Efficient workflow using Photoshop/Bridge/Camera Raw/Raw files

[YS2003]

I would like to hear how other photographers are setting up the workflow using these features (I read Real World Camera Raw with Photoshop; but, I think I will read it over again as the first read was done rather quickly). The typical flow can be:
1: download to Mac from the digital camera
2: open Bridge
3: open Camera Raw via Bridge (or via Photoshop)
4: rank the images (one star, two star, and etc)
5: inbed meta data and update the file names
6: make some adjustments on the images using Camera Raw (and covert to DNG file format)
7: use Photoshop to edit for "keeper" pictures.

I think 4, 5, 6 and can done in a different order.

When you do the adjustment in Camera Raw (step 6 above), do you keep the original intact? Or do you save the edited version overwrite the original raw image?

I want to hear how other photographers are managing their workflow with using PS/Bridge/Camera Raw. I would like to take Aperture/Lighroom from the equation from this workflow topic so that we can focus on PS/Bridge/Camera Raw.

 

[iGary]

Step one should be burning a DVD or CD of your images off the camera.

 

[YS2003]

Step one should be burning a DVD or CD of your images off the camera.

I agree. From the get go, I have stumbled on the steps Keeping the original file for storage for later use/back up is always a good practice. My workflow has been copying the raw files to Lacie external hard drive as of now. I should start using the DVD/CD for storage in the near future as HD will fail in the future.

 

[Gamey]

Workflow, now there's a word that means different things to different photographers.

I have "workflow" for my karting shots but for smaller shoots I tend to save to external hdd and sort out at a later date.

On a typical day shooting karts I normally end up with about 20Gb of shots. These are transfered to my laptop (into folders I've made before the days shoot). When I get home I'll sort through the files that I want to keep (1 star) and those I want to put onto the website(2 star). When I've done this I'll delete what's left and save the tagged ones to an external HDD. I'll then run a batch process through my RAW converter (used to be C1Pro but now it's Aperture...it really doesn't matter what RAW converter you use as the "workflow" is similar anyway) of the files I want to place on my website then run a batch PS action to resize and add copyright text ETC and save to my web directory.
When these files have been uploaded to my website I'll then delete the converted files that I was working on and wait for the order to come in.

Simple but effective.....I can now have over 300 shots backed up, metadated, and uploaded to the site in less than a couple of hours after a days racing. Aperture does away with the PS side of things, but tends to run a little more slowly.

John