  We present a new method to account for coherence length effects in a
semi-classical transport model. This allows us to describe photo- and
electroproduction at large nuclei (A>12) and high energies using a realistic
coupled channel description of the final state interactions that goes beyond
simple Glauber theory. We show that the purely absorptive treatment of the
final state interactions can lead to wrong estimates of color transparency and
formation time effects in particle production. As an example, we discuss
exclusive rho^0 photoproduction on Pb at a photon energy of 7 GeV as well as
K^+ production in the photon energy range 1-7 GeV.
