Thanks for sharing the tutorial.

With events it is a bit different (which I barely photograph these days). I would not edit them as much as I would portrait session, unless there are some close up portraits and special effects. A lot of the photos just go through Lightroom (and I would use Synk for the same conditions - I don't see why not).

I see that you blur the backgrounds in post production a lot, which I am sure is tons of work. Most event photographers just use long lenses for that - 70-200mm is very popular one. Besides the good bokeh it also compreses everything, which is great for group photos to get everyone in focus and still get a nice blurred background. The only problem might be what you might not have enough space to step back + it is an expensive lens. 

When i take photos of an event and end up with say...50 photos on up, it takes so much time (sometimes i've spend 10 hours a day for 3 days).   I usually start with Lightroom for basic adjustments, the to photoshop for some layering and masking, then i usually just check out the Sunshine part of the Color Effex program..i can't spend time on trying out all the various things it offers, or i'd be forever editting.

I use Portrait Pro on some close ups. But one thing I'm starting to eliminate is the soft focus stuff. I think that is outdated. Even just a hint of it to me is old stuff. I'm going more towards very straight images now though i do like softened skin tones.

While I'm on this, has anyone noticed how people with cell phones have so many APPS to chose from for taking phtoos!! Dang, i see my wife's photos and her friends's post on facebook and they have all the same stuff to edit with. I don't know, but i sure hope having a very expensive camera, using softboxes, off camera flash............all have a  appreciatiable difference compared to what cell phones can do now.

I do the cloning in photoshop. I do any vignetting in photoshop. Any blur (soft focus) say....for the backgrounds, in photoshop.

I do like the masking in lightroom where i can choose certain areas to change in any way i like. The sharpening tools in Lightroom 5 is pretty comprehensive.   I like the HSL in Lightroom too...especially how you just drag over any areas with the mouse to change it.

The Luminance (in noise reduction) is kind of cool for softening and i usually use a little of it in combination with the Clarity to soften something....but then, i can always use Photoshop for that kind of thing..it's really a toss up. The Lens Correction is nice..to rotate quickly something and also the cropping tool is pretty handy too for a fast precise crop to an 8 x 10 (that's REAL HANDY! because it's hit and miss with photoshop).

I always start with Lightroom, but finish up with photoshop. I really don't like spending a lot of time on photos like i used too.

I have Color Effex Pro too...their are just way too many choices! All 3 programs have alot of things that are very similar to each other. You could spend so much time going all over the place to see what effect this will have etc....so i just pick a few from each program.

Rama

Isn't instagram do things in square format?  (I don't really use it, so I don't know).

Kai W of Digital Rev gave a jokey tutorial on how to bring the best out in pictures, and that was to shoot, then slap some filters on it, then HDR then to make it artsy convert to B&W.   Reading the list you posted, felt just like that.

I agree with the entire list except for the square format, and only because I am shooting 6x6 square format film haha.  But the HDR and lens flares...yikes.

(Bet you thought I was going to say "What logo?"