Peter Krogh, author of The DAM Book: Digital Asset Management for Photographers, was recently in the Twin Cities to do a presentation on Digital Asset Management. While he was in town, we were able to sit down and talk about the future of digital imaging and DAM. I caught up with Peter to find out how his tour went:
You're fresh off a DAM tour with ASMP. How did it go?
Great. There was a lot of interest, and the feedback indicated that the program is really helping photographers to get control over their collections. It was also great for me personally, since I love talking to photographers and being able to see how business is conducted around the country.
What's your involvement in ASMP?
Right now, I am on the National Board of Directors, as well as leading the DAM “It's Your Business” program. In the past, I have been the founder of the Digital Standards Committee, which changed into UPDIG. That job was also particularly gratifying since it is probably the most successful cross-association effort ever created. If you haven't taken a look, UPDIG.org is a resource for all parties in the field of imaging to ensure predictable rendering of the images as they get passed along the production chain.
How are people responding to your book - The DAM Book: Digital Asset Management for Photographers?
Better than I could have imagined. I'm getting notes from around the world, and more invitations to speak than I can actually do. We've gone into a second printing.
What's been the biggest reward of writing your book?
Well, unfortunately it wasn't the money ;-). Having an impact on my fellow photographer has been a wonderful effect. I believe in the power of the image, and I believe in the need for photography professionals. This is a time of great change in our art and profession, and I'm happy to be working in the interest of my people.
What's next on your agenda? It looks like you have a new series of Professional Photography Workflow Workshops...
The field is really opening up, and I'm trying to spot the area of greatest need. I'll continue doing workshops and seminars, and I expect to do more writing. The hard part of all of this is making sure that the technology fits the needs. I spotted some needs that the DNG could fill in workflow, and was able to work with Adobe to make sure that functionality was included.
DAM is an exploding field right now, and digital photographers are really just the leading edge of the crowd. Soon everyone will have hundreds of gigabytes or more of valuable data that they will need to manage for a lifetime. It will be interesting to see how the photographer tools will move into more mainstream usage.
You've been a big proponent of Bridge and scripting. You have your DamUseful/Pimp My Bridge website, and some pretty neat scripts to assist professional photographers workflow. Tell me about some of your scripts and what they do...
The one I can't live without is RapidFixer, which lets you make Camera Raw adjustments from within the Bridge window. Not only does it speed the process up for me by at least 50%, but it lets me better integrate Picture Editing (deciding which is the best picture) with Image Editing (making the pictures look right). It's a great way to work, since these two tasks are often intertwined.
Rank and File lets me translate Ratings and Labels to Keywords so that they are preserved and more discoverable. Now that Ratings are picked up by iView, it's less necessary, but I still like it for a couple of reasons. It turns the Bridge Labels into Keywords, which is the only way to get iView to see these. It also writes the filename to the IPTC Title field, and to XMP PreservedFileName space so that I can find the original file, even if it gets renamed. We've just developed a new version that runs a lot quicker. This one will be a free upgrade, once it's out of testing.
Tell me how you got started developing scripts for Bridge?
Well, it was by necessity. I asked Adobe for some of this stuff during the beta-development cycle for CS2 (Labels to Keywords, for instance) and was told that it was not going to happen this version. John Nack suggested that scripting could do the trick. I was having dinner later with some family friends and brought the subject up. Tom Nolan, my partner in DAMuseful, writes onboard software for spacecraft, and was interested in the challenge.
RapidFixer came about after an ASMP presentation. I was showing how you can make menu presets for Camera Raw adjustments in Bridge, when I got the idea of putting the adjustments into button form. I had seen how Bridge had enabled the creation of buttons in the "navbar" area. Tom was up to the challenge, thankfully.
When you were in the Twin Cities earlier this month, you mentioned that you have some ties to Minnesota?
I was born in Rochester when my father was doing a fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. It was my first time back since I was 2. I really enjoyed the Twin Cities, and look forward to a more timely return.
How and when did you get involved with Photoshop?
When I started the Digital Standards Committee for ASMP, I contacted Adobe. (I was trying to get them to make something that ended up being the CaptionMaker. Check it out at www.russellbrown.com, part of Dr. Brown's services). I made a presentation to John Nack, and a few weeks later an invitation to join the Alpha program of CS2 hit my email box. I was flattered to be asked, and a bit intimidated when the time commitment choice was between 10, 20 and 40 hours per week. And, no, I don't get paid for it. Try explaining that to your wife. ;-)
What's your favorite feature in Photoshop CS2?
That would be Camera Raw, hands down.
Where are you based out of?
The Washington DC metro area. Been here all my life.
How long have you been a pro photographer?
23 years.
What's been the biggest change for photographers moving to digital?
In the words of the Firesign Theater, “everything you know is wrong.” It's a huge change in how you think about what you are doing as a photographer, from shooting, to image handling, to business practices.
The changes in shooting are the easy part. Almost every photographer I know has been reinvigorated by going digital. The changes in how to think about image handling are like learning a new language. You just have to start with the new vocabulary and dive right in. Unfortunately this can lead to mistakes, which often means data loss.
The business changes are still evolving. My first big project, the Digital Standards Committee was all about how to identify profitable business practices and spread the gospel. We're still learning, but many photographers charge reasonable rates for digital production. It's been a little hard for many photographers to see how this can be done, but I have hope.
What's been the key to allowing photographers to go digital and embrace going to a digital workflow?
I think the most important part is higher productivity in the field: the ability to make better pictures more quickly. There were a lot of developments that finally made widespread digital photography a reality: Photoshop, less expensive digital cameras, color calibration, fast computers, big storage.
Once you start working with it, you realize it's just better.
What's your impression of Adobe Lightroom so far? Any favorite features?
I love the way you can adjust images in Lightroom. I think it's faster and more intuitive. I also love being able to look at full-size images. I can't wait for it to be done, so that I can put it into production for real photos (not just tests).
