Maybe You Have Time Now February 2, 2016 – Posted in: Photography – Tags: , ,

Other than working on taxes and finishing homework assignments, learning new software has to be one of the most procrastinated activities in photography. We can be very creative in finding ways to compensate for the shortcomings of our current situation, especially if it means we don’t have to embark on full scale change.

I’ll share one of my favorite examples. In 2008 I worked in the Media Center at the Beijing Olympics. It was a great opportunity.

My job was to help working photographers move through their images as quickly as possible. The Media Center had a full complement of both Mac and Windows computers. The Macs, which were the machines I was assisting on, had Photoshop, Photo Mechanic, and Aperture preloaded on them.

The photographers would rush in from the venues, upload massive amounts of data, and try to sift through the shots to find the heros that would be rushed off to their publishers. I can’t tell you how many times I walked up to a computer with dozens of Photoshop windows open and the photographer frantically trying to find his visual needle in a haystack.

“Have your ever tried Photo Mechanic or Aperture for the sorting and rating?” I asked.

“I don’t have time for that right now,” was the typical answer.

Good point. The Olympics probably weren’t the best time for this particular conversation. The best opportunities are before or after major deadlines. Unfortunately, this is also when procrastination really works against us.

The winter months (for those of us north of the equator) are a great time to learn something new and improve our workflow. Because before we know it, the flowers will be blooming, travel plans will be looming, and we’ll have hundreds if not thousands of images chugging in to our computers.

If you browse the Rocky Nook catalog, you’ll find great books on Lightroom, Photoshop, Capture One Pro, lighting, cameras, and just about anything else that you’d want to learn.

Now is the time to set goals to improve our photography, whether it be at the moment of capture or later sitting in front of the computer. Because if I bring up this topic up in July, you’ll most likely scowl at me and remark…

“I don’t really have time for this right now, Derrick.”

And it will be the Summer Olympics all over again for me.

Derrick is the photography evangelist for Rocky Nook Publishing