Question for LR3 users

[RayH]

OK, Does this sound right.

I have several thousand photos and want to know if this is a good plan. On an external HD, named something like PHOTOS MASTER put all your photos (which will likely be in sub folders) IN ONE FOLDER (name the folder something like "LightRoom 3"). The photos in the subfolders should be organized by date with some Keywords.
Put the Lr 3 Catalog (with an easy to identify name like "Lr3 Catalog RayH") on this same HD, in the main "LightRoom 3" folder (in its own subfolder). When you backup the Catalog the backups should go to this subfolder. RIGHT/WRONG?

When satisfied this is all done correctly make a duplicate of all of this (It's all in your main LightRoom 3 folder) and copy it to another external drive named PHOTO MASTER-COPY/BACKUP.

What do you think - is this a good start? Is it good to have the Lr3 catalog in the same location with the Photos?

RayH

 

[RayH]

Big Mike,
I gained a lot from your messages, Thanks for the ideas. I'd like to be sure I'm on the right track with my plan to organize my photos and catalog in Lr3. Please take a look at the two posts I've made and let me know what you think.
RayH