Q: Beginner's Workflow

[ebann]

Hello!

I am an amateur. I discovered the wonderful world of HDR imaging! It has enhanced my appreciation for photography. Shooting in the dark without flash has also added spice to my hobby. I want to know the basics of an easy, and efficient (also possibly cheap) workflow. I have a Mac (Intel). It should cover the following steps:

1) image download and picture organization (iPhoto)
2) RAW processing and/or HDR processing (PhotomatixPro)
3) image editing (Photoshop CS2)
4) picture printing (comercial digital printing)

Question #1: am I missing any steps of a workflow?
Question #2: is iPhoto a decent downloader/organizer? Extensis Portfolio too complicated?
Question #3: if I want to print with my inkjet, what software should I use?

Any other tips?

Thanks for you help!

-Ellery

[rammy]

Probably not something that is specifically to do with workflow with regards to getting an end result but I would certainly add archiving to external device. I had my laptop stolen and lost many images I hadn't transferred to my home PC and external HD.

Also, do you "rate" your images? When you have thousands in organised folders, it is sometimes good to either mark or re-organise ones you deem as "keepers". Or maybe you just delete them? I've started doing that now to ones I don't like at all.