How do you sort your photos

[Ryan Sitko]

I wasn't sure where to put this but how do all of you sort all the pictures you take? I like to keep all of my pictures organized and with the amount of pictures ill be taking since I just got my camera i'd like to see what everyone else does.

 

[Overread36]

At lot of photographers are now starting to use adobes Lightroom program to help organise and sort their photos on their computers. It is primarily aimed at being a RAW processing and organisation program.

Outside of that myself I use a simple folder system sorted by the following:

1) Year - each year is in its own folder
2) Day/event - each day or shooting event is given its own folder - the date added to the title of the folder as well
3) Keepers - within the above folder is kept all the shots from the day - along with a separate folder into which I save edited "keeper" versions of the shots that I choose to edit
4) 1000pixels - another folder within the keepers section into which I put resized versions for the net. I'll also make other folders for other save sizes and other edits (eg folders to store shots I use for focus stacking - 100% crops etc....)

 

[OrionsByte]

I keep the RAW files organized in folders by date and put the converted/processed JPGs in a separate folder structure that is organized by themes and events. This makes it pretty easy for me or my wife to find a specific photo.

 

[Vinny]

Well, I just got Lightroom and starting to organize my photos. I now use main folder as year with month subfolders with additional subfolders for each download. If it's a special event - birthday or vacation I label the folders as such in the main photo area. If there's some photos that I want to put onto my computer screen there's a place for that. I also have 2 additional folders one for transfering photos to a digital photo frame and one for photos I eventually would like to have printed ... the last folder has NOTHING in it!

 

[Josh66]

I keep RAWs in a folder called 'RAWs' with subfolders for years, and subloders in there for months.

All processed RAWs and scanned film get organized by subject.

People -> Sarah
or
Parties/Holidays -> 4th of July -> 2010
...for example.


All new pictures or pictures that I just haven't decided what to do with yet go in a folder called 'New Pictures'. That's basically just a temp folder than I dump everything into until I have time to sort them.

 

[IgsEMT]

Not sure if that is what you mean, but here it goes.
My workflow and my style might seem weird, but works well for me.
Load the job onto PC using ACDSee, I find it does a better job then LR, and rename to yyyy-mm-dd_name-###
Backup to External drive and clean the card. IF job isn't backed up, then card doesn't get cleaned until the job is finished and processed.
Then go work on RAWs in Capture NX2. Though it works slower and has a tendency to crash I prefer its RAW converter vs Adobe's. Convert RAWs to JPG and if needs extra something then go to PS, otherwise, they are done.
Import the rest into LR and go from there - clean-up, crops, filters, etc etc.

Once the job is done, back to ACDSee for renaming, backed up on a disk and on HD.
Clients have 2 weeks to reply with any specific changes, if nothing needed w/ original data, then it gets deleted (or card gets cleaned).

hope that helps.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

At lot of photographers are now starting to use adobes Lightroom program to help organise and sort their photos on their computers. It is primarily aimed at being a RAW processing and organisation program.

Outside of that myself I use a simple folder system sorted by the following:

1) Year - each year is in its own folder
2) Day/event - each day or shooting event is given its own folder - the date added to the title of the folder as well
3) Keepers - within the above folder is kept all the shots from the day - along with a separate folder into which I save edited "keeper" versions of the shots that I choose to edit
4) 1000pixels - another folder within the keepers section into which I put resized versions for the net. I'll also make other folders for other save sizes and other edits (eg folders to store shots I use for focus stacking - 100% crops etc....)

I use a similar method... Although I do not currentle use "#4"... I may just add that.

Differences? I have a folder for each month...

ie. Year > Month > Day/Event > Edits and Resizes...

I keep RAWs in a folder called 'RAWs' with subfolders for years, and subloders in there for months.

Yes I keep a folder for the RAWs in each day/event folder as well...

 

[Rekd]

There are 3 different shooters with 4 different cameras and about 8 different cards at my house. I store mine by card then by date. This works ok but in the couple of events where I actually exceeded the card size and had to use another it has come back to bite me.

I'm only into this for about 10,000 pictures so far with my main camera + 3 different cards and I'm thinking about changing strategy to go by date then card because I'd still like to track by card/camera.

 

[altitude604]

- Airplanes
--- RAW Archive
--- JPGs Converted to Upload / Wallpapers etc
- Other Subjects
- Special Events / Subject Folders

I keep it fairly simple and use LR2.3 to sort and organize.

 

[KmH]

The key to effectively managing an image database, is keywording at image upload.

I highly recommend you get: The DAM Book, Digital Asset Management for Photographers by Peter Krough.

Information in the book will help you decide which image management applications will work best for you.

 

[Stradawhovious]

I just toss them all in a folder labeled "picktchures" on the desktop of a computer at the public library.

Seems to work well enough.

What could possibly go wrong?








Actually, I put the raw in a folder with the date, and transfer to labeled DVD. Then, I put a couple key jpegs in a folder with a more appropriate title i.e. "Maggie's Birthday Party 2010" for the purpose of locating the correct DVD, or showing off the best of the group. Its a good system for me, although I have had a few roll their eyes when I tell them about it.

 

[Ryan Sitko]

The only problem i had with sorting them by dates is if i had one specific photo that i needed to bring up out of the thousands i have saved i wouldn't remember what date it was.
Does Lightroom allow you to add tags onto the pictures?

 

[KmH]

..if i had one specific photo that i needed to bring up out of the thousands i have saved..

You would need database mangement software. Lightrooms' main function is database management.

You can download a 30 day trial of Adobe® Lightroom.

Yes Lightroom lets you add tags to photos, but keywords are more effective for quickly retrieving just 1 image out of thousands.