I was writing about this on the flickr strobist group’s discussion board. I figured I may as well present it here as well.

Import Process:

• Import camera RAW files into Lightroom (still on v1.0), convert to DNG, apply global keywords in the import dialog. Import applies generic metadata which I choose based on the camera that it took.
• Photos are backed up to an external HD on import.
• Go get food and wait for Lightroom to import everything (my computer is really old).

Selection Process:

• Flag poor photos as “rejected”
• Delete above rejected photos.
• Go through the photos and start working on the best of each subject. I don’t tag these photos with anything particular, I just pick them out.

Develop Process:

Chips - The photo as captured

• Crop if necessary
• Start by adjusting white balance
• Pick if it will be black and white or color (white bal can affect the grayscale mix)
• If grayscale, I’ll set the grayscale mix to something I want here, then tweak it after the tone curve step.
• Turn on “show clipping” (keyboard: “J”)
• Set the overall exposure, minding the highlight clipping
• Set the recovery (if needed) to bring back some of the whites
• I rarely touch fill light and blacks, but occasionally I do. I prefer to mess with the blacks by using the next step

Chips - After setting exposure

• (Usually by here I will know if I want to really take the time to tweak this image. If not, it will get either (A) flagged for rejection or (B) I will set a color label that says to me, “don’t bother” Usually red or yellow.
• Play with the tone curve until I get the look I want, usually by dropping the darks a bit.

Chips - Tone Curved

• All other options as needed (colors, sharpening, clarity, presence, etc)
• Review the image and tweak all settings as necessary. I use the “lights out” mode often to check the image. My lights out mode is set to use a white screen — like the mats that I put the image in.

Chips - After colors, clarity, sharpening

• Once done, set the color label as green, blue, or purple depending on my interest in printing.
• Create a title and a caption and add that information to the meta data
• Repeat the steps for the next image.
• Export (if needed) when done in whatever format is necessary. I don’t use the Lightroom “Web or Slideshow” module, and I only use the “print” module to print to a PDF file so usually I run through the “export” feature. I have a bunch of presets made up for the various things that I need (Flickr, website, printing, etc).

This is not to say my workflow is best, in fact, I doubt it is. From reading the responses on the flickr group, I think I may add “review the photos in a week or so” to my workflow.