Hi,
I tried to describe my very personal photographic workflow using only FOSS software and published it on my website.
It took me a long time to write it.
I wrote it over and over again and the more I reread it, the more I feel like rewriting it in an endless loop of thoughts and rework. In the end I decided to publish it and collect your feedback, criticism, pats on the back or slaps in the face!
On the one hand I hope to help those who like me have switched over the years to using only FOSS software for photography and give direction, on the other hand I hope to gather more experiences from those who are more experienced and want to share suggestions.
Feel free to ask questions and drop comments here or in my mailbox.
Fabio
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I’ve briefly skimmed it and plan on reading it in depth later so maybe these thoughts will change. I’ve been working on writing up something about my personal darktable workflow for macro photography and I definitely understand the endless loop of rethinking things 
On one hand, I like the comprehensive view and inclusion of non-technical things and things not related strictly to photography like backups. On the other hand, the section about your culling process, for example, could be a lot more succinct and even expanded on in a separate article entirely.
Regardless, kudos for writing it all up. I think it’s good to do this type of thing even if just for yourself.
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Thank you @raublekick !
I had started with a series of scattered notes. Then I tried to connect them. Then I wrote one long post, but it seemed to focus only on the technical part. Then I removed the ‘linux nerd stuff’ and tried to focus on the creative process. But in photography, if we talk about process, it is very difficult to separate the two.
I’ll leave the post to decant, maybe re-read it in a month’s time, integrating unclear points.
I really appreciate the feedback.
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Wow this is a very comprehensive write up!
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I was finally able to give it a more in depth read through. It feels like the goal is to be an overview of your process and a summary of your journey using FOSS, and not necessarily a technical deep dive into any particular topic, which it does well.
This does read like a very personal experience and is perfectly fine as-is. If you were looking to make it a more formal type of article I think my earlier comments are still relevant.
I liked the breakdown summary of the seven steps of the process. It’s stuff that’s intuitive but I liked seeing it plainly laid out like you did. One thing that could be useful is briefly mentioning the software you use for each part of the process. This would make it serve as both a summary of the workflow and a summary of the software you’re using. It also reinforces that there are FOSS tools for each of those pieces of the workflow.
If I ever make another zine I will definitely checkout PenPot and you’ve convinced me that I should finally learn how to use LaTeX…
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I read the whole post and made quite a few notes from it, so thanks for that.
Mind if I ask you a few questions:
- How do you store your inspiration images? Is that on Obsidian too? or is Obsidian for notes on a particular image and moodboard to just create a feel for the shoot and maybe send it to others (model etc.)
- I’m sure this has been asked before, but any reason for using both Digikam and DT for tagging and curating?
- The start rating you use - 4 for prints and 5 for portfolio. Do you not have an overlap between the photos you print and the really good ones for your portfolio? or is 4 star a temporary rating?
This was an interesting read! Thanks!
Just a quick note: The link, on your website, to PenPot is to a .com domain and is unresolvable. I think you want penpot.app…or maybe a link to the github?
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