Since digital imagery became popular, every digital photographer has grappled with establishing an efficient workflow. Eventually software programs were developed to satisfy the needs of sorting, naming, editing and filing images. In conversations with other photographers, I find workflow to be very personal, in other words, what works for you, works for you! But that said, it's still useful to find out what other's are doing...so is what works for me with my iPhone images. 

Shooting:

iPhone images are no different. A workflow needs to be established for easy retrieval and processing of images. Workflow begins with image capture.
Depending what iPhone app I am using, such as Camera Plus Pro, I may have to sync the files to my camera roll as a first step, other apps will automatically save your images to your camera roll. Also make sure if your app has files size options that you are always choosing the largest one.

Editing:

After I have images stored to my camera roll from a days shooting, I delete directly on the iPhone, the obvious “losers” and keep the “winners” and the ones with “possibilities”. Then, I begin to process and edit on the iPhone. It is best to try and work the images as close to the shoot as possible. 

Processing:

First, after reviewing my images on the iPhone’s camera roll, I begin to process the “real” winners. (My internal reaction to a picture file is my muse, if inside I respond with a wow, that’s a winner for me.) Depending on whether the images were shot for HDR processing or single shot processing I will then choose an app to start the process. For HDR images I will use TrueHDR, ProHDR, or iCamera HDR. If the image is a single shot, I almost always open the image in Iris first, for global adjustments such as levels, shadow highlights, saturation, etc. 

After I have the basic image adjusted to my satisfaction, I then ponder how I would like to “finish” the image with different artistic apps, like textures in Iris, Painterly effects from AutoPainter or ArtistaOil, or maybe I want to apply and combine various layers of different app s to arrive at a unique image. I ask myself what final look do I envision for the image. Sometimes I just start running the image into different apps to see how they will impact the image. I usually save the image to the camera roll at many steps along the way or after each app I use. Some times I save several versions in the same as with ScratchCam.

Blending and masking layers of images is always fun and can be done easily in Iris and Filterstorm. After arriving at the “Final” image I always go into PerfectPhoto and apply some level of sharpening.

If I see the image in my mind, with a frame on it then I usually open the image in Crop’n’Frame and apply a color-coordinated frame. If I am going to post the image to my blog then I will also add my signature in an app called Impression. 

Saving:

Through all these steps I am saving the image at various stages in the process creating new image files in the camera roll. While many apps are “app linking” now…in other words you can go right from one app to another without having to save the file first I prefer to save the image as each step is applied. 

There are several reasons for saving the image at various steps: When teaching it is helpful to show an image in various stages of processing, and it helps me remember all the steps I took to get the final result. Also if I need a file without a frame and signature on it I can easily go back and retrieve one. 
Also I may not like the “next” app process I apply so I always have the last step image saved so I can “step backward.” When creating a series of images it is also helpful in documenting the steps so that series images can have similar processing looks. Once I have finished processing an image I save it to my camera roll.

Downloading:

It is wise to download your images to a named file folder on your desktop or laptop for storage just like any other image file system. 
For downloading I use Image Capture, (I do not allow iPhoto to grab my files as I download from my iPhone.) To do this; go into iPhoto preferences and select:  
Image Capture on the Mac allows you to see all your images on the camera roll before downloading. There is an option to select specific images and either delete off the camera roll after downloading or not. I usually delete from the camera roll at this stage of the process after making my selections using the command click function that allows you to make non-continuous selections.

Image Capture also allows you to sort the images into designated folders, so I will create a folder first for the group or groups of images I am interested in clearing off the camera roll. 

Storing:

That’s it, then I back up just like my DSLR files, to back up storage drives and hard copy CD’s. 
Note: (If I were a Lightroom user I would then go into the catalog and let Lightroom do its thing with the catalog)
