So far, I have been entirely working with individual images and saving each one before going on to another one. It works, but it’s probably poor use of my scarce time.
I’m wondering if there is any consensus on which settings lend themselves well to being done in batch on a whole series of photos, and which are best left to individual edits. I’m aware that the more a series of shots have in common, the more likely batch is to be helpful.
Thanks!
Auto exposure adjustment, sharpening, contrast curve settings (if they’re similar).
When I’m using Rawtherapee, when I open an image to edit, it applies these things, then if needed, I remove or adjust them on a per picture basis. So it just lays the foundation for a good edit, then I tweak it. I haven’t refined my darktable setup as much, but I intend to.
Asking about best batch adjustments without describing a scenario is going about things the wrong way.
Create a processing profile with tools tweaked in a way which is best suited to all photos coming from your camera, then set that as your default processing profile for raw photos. This saves you the most work. That way whenever you open a photo from your camera, bam, everything is set to provide you with a good starting point suited to your taste. In many cases the only thing left to do it move some exposure and chroma curves and turn noise reduction on.
After time, you will end up with several profiles for your camera best suited to the conditions you most often shoot in - one for bracketed landscape shots, one for shots taken in a pub, one for LED-lit concerts, etc.