My Editing Workflow: From Shoot to Delivery
My Editing Workflow: From Shoot to Delivery
First, I always use Lightroom Classic. In my opinion, it's just a better option than the CC version because it has more functionality and gives me a greater level of control, even if the basic interfaces are similar.
The moment I get home, I plug in my hard drive. I have a very specific file management system that’s crucial for my business. I rename all the photo files before they even touch Lightroom.
My naming convention is simple: Year_Month_Day_Client_SessionName. This helps me immensely when I have to find a specific photo from years ago, as they're all sorted by the date I shot them. For example, today's photos would be renamed something like 25_09_01_CoachingSession. It's a small step, but it makes a huge difference in the long run.
Lightroom Catalog and OrganiSation
My biggest piece of advice for any photographer starting out is to get organised. Don't throw every photo into one big Lightroom pile. You need a system. I recommend creating a separate catalog for each client. Think of it like a special box for your socks or your jewellery. When you have a dedicated catalog for a client, you can just go straight to it and find exactly what you need, whether it’s a recent shoot or a photo from four years ago. It’s a bit redundant at first, but once you start taking on more clients, you'll be so glad you did it.
When I import my photos, I always add them to a new folder within that client’s catalog, named with the date and session (Client_Aug_2025). This keeps everything tidy and easy to find.
Culling and Making Selections
Once everything is imported, I start the culling process. I look through all the photos to weed out the bad ones. I’ll even delete the worst ones from the disk to free up space.
I'm a big believer in having a consistent and efficient workflow. Once I have all my photos imported into Lightroom, I follow a specific process to go from initial selection to final edit. It's all about making the most of my time.
First, I go through all the photos and flag the ones I like. My rating system is pretty straightforward. I'll use a five-star rating for shots I think are good, and I'll even apply a colour label to my absolute favourites. For me, yellow means "this is my top pick." If a photo has potential but needs a lot of work, like a slightly off-centre subject or a distracting element, I'll label it red. This helps me create a mental map of what needs extra attention.
I also have my own personal trick: I often start from the last photo and work backward. I've found that the last shots of a session are usually the best, since I've had more time to experiment and get everything just right.
Batch Editing with Presets
Once I have my selections, my goal is to make all the photos look consistent. I'll take one of my top picks and do all the initial edits on it—adjusting the exposure, contrast, and clarity until I'm happy. Then, I save that look as a preset. I'll give it a clear name, like August_Client_Final, and then I can apply it to every other photo in the session. I just hit Command+A to select everything, apply the preset, and all the photos are instantly transformed.
From there, I do a final pass on each photo, making small, manual adjustments. I'll manually check the exposure of each one, maybe add a radial gradient to darken a specific area, or make a quick crop. It’s a bit tedious, but it ensures that every image looks perfect and consistent.
Advanced Lightroom Features
I rely on a few advanced Lightroom features to streamline this process.
Virtual Copies: I use virtual copies to experiment with different looks without duplicating the original RAW file. This is a huge time-saver and means I can have 10 different versions of the same photo to see which look I like best.
Transform Tool: The Transform feature is a lifesaver. If a shot is a little crooked, I can just hit the "Auto" button, and Lightroom will try to straighten it out for me. It's not always perfect, but it often saves me from re-shooting.
Denoise and Lens Correction: For photos with a high ISO, I'll use the Denoise feature to smooth out grain. I also make sure to check the lens correction feature to fix any subtle distortions that come from the lens itself.
Moving to Photoshop
My final step is to move the photos that need more detailed work into Photoshop. Lightroom is great for global edits, but if I need to fix something specific—like getting rid of a dent in a croissant, removing a stain on a table, or eliminating a glare that the polarising filter couldn't fix—I do that in Photoshop. I just right-click the photo, select "Edit In," and open it in Photoshop. It's a highly targeted approach that saves me a ton of time.
My business philosophy is simple: work smarter, not harder. My goal as a professional photographer is to get as much right in-camera as possible. While I have to do edits, I shouldn’t be spending hours in Photoshop on a single project. If I find myself consistently having to fix a lot of photos for a client, I know there's a problem. Either I need to improve my skills on location, or maybe that client's expectations aren't a good fit for me.
With that in mind, I want to show you my favourite Photoshop tools. Even if you only remember these few tricks, they'll save you so much time and frustration down the line.
My Go-To Photoshop Tools
These are the tools I use most often, and in my opinion, they're the only ones a food photographer really needs to start with.
The Remove Tool: This is my absolute favorite. It's an AI-powered tool that allows me to quickly erase small distractions like crumbs, dust on a plate, or a wrinkle in the backdrop. I can just paint over the area I want to remove, and it's gone in seconds. It’s so much faster than waiting for one spot at a time, and it's usually very accurate.
The Spot Healing Brush Tool: This is a classic for a reason. It's another great tool for getting rid of small spots, but it's a bit less reliable than the Remove Tool. The key is to make the brush size just a bit bigger than the spot you're trying to fix.
The Clone Stamp Tool: The clone stamp is a lifesaver for larger, repetitive textures. It allows me to copy a "clean" area of a photo and paste it over an area I want to fix. For example, I can use it to smooth out a wrinkled curtain by cloning an unwrinkled area and stamping it over the messy part. I also use it for creative touches, like adding more sesame seeds to a dish or extra bubbles to a glass of champagne.
The Magic of Liquify
This one is a little crazy, but it’s a tool that can completely change the shape of an object. It's called Liquify. It's like those apps celebrities use to alter their appearance. If a client says, "I love the shot, but the donut isn't perfectly round," I can use Liquify to carefully push and pull the pixels to make it look just right.
A word of caution, though: using Liquify on a whole photo will affect everything around the object you’re adjusting. That’s why it's a good idea to make a selection of the object first, put it on its own separate layer, and then use Liquify. That way, you’re only affecting the one thing you want to change, and the rest of the photo stays exactly the same.
Color Grading and Selective Edits
While Lightroom is my go-to for global edits, Photoshop is where I make precise colour adjustments. For example, if a client says a caramel sauce looks "too orange," I can make a selection around just the sauce, put it on a new layer, and then use a tool like Hue/Saturation to change its color without affecting anything else in the photo.
This is a very important part of professional editing. Food should look natural, so you want to be extremely subtle with your color adjustments. If you start changing the color of food too much, it can look unrealistic and make it harder for the client to sell their product.
I know all of this sounds like a lot, and Photoshop can definitely be frustrating at first. I still have frustrating moments with it, even after six years. But with these tools, you'll be able to fix most of your on-the-spot mistakes and deliver a final product that truly shines.
To Summarise:
Remove Tool: This is my go-to for quickly erasing small distractions like dust or crumbs. It's an AI-powered tool that lets me brush over an area and watch it disappear. It's a huge time-saver.
Clone Stamp Tool: This is a classic for a reason. I use it to copy and paste textures, like a clean part of a tablecloth to cover a stain, or to add more detail to a dish. For example, I can add extra sesame seeds to a bun or more bubbles to a glass of champagne.
Liquify: This tool is great for making subtle adjustments to an object's shape, like making a donut perfectly round. It's a bit advanced, as it can distort the background, so I taught her a trick: select the object first, put it on its own layer, and then use the Liquify tool.
Layer Masks: This is the most crucial skill in Photoshop. It's a way to hide parts of an image without permanently erasing them. By using a black brush to hide and a white brush to reveal, I can make precise, non-destructive edits, like selectively changing the color of a sauce without affecting the rest of the photo.
Exporting and File Management
After I finish editing, I need to get the photos ready for the client. I have a very specific file structure on my hard drive, where I create a main folder called "Retouched Images" and then a subfolder for the date of the export, like "2025 August 21st."
I always export as a JPEG at a quality of about 70-80%—it's the perfect balance for social media and websites. I also make sure to include my metadata, which embeds my copyright information into the file. This is my way of protecting my work online. I normally give my clients the high-resolution images and let them worry about compressing them for social media, unless they have a specific request.
For client delivery, I personally use a subscription-based gallery service called Pixieset, which provides a beautiful, organised way for clients to view and download their images. There are other free options like Google Drive or Dropbox, however I prefer Pixieset as the gallery experience is aesthetic and immersive.
Hard Drive and Gear Advice
I highly recommended the LaCie brand. They're reliable, and the bright orange casing makes them easy to spot in a sea of black gear. A 2-terabyte drive is a great starting point for any new photographer.
When it comes to camera filters, I only recommend two types: a UV filter to protect the lens glass from scratches and a ND filter to remove glare from reflective surfaces like glass or water.
Finally, I advise getting your camera professionally serviced at least once a year, use a sensor blower to keep dust off, and to always use a lens filter to protect your lenses.