy out there on Aperture, come back here and tell me what you think. I would love to know if you’re as impressed with his site as much as I am. Be well and have a great time learning Aperture.