A holiday trip to Marazion, Cornwall is perfect to complete this exercise. I never get fed up of trying to capture the perfect image of St Michael's Mount and Mounts Bay, and have probably taken hundreds of images of this area during my frequent trips  there.
Workflow plan.
Pack  the following :
Camera
10-24mm lens.  28-75 lens. 70-200 lens. 50mm prime.
ND 9 stop  filter &  circular  polariser filter
Tripod
Battery charger  & spare batteries 
Cable release 
Memory cards all empty & formatted. 
Laptop & external hard-drive. 
Shooting  : 
Mount's Bay &  St Michaels Mount at varying times of the day & hopefully different weather  conditions. Get tide times.
 I want to try my  new 9 stop filter, this will be a challenge.
Not just  landscapes planned, I also want to include people in my shots.
Delete as I go  along if I am sure the image is unusable, time allowing-- I do not want to keep checking each image.
Check histogram  & bracket shots if I feel necessary 
Camera set to  manual as usual, ISO as needed etc.
Post  shoot each day:
At end of each session upload all images onto my laptop into a new folder and also copy Raw files to an external drive. (I will need to revise this method once I use my iMac and I need to consider how I will manage my images on location. I will probably have   to buy another laptop or look into some form of compatible portable storage )  Good job it's Xmas soon!
Tag each session  and perhaps review briefly, deleting any obvious mistakes, bad exposures  etc.
Will leave majority of processing, printing, and uploading to Web till I get home. 

My 7 day session.
I found it easier  to decide on each day exactly what, how, and when , I was going to shoot. I was  dependant on the weather and tide times , something totally out of my control.  I loaded each session onto my laptop and deleted any obviously unusable  images. I backed up to an external  hard-drive every evening applied basic tags but left any other processing until  I got home. All session images taken with a 10-24mm lens, tripod, cable release  and ND 9 stop filter. A word about this filter, to expose properly you first  compose and expose for the scene without the filter fitted, attach it , then   increase exposure by about 27 stops, I found I needed to bracket all my shots.   Additionally once fitted it is impossible to re-compose without taking it off again. This was time consuming and fiddly, not something I allowed for. An easier solution would have been to just go out later or earlier in the day when the light  levels dropped  but sometimes that is  not practical and I made the decision to use the filter for this session as I  was on holiday with my husband and we would be going out later ( when the light   would be perfect ! ) to eat. Because I was staying just across the road from the causeway access was easy, making my planning much easier. I knew exactly what I hoped to capture and therefore did not waste time scouting around for a suitable location , I just needed to wait for favourable conditions. What I did  find was once home was that I had a large number of very similar images and choosing the best was very time consuming and it was practically impossible to choose between some. A discerning eye is essential , but as I noted for my first workflow exercise how any image is viewed will usually be from a subjective point of  view. As the creator  of  each image I find it extremely difficult to pick out just one and even harder to delete images that are perfectly acceptable but just too similar to others. This  is what I really need to get to grips with in order to create a more streamlined , efficient, and less time consuming workflow .I am still processing my holiday  "snaps" and do wonder if I should get  into the habit of shooting in Raw & Jpeg mode. This would enable me to have  an instant record of my trip/ or session and then enable me to concentrate on only fully processing , what I consider , are the very best images .
 
For my final chosen images shown below I kept post  processing minimal  , but to add  variety I altered the WB , created some black and white images , some colour , and one sepia  image.


 

 
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Session 1: First 24 images. Low sun evening time.  This was the  first time I had used my new filter and my plan was to be able to go out earlier  in the evening but still be able to use a very slow shutter speed. My aim for  this session was to capture perhaps just one or two people crossing the causeway  at a quieter time of the evening when there are less visitors. I wanted to  capture an ethereal moment, many people find this place magical and  mysterious.  Using the filter was  more difficult than I anticipated, some images were deleted immediately  --totally underexposed. However it is fun to use and I included myself in one  long exposure shot. I got into conversation with a Dutch tourist who was most interested in what I was doing as we talked it got darker so that session was  over. 

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F8 10mm ISO 100 1 sec exposure Custom WB
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F11 10mm ISO 100 1.6 sec exposure Shade WB Sepia tone
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Session 2: 19  more images taken a few days later of Mount's Bay overlooking St Michaels Mount.
Late afternoon . Bracketed shots ranging from 0.6 to an 8 second exposure. 


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F18 10mm ISO 100 Custom WB @ 7595 8.0 Second exposure
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Session 3: Two days later another 49 images taken. Bright clear sky, no cloud cover, late afternoon. Again using the filter I took multiple exposures, briefly checking the initial few were not underexposed, but to save time and battery life I then took bracketed shots to compare later on the computer screen. Additionally it was the highest tide of the year and I hoped to take advantage of this and placed my tripod low down but on reviewing these  on the computer screen did not feel any of the images were particularly  thrilling compositionally . In order to obtain the smooth appearance that I wanted I needed a slow shutter speed. Even with my 9 stop filter on I needed to wait for the light to be low enough to do this. All the images were taken from  exactly the same spot so all were very similar. Light and how best to utilise it to advantage is a fundamental photographic skill, a skill I really hope to  improve on as the course progresses.   


Final mammoth  session split into two parts of the same day I took a total of 111  images. A gorgeous day with blue sky and sun--unusual for the UK !!! 
The first part of  my day, mid afternoon, I attempted to place my tripod on the causeway as the 
tide (and tourists) came in towards me--not as easy as I thought. The causeway  is very uneven and it takes some time to adjust a tripod to ensure it is level. The tide came in quicker than I expected , my feet and trousers got soaked ,plus I had to keep moving backwards and recomposing. Hence I ended up with quite a  few slanted images! I would have also preferred to have taken this kind of shot  later in the day when the sun was lower, but was dependant on tide times to  capture what I was aiming for. 



Second part of this session was later towards the evening when the sun was beginning to set , the light was lovely. 
 
After reading through this section I realise I thought of a digital workflow as the process that starts once images are loaded onto a computer and imported into Lightroom/Photoshop etc to sort and manage. I also back up my LR catalogue weekly. I have a system prior to this stage but never really considered it as part of the whole process, which if I think logically it obviously is. Logging it down below makes me realise just how important this forethought and planning is as a component of my digital workflow.
My current workflow.
Equipment needed checklist. Camera (obviously) & lens.Biggest decision, depending on what I intend to shoot, is which lens to attach , and also how many others to take along with me. Unless I have an “assistant“ (AKA as hubby) my bag can get very heavy and if at all possible I prefer to travel light. Also changing a lens outdoors can be a problem, but not so much for a portraiture session indoors. I always make sure my 2 battery packs are charged, I have a battery grip attached to my camera and this usually has enough power to last for several days. I also take along 6 spare AA batteries which fit the grip just in case — a belt and braces approach! Empty memory cards x at least 3 . Again depending on my subject matter I consider if I will need my tripod. Its heavy but very stable—– essential for certain shooting situations——I have a love/hate relationship with it! I do not like using a tripod but it is impossible not to use sometimes. Cable release if using my tripod. Will I need a filter? All my lenses have a UV filter on. In addition I have a 9 stop ND filter and a circular polariser .Fingerless gloves——an essential in cold weather and kept in my camera bag all year round–the British weather in so unpredictable !!!
Camera settings & Shooting . I shoot Raw and have my camera set to record the largest file size which is about 15 megapixels . If at all possible I try to use ISO 100 or ISO 200 but increase if needed. As I use Raw I leave the WB on auto and correct the WB in Lightroom. I prefer to use manual camera settings but very occasionally will use AV or TV priority. The highlight clipping warning is always on. I use SRGB colour space. I have the automatic image review turned off but I do check the histogram of individual images– if time allows during the shoot– and will take a series of bracketed shots if I feel this is necessary, but this is not always possible. Shooting Raw has the advantage that exposure can be corrected later but if possible I like to achieve this in-camera. If any “horrors” are very obvious I will delete them at this stage from the memory card. Metering and motor drive depend on the circumstances during the shoot.
Post shoot. Create a folder on my computer and upload all the Raw images on my memory card onto my computer with a file name straight into Lightroom which catalogues them. I also back up the images to a separate hard drive at the same time. I now add keywords and tags, more may be added later as I process the images. Review the images and delete any that are unusable. I take my time during this process , any that are technically bad go immediately. I then scrutinise again to check facial expressions, compositions etc and delete any I feel are not suitable.( I could return to these if needed as they have already been backed up to another hard drive.) Process the images. Depending on what they are going to be used for will influence how much time I spend on each individual image. General family occasions and holiday “snaps” get quickly done and are exported as jpegs, a few are uploaded to Flickr to share via the internet, all are uploaded to Photobox and prints ordered. All jpeg images are then also saved on my external hard drive. College work and any images I want to print myself A4 or A3 size on my Epson printer will be exported to Photoshop as a 16 bit Tiff file touched up and saved as a Tiff file. These are printed and also backed up onto my external hard drive, additionally I will create a small jpeg file to upload to Flickr. Lighroom catalogue is backed up once a week.

Exercise 1: Your own workflow 1

 (Flowchart as a list.)For this exercise I want a very simple set up and will shoot a short– maximum of 60 minutes–portrait session with my mum who will be 86 next week. Out of all my family she is my most enthusiastic model, the qualities I love are the ones she most hates!!! “airbrush my wrinkles — I am sure they are not that bad—it’s your camera that makes me look this old ” I think an older subject has character that can be lacking in what is considered conventional beauty, this is something I love to look for when photographing people. She is not as nimble as she used to be and therefore I have to allow for the limitations this will cause during the session. Sticking to a specific time limit will, I hope, actually help. One of the great things about digital photography is the ability to keep taking pictures but it also has the drawback that there never seems an appropriate moment of knowing when to stop.
Equipment:
Camera + 50mm F1.4 prime lens—my favourite portrait lens. Tripod. Cable release. Formatted empty memory card & fully charged batteries Black velvet backdrop + one other backdrop if time allows.
Camera settings: Manual settings will adjust as needed. Raw . ISO 250 .One shot auto focus drive mode, auto WB . Will decide on meter during the shoot. Highlight clipping warning on. SRGB.
Lighting conditions: I want soft but bright diffused light  (sun with cloud cover )therefore will need to wait for the right weather conditions. I adore Jane Bown's black and white portraiture work--she only uses available light , never artificial. 
Location & shoot: Will be at my home , a 45-60 minute session , using available daylight outdoors & a simple background . I aim to take close up, head & shoulders , torso , & full length compositions.
Post shoot: As described in my current workflow above BUT I will need to streamline this process as the brief of the exercise is to edit down to just one or two final selected images to fully process.

Assessment: Shoot. I took perhaps 50 images in the time limit I set myself. I did not plan to review the images during the shoot (except to check quickly for highlight clipping) but found I needed to as I knew I had released the shutter a couple of times when my mum had shut her eyes! These were deleted immediately leaving 43. The time limit  helped me concentrate more on the task in hand, without this limit I might just have continued taking more and more, but not necessarily better.  On  reflection though I perhaps need to slow down more , take more time between shots ,carefully  observing my subject, take even less shots. I was after specific poses and facial expressions and gave my mum specific instructions during the shoot. These did not always go to plan and I had to take several shots in quick succession to ensure I got the expression I wanted. A major problem was her lack of mobility, she is quite unsteady sometimes on her feet and if I asked her to lean back or turn away she became disorientated–I did not fancy a trip to the local A&E department ! So on a practical level some of my ideas were unworkable, using a fixed focal length lens meant I had to physically move the tripod to recompose as she was unable to move back and forth, this was quite a nuisance and something I had not considered. I took a couple of very close up images by taking the camera off the tripod. When using a plain black background spot metering will help prevent the main subject being overexposed ,but I had failed to change my camera setting from partial to spot, therefore my subject was overexposed in the first couple of images, which again were deleted straight away when I checked for highlight clipping. I really should have set this BEFORE I started the shoot and is something I really must get into the habit of doing before setting out. During the shoot, as I was having difficulty obtaining a range of compositions ,I took some unplanned photographs of her hands, which hopefully add variety. The stupidest thing I did , and I still can’t believe I actually did it , I forgot to attach my cable release to the camera and found it in my camera bag at the end of the shoot !!! I find a cable release invaluable , once I have composed through the viewfinder I can then stand up and direct or just simply observe my subject closely as I shoot. It was on my list, I have no idea why I forgot to use it, it was in my bag along with my chosen lens in the kitchen, all my other equipment was left upstairs. Whether it has made any difference to the final outcome I will never know , but I will make sure I do not forget it again.

Assessment :Post shoot and processing.43  images  imported into LR library which is set to also copy onto an external  hard drive. I have created a new folder on my computer  especially for the coursework and have put the images into a subfolder ,  Project 1. Usually at this point I would be happy to delete the images from my  memory card . I want to improve my workflow and really streamline how I work,  this exercise is   perfect for trying to put it into practice. A major drawback  to digital   photography is simply the vast amount of similar images it is  possible to take   in a short space of time. Editing carefully and adopting a  new system will, I hope, help me do this. 
Reviewed the  images in LR browser and marked as rejected  any that were obviously unsuitable, a total of 23 . I was surprised at  the amount I felt were unsuitable but the exercise is designed to test "creative judgement" pg 12 Photography  I: Digital Photography Practice,Open college of the Arts. 

With 20 images  left, of which some were very similar, my criteria now was to choose the best  out of each near duplicate . This was more difficult as each had its merits, however I rejected  a further 6. At this stage and left with 14 I looked very carefully at mum's  facial expression and body language, these are so important in portraiture.  Finally, out of a total of 43 images, I whittled them down to just 7.
 Of  these 7 I finally  processed 4 from which I would choose my final 2 when fully processed (I found it really hard to just limit my choice at this stage to 1or 2 images) . I created a  virtual copy of each and converted all the images to black and white. Custom WB . Exposure was fine . Clarity was increased. Adjusted tone curve increasing lights and darkening darks----- I want my lights  light & darks dark, with a strong contrast. LR camera calibration adjusted as I felt necessary, usually neutral but  for my favourite final image I used the portrait setting.   I increased the green and red saturation very slightly , and decreased  the blue. I love mono images and enjoy tweaking  the colour settings to see how it alters  the depth of the tones and textures.

At this point my workflow becomes a bit chaotic. I use LR version 2 but have just bought a new iMac and will be moving from a PC to a Mac for the next part of the course so this will change. At the moment I edit the image as a 16 bit Tiff , I do not do too much processing here , mainly just levels adjustment, I save this without sharpening. I then open up the file again and convert to an eight bit file and save this version as a small size jpeg for web use. Finally I  then open up the original 16 bit Tiff again , sharpen for print using the unsharp mask set at 160% 1.5 radius 20 threshold. and save as a new Tiff in a PS version set. Rather a cumbersome approach. I will be using LR 3 with my new Mac and this can send jpeg files from LR straight to Flickr  so I hope I will be only creating 1 Tiff file in future.  I am doubling my workflow at the moment !!!  
The images below were chosen because I felt both represented what I had aimed to capture. Mum, even at 86 ,is a strong independent character .I wanted these  qualities , along with the obvious signs of age , to stand out. I do not aim to just capture happy "smiley" portraits. I want to create images that perhaps make you consider the person captured by the camera in a split second of time.For those few seconds what was going through my mum's mind ? I like the strong contrast of her pale skin , silver hair, and  pale grey coat against the dark tones of the fur collar and black background.  I like the  minimalist quality using a plain black background creates, but not to everyones taste I realise. 

Both images:  F5.6    1/80     ISO 250     @ 50mm

I do like  her expression here, the half smile.Hands---they cause such a problem in portraiture, I was unsure  how to pose her for this torso shot but wanted it to look as if she was cuddling up into her coat.  I really am torn which is my favourite , this has a more relaxed less contrived look than the first image.
What have I discovered about my own workflow? In future during a timed portraiture shoot I feel I really must slow down, not take too many frames, as I discovered over  half of what I took for the exercise were unsuitable. Is this a bad thing? The technology is there,  no film is  being wasted, but crucially it is easy to be lazy and hope out of the many  images taken one or two will be ok. Not that there is anything wrong with being  able to take a wide selection to choose from but is it really necessary?  I also found on being left with less than a handful of reasonable images the decision to choose just one became much more difficult. Art is subjective, this is what made selecting just one or two final images so difficult, whom am I choosing for, myself , the subject,  someone else? As the photographer I alone capture the moment but how  will be dictated by what the expected outcome of the session is. Therefore careful planning--location, props, lighting-- prior to shooting is really  important to achieve the expected result, but flexibility is needed too if  things do not go to plan. Post processing I am reasonably happy with my workflow but do want to progress and learn more and have purchased 2 of the recommended books for the coursework ( see book review section 3/11/2011) I plan to make it more streamlined when I start to use LR version 3. Flagging  images as rejected during my first  selection process was really useful and a new element in my workflow. I usually  do not delete until I have finished processing the keeps. I have kept too many below average Raw files on my hard-drive for too long!     
 
Coffee time at work can be quite enlightening: the world  is usually put to rights in 20 minutes. Yesterday we drifted from telepathy to  faked photography. Its interesting that digital, not analogue, photography is  perceived as the medium that can be used to alter the truth. A younger staff  member stated a photograph seen in a magazine taken in the early part of the  20th Century “had to be real not fake as they used film“. Older  (wiser?) members were quick to point out that manipulation of the truth is  nothing new. Digital cameras, sophisticated camera phones, and the software to  alter reality are now ubiquitous . Will it will become more and more difficult  to ever really know what the real truth behind any image is? As  the coursework progresses I hope it will help me explore this in greater  detail.
The faked Cottingley Fairies  photographs were taken in 1917.

http://www.cottingleyconnect.org.uk/fairs.htm         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottingley_Fairies  
 
Oct  2011.
New  course–new journal. I have decided to keep my journal on a website now and plan to keep all my future OCA coursework here too.  
I am great at procrastinating–I promised myself a “summer  break” from studying– intending to catch up with family/friends/ & even long 
overdue housework. Ha !!! Still not caught up but cannot put off starting a new  course any longer. I miss the challenge of the coursework & assignments even  if they cause me sleepless nights occasionally. What do I hope to achieve? I want to improve technically and  aesthetically, give myself new challenges. I need to improve my lighting skills and  workflow routine . I want to  use my photography as a device to show thoughts , feelings, memories, and show  my personal vision of the world around me in an artistic way. I love portraiture but also have a growing interest in surreality --perhaps I can combine the two somehow. This is something I plan to explore and expand on during the coursework leading to my final assignment.