iPad photography workflow

[valleyboy74]

I'm trying to get a workflow for when I'm away doing some photography so that I don't need to take my macbook.

I plan on shooting in Raw+Jpeg, importing to ipad then when i get home importing the Raw only for processing. BUT, I want to do some light processing while I'm away so I can upload draft images to my mobileme gallery. So this is the question, when I edit on my ipad will it adjust BOTH Raw and Jpeg's? Can I deleted the Raw's from my iPad and only keep the Jpegs or does the iPad keep them as a package.

Unfortunately I can't test this as I'm still waiting for my camera connection kit to be delivered.

Cheers

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

And just how do you expect something to adjust a RAW file? There aren't even desktop applications that modify RAW files as far as I know. That would defeat the entire purpose of the digital negative!

 

[valleyboy74]

I have no idea on the technical points. Are you saying that no matter what I do to the image on the ipad, when I import to aperture on my macbook it will be the original raw file without any of the adjustments made?

If so I will just shoot in raw, as I plan to delete the ipad modified images once the images are imported to aperture.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

I have no idea on the technical points. Are you saying that no matter what I do to the image on the ipad, when I import to aperture on my macbook it will be the original raw file without any of the adjustments made?

If so I will just shoot in raw, as I plan to delete the ipad modified images once the images are imported to aperture.

RAW files are never modified as far as I know. Applications like Aperture, Photoshop, and LightRoom make virtual adjustments to the file and export the modified image as tiff, jpeg, etc. But there is no way to export as RAW after adjustments are made. That wouldn't be very RAW now would it?

 

[valleyboy74]

From a little research this is what I've found. If you import a Raw image to ipad and modify in photogene it actually modifies the 'raw preview'. Then when you export to aperture it exports the original Raw images, unmodified.

This was a post on a photography forum:

My test of what I got was to do the following:
Set the camera to RAW only but set the camera to B&W.
Import to iPad

The iPad image shows up as B&W - which demonstrated that you are seeing the embedded jpeg. If you import that file to Photogene, you will be working on a B&W file.

Then if you connect the iPad to the computer and import to LR you initily see the B&W thumbnail until LR renders the preview from the RAW file.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

From a little research this is what I've found. If you import a Raw image to ipad and modify in photogene it actually modifies the 'raw preview'. Then when you export to aperture it exports the original Raw images, unmodified.

This was a post on a photography forum:

My test of what I got was to do the following:
Set the camera to RAW only but set the camera to B&W.
Import to iPad

The iPad image shows up as B&W - which demonstrated that you are seeing the embedded jpeg. If you import that file to Photogene, you will be working on a B&W file.

Then if you connect the iPad to the computer and import to LR you initily see the B&W thumbnail until LR renders the preview from the RAW file.

That doesn't help you at all.

 

[valleyboy74]

That doesn't help you at all.

?? Am I missing something? I will be able to shoot in Raw, import to ipad, make light mods and upload to mobileme for people to preview. Then when I get home I can export original unmodified images to aperture to 'proper' adjustments and prints.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

?? Am I missing something? I will be able to shoot in Raw, import to ipad, make light mods and upload to mobileme for people to preview. Then when I get home I can export original unmodified images to aperture to 'proper' adjustments and prints.

Ah I forgot the part about uploading to MobileMe. Yeah, that should work as long as photogene supports your camera's RAW file format. I didn't know photogene could edit RAW.

 

[dadams1]

I will be able to shoot in Raw, import to ipad, make light mods and upload to mobileme for people to preview. Then when I get home I can export original unmodified images to aperture to 'proper' adjustments and prints.

That is exactly right.

A couple of other side notes:
1) The changes you make to the previews (I use Photogene too) are saved in another album in the photos app. So, it's easy to keep/junk these as you like after you import your shots back to your computer. These are nice, though, to email to friends, upload to MobileMe, etc. while you're on the trip. Very handy process.
2) On my last trip, I was able to use the great iPad screen to decide to delete many shots on the iPad that I was sure would not be keepers - helped save on space.
3) How great it is to only bring the iPad and leave the laptop at home.

 

[Scuby]

Can I add a couple of other questions on the same subject, which may help clarify the answers for how to setup a RAW workflow using iPad. Unfortunately I'm another one who's planning to use my iPad for this, but still waiting for the CCK.

First, can anyone confirm a basic assumption:
1) As I understand it, if I shoot in RAW-only the iPad will happily import that, and create a jpeg copy in the Photos app. The iPad will keep the RAW file too.

So, my questions:
1) If I delete the jpeg (which was generated from on the RAW file) from Photos, will the RAW file be deleted too? For me, this would be useful as I often take quite a few additional photos and delete a lot straight away, and obviously if I can do this process on my iPad that's a big part of my editing done before I get near my PC.
2) Can I make changes to the meta data of the photos in any way that either Aperture or Lightroom will be able to import when I upload the images from the iPad. For example, can I rate the jpg photos in the Photos app on my iPad, and somehow have that meta data read across with the RAW files when I transfer it over to my PC? If so, what meta data can I edit, and with what apps?

Obviously in the longer term I'd hope for a Lightroom / Aperture style app for the iPad, which can do edits in the RAW file itself rather than just in a jpg copy, but appreciate that this isn't yet possible. But in the mean time, if I can do the basic filtering / meta data type editing as described above, that would be a great start.

Cheers,

David

 

[mcvaughan]

On my Nikon D300S I shoot RAW on the CF card and JPG on the SD (dual card slots). I use the camera kit on my iPad to pull the images on the SD. I use Aperture on my iMac to pull in the RAW images from the CF. Works well for me.

 

[dadams1]

1- yep (correct assumption)

Q:
1- yep

2- no ratings in the photo app. you don't get to really touch the raw file.

 

[Scuby]

2- no ratings in the photo app. you don't get to really touch the raw file.

... Or any third party apps?