Workflow
Thanks OP for starting this thread.
There are as many workflows as there are photographers (or enthusiasts).
I normally shoot RAW only, never RAW+JPG. I think LR does a better job converting RAW to JPG than my DSLR. Other reason being too much of memory space on SD card is consumed by half the number of shots.
CPRich did a real fine job outlining his work flow, which is very similar to my own.
I collected over 400,000 images, scattered over several high capacity HDs. My workflow is very rigid. I started when I am on the field by creating a “field” catalog that is imported into my Master catalog after I return home/office. With the "keepers", I do 90% of my editing on LR, 10% in PS. I don’t use iPad or any tablet. I carry a light weight i7 quad core based PC on the road. I triple backup while in the field. I don’t use cloud storage (despite I have Smugmug with unlimited storage).
My Lightroom workflow:
Organize photos by folders by year & by date (beginning date of major trip) by trip (e.g. RTW)
Top level folder to show Year, e.g. Year 2014, next level is Trip, next level is location….
Year 2014
20140225-RTW01 (top down level folder for entire trip)
20140226-AMM-EOS 6D (sub-folder)
20140904-RTW02
20140905-CPT-D610 (sub-folder, id by location and camera type, if multiple cameras)
20140908-JNB-D610 (another similar sub-folder… to as many as needed.
Import trip photos into LR
Sort by stars; flags etc
Globally or photo specific keywords
Camera calibration set to your camera type (download if not included)
Further sort them by creating collections (architecture; flowers; food; landscape…)
LR edit those images inside Collections (sometimes I make “virtual copy” before I edit.
Lightroom collections: (this holds keepers for further editing)
Publish to online services (such as FB, Smugmug etc… right from LR). Need to get Plugins.
Backup LR cat on a separate HD (set LR preferences to back up every time LR exits; it tends to default to back up once per week)
It is worthwhile to get the latest LR upgrade (now at LR5.6)