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Even though smartphone photography is different from my professional work as a photographer, I still like to organize my workflow. If you’re fed up with having a cluttered camera roll, the tips I share will help you streamline how you work from start to finish.
1Planning in Notion
I useNotionfor a lot of my workflow management, whether that’s setting long-term goals or planning weekend photoshoots. When knowing the type of photoshoot I want to do, I simply make a new note and break everything down. I don’t have to follow everything to the letter, and often don’t, because creativity is largely spontaneous.
The beauty of using Notion is that you’re able to sync the app with your smartphone if you’d rather type on your computer or tablet. You’ll have simple access to your notes on the go, and if anything comes to your mind on the day, you can add it to your list.
If you don’t use Notion,Google Keep is a good Notion alternative. Apple Notes is another choice, and you canorganize Apple Noteswith smart folders.
2Choosing the Ideal Time for My Photoshoots
If my smartphone photography is a byproduct of a fun outing that I’ve already planned, I don’t bother with determining when I want to go out for the best pictures. But when going out with the primary intention of capturing images, I prefer to choose the best times for that.
I mainly look at the daylight hours and weather when choosing when to go out and photograph. If it’s a sunny day, I prefer to go out closer to sunrise or sunset. However, on overcast days, I go out around midday so that there’s more light in my images
Understanding sunrise and sunset times is even more important for me because I live in Northern Europe, and the amount of light fluctuates massively throughout the year. A handy tool on Apple devices is the Weather app; tapSunsetand look for Last Light.
I’d also suggest usingUnscripted—there are many reasonswhy photographers should use Unscripted. The app shows you blue hour, golden hour, and sunset—along with cloud coverage and chances of rain.
3Marking Images I Like as Favorites
One of the easiest ways to organize your smartphone photography workflow is by marking images that you like as favorites. When you do this, you can easily access all the pictures you want to edit and/or post while sifting out the rest.
In addition to marking pictures that I like as favorites on my phone, I’ll do the same on my iPad. When I import them intoLightroom, I like to flag images or give them a star rating; once doing that, it’s easy to then process everything.
4Deleting Pictures I Don’t Want
In addition to marking the images that I do like as favorites, I streamline my workflow by deleting pictures that I don’t want. It’s a good idea to wait a few weeks or months before doing this for photoshoots because you then detach the emotion. But for ordinary point-and-shoot sessions, you’re able to do this as soon as you want.
If you change your mind, you’re able to alwaysrestore the images within 30 days on an iPhone. If you have an Android phone, see our guide onways to recover deleted photos on any Android device.
5Batch-Importing Photos Into My Editing Software
While editing my smartphone pictures in Apple Photos, I also frequently use Lightroom and/or VSCO. It’s much easier to edit everything if you batch-import your images. You can then export all of your pictures when you’ve finished adjusting them, too.
To batch import your images in Lightroom:
InVSCO, the process is also straightforward.
6Using Presets to Streamline My Editing Workflow
I rarely like the way smartphone pictures look straight out of cameras, and I recommend editing them to make your images really stand out. However, editing from scratch is often time-consuming—especially if you’re new to these kinds of software. The good news is that you can use presets to streamline your editing workflow.
Lightroom and VSCO have a number of presets already in the app. you may also make your own presets for styles that you go back to regularly. I particularly like doing this in Lightroom, and you can sync your presets across multiple devices. Using filters can also ease the burden of photo editing.
7Clearly Outlining the Photos I Want to Edit in Each Session
One of my biggestLightroom editing mistakesas a beginner was going into each session without knowing exactly what I wanted to edit. This was a huge problem because it meant that I always felt overwhelmed, and it also meant that I never got around to editing everything. Now, I clearly outline the photos I’m going to edit in each session.
I know that my mental bandwidth starts fading after around 5-10 photos, so I mostly only edit within these numbers. When feeling more productive or finishing my edits quickly, I’ll often continue editing even more. Nonetheless, having this initial guideline at least makes things easier to follow.
8Organizing My Photos in Google Photos
In the same way that I organize my professional photos, I also like to keep my smartphone images organized. When using my phone, I create new folders for different trips and whatnot. It’s then easy to access my photos viaiCloudif I need to download them on another device. Another tool I recommend using, regardless of whether you have an Apple device, isGoogle Photos.
Like when using your phone’s camera app, you’re able to create multiple folders in Google Photos. You can then access the website on your computer or download the app for your tablet or smartphone, before downloading any images you want to use. It’s free for the basic plan, but you can upgrade to a paid subscription if you want access to photo editing and other features.
Keeping your smartphone photography workflow organized will make it much easier to make significant progress in your edits and allocate more of your energy to taking great pictures. From planning photoshoots to using photo organizers, you may do several things to simplify the entire process.
