dpBestflow: Digital photo workflow solutions
In the multimedia world work flow might be defined simply as an organized, step-by-step system for getting a job done either by an individual or by a team. Good work flow is characterized by an almost mechanized efficiency throughout a project and consistency of method from one project to the next.
With digital photography, especially when building slideshows and audio slideshows, the importance of good work flow can be woefully underestimated and the effects of bad work flow can be disastrous – inconsistent color reproduction, insufficient image resolution, lost work and hours and hours of lost time. A bulletproof system for capturing, processing and archiving images is essential.
So what are the specifics of good digital photo work flow? With the help of Congress and through the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program, the good folks at the American Society of Media Photographers have developed an answer, if a somewhat exhaustive one: The Digital Photography Best Practices and Workflow (dpBestflow™).
The site is a comprehensive repository of resources, skills, and systems for managing the entire “life cycle” of a digital image.
The irony of dpbestflow.org is that it is so far-reaching in scope that it requires good work flow just to navigate the material. The team addresses the problem with a ‘start here’ tab and the intro video embedded below:
StartHere from ASMP dpBestflow on Vimeo.
In truth, much of the material is beyond the needs of most news photographers; managing CYMK output for glossy print publications or the relative merit of bilinear or bicubic interpolation when resizing images, for example.
The well-designed quick reference guide may be as deep as many photojournalists or photojournalism educators need to go. Or, it may work as a more surgical point of entry into specific topics of interest.
In addtion to the site dpworkflow site, there is also the Digital Photography Best Practices and Workflow Handbook (Focal Press, 2009) by Richard Anderson and Patti Russotti (dpBestflow™ Project Director and Contributing Author, respectively), as well as a schedule of nationwide seminars and a host of online forums. More information is available at dbBestflow.
