Fujifilm X series workflow in Lightroom

This isn't really only for Fujifilm, it can be used for all brands, and I have used it with Canon before I switched to Fuji.

I have been using Fujifilm for 4-5 years now, and I have actually been strugling with chosing between Lightroom and CaptureOne for processing my RAW files.

For now I use LR, as I find the mobile app really useful when I need to do a quick edit or exporting and sharing on social media.

I always shoot RAW + JPEG, sometimes if the photos are only snapshots for personal use, I will transfer them via the Fujifilm app to my phone, and share with friends and family or on social media.

Besides that, I shoot mainly landscapes and portraits and for that I transfer the RAW files to LR.

Archiving

For many years, this has been my archiving strategy.

On my computer I have the LR catalog including the photos from the last period, I'm blessed with a 1TB SSD, so I have enough space for that.

I looks something like this.

LR Catalog / Photos

  • 2023
    • Q2
      • 20230223 Folder from day
      • 20230303 Folder from day
      • ...
    • Q3
      • 20230513 Folder from day
      • ...
    • Q4
      • 20230711 Folder from day
      • ...
  • 2024
    • Q1
      • 20240118 Folder from the day

NAS / Photos

  • 2023
    • Q1
      • ...
    • Q2
      • ...
    • Q3
      • ...
  • 2022
    • ...

So I have the current year and the last quarter of the previous year stored locally on my computer. When a new year starts, I transfer everything else to my NAS for backup.

After import, I go through all the photos and use the P key to select my Picks, which are the one I will edit, and X for rejects, those I'm not happy with. Sometimes I'll run through the picks again, and narrow down the selection again with X.

Processing

Using Fujifilms simulations, the colors I get in camera are pretty much as I like them.

For almost all my photos I do a basic edit, checks white balance, adjusting highligts and shadows, a small S-curve and sometimes a little vignette.

For portraits and landscapes I rarely need to do any noise reduction.

After that I go through the photos for dust, spots, anything that doesn't belong in the photo and remove them with the healing brush in LR. If it is a lot, I'll do it in PhotoShop.

If I need to do much skin work for my portraits, I will do that in Photoshop, but it is rarely needed.

Landscapes and woodland usually stay in LR, where I can work with merging photos to HDR and with the new masking tools, do all the processing needed.

Final thoughts

This is the workflow that works for me, it is a mix of tips I've gotten over the years from blogpost, before YouTube got really big.

I hope you can get some inspiration from this, and if you have any questions, please let me know.

// ASH