So, how do you deal with the thousands of images you end up accumulating?

I’m using Elements Organiser which now supports RAW files since I figured out how to set it up. Files are imported using it into date folders of when they’re imported, not taken. Haven’t managed to do much tagging though so it’s all a big mess.

I also have just accumulated all my images rather than selectively deleting them to save space.

I’ve been shooting in large JPG + RAW, but I am now thinking I’ll change that to 1024×768 JPG + RAW or perhaps even smaller since all I use JPGs for is quick uploads to web.

Organiser reminded me about backups the other day, and I then remembered that Maplin have a 1.5Tb USB hard drive for £50 or something silly. Can’t really beat that.

Anyone know if powered external drives are faster than the portable kind for bulk transfer? Or is USB the limiting factor? What about firewire?

So, how do you deal with the thousands of images you end up accumulating?

Generally I ignore them and say things like “I really must make some time to sort out all those images and get a few printed. Maybe make a book.” 🙂

But I have been looking at getting a NAS drive and maybe backing up online with a service like Carbonite or Mozy

Lightroom. Couldn’t live without it, I barely use Photoshop any more.

Files are imported using it into date folders of when they’re imported, not taken.

You might want to take a look at Bulk Rename Utility.

Despite its frankly terrifying interface, it is great at renaming huge numbers of files and can do things like extracting the Date Taken from EXIF data.

I tend to manually copy my photo’s from card reader to computer, name the folder with “2011-05-25 – something relevant” to keep the date order neat.

I only shoot in JPG (compact digital cameras), but I do tend to have a subfolder called resized which I batch resize anything I’m going to upload into, at 1024×768 for photobucket/flickr

I use a USB 2.0 portable drive, it’s not the fastest thing in the world, but also it’s no slouch. Transfer speed is as much to do with spin speeds and cache on both internal and external drives, as it is to do with USB/firewire.

I meant that I choose to have it done by import date, I like it that way I think. I still find myself thinking of a memory card as like a huge roll of film, and consequently I think ‘that was the film with x y and z on it’

I wish I could load straight from the camera to a HD. I looked at widgets for this (posted on here too) but it’d be nice if you could just plug and go.

Oh.. just remembered.. my laptop has an external SATA port…

I use lightroom..it took a bit of pain to organise initially, but once it’s done, it’s been great.

1TB NAS mirrored on a 1TB second drive in my PC.

I use Picasa for management.

I’m brutal with ‘keepers’ – all dross and similar shots are deleted. What’s left ends up on picasaweb.

At the end of the year the best make it into photobooks. The photos that make it into photobooks are separately archived.

The photobooks are my real archive. Everything else is a backup.

Photobooks?

Should have a had a space in there I guess. Printed as photo books.

You do that yourself or send off?

I use http://www.cewe-photobook.co.uk at the moment. Very good editor.

What is the quality like 5th? Nice paper? Decent print?

No complaints. The binding is good which is where the differences tend to be most obvious between different suppliers I’ve found.

The main thing is the editor though. A lot of suppliers use clunky on-line things which just don’t work well.

Lightroom. Couldn’t live without it.

+1, for developing and archiving.

Also, take fewer (but better) pictures.

Take a look at Blurb for photo books, too.

Mine’s sort of like hp_source above.
Manually copy from CF to temp area first, do edits, import into fspot (cack, but I only use that to do automated resize before export to flikr), then file the JPG+RAWs in folder structure (YYYYMMDD_something_descriptive).
Everythings on the 1Tb drive twice once with my filing system, and once in lots and lots and lots of subfolders organised by day.
Then backup to other machines, c/o rsync.

Don’t delete anything, excpet when I’m away and run out of CF space, when I’ll start binning the RAW for images that are clearly pants.

Also, take fewer (but better) pictures

Why restrict myself?

Why restrict myself?

Because it will save you from all the problems highlighted on this thread, which seeing as you started it, I’m guessing you’re experiencing.

HTH

I think it’s probably a self-fulfilling thing. The more you take the more you start to recognise what will work and the less you take…

Because it will save you from all the problems highlighted on this thread, which seeing as you started it, I’m guessing you’re experiencing

Problems? No, don’t have problems with the number of images. 1.5Tb for £50 means no problems 🙂

Old bloke next door died recently and it got me thinking:

When you finally cark it, do you want the kids/grandkids to be left with a 5 petabytes of mediocre images which they can never be bothered to look through, or a few hundred really good images that you’ve taken over a lifetime? 🙂

How do we create the digital equivalent of a shoebox full of cherished old photos for the kids to find in the loft?

molgrips – Member
I wish I could load straight from the camera to a HD. I looked at widgets for this (posted on here too) but it’d be nice if you could just plug and go.

How about something like this?

http://uk.eye.fi/products/prox2

Not sure if they’ve changed this but my older version of Elements doesn’t record the tags in the photo file until you specifically tell it to. If you haven’t done this and have to reload photos from a back up for whatever reason, the tags won’t be there.

It’s a good point. The photobooks are a good idea, will look into that.

http://uk.eye.fi/products/prox2

Wha..? An SD card with wifi built in?

That’s beyond awesome 🙂

However I need CF…

molgrips – Member

However I need CF…

Can’t you get adapters so that you can use SD cards in a CF slot?

Here you go…

http://forums.eye.fi/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=326

I just put the raw files into individual/dated folders and open up the individual raws in photoshop camera raw. I want to start using Lightroom to organise them properly as it’s so much better.

Why restrict myself?

To taking fewer, but better, pictures? If you like taking, wading through and sorting hundreds of ‘snaps’, then don’t, I suppose.

Oh and in answer to the original question, when i upload to elements i always have a quick look through and delete any out of focus shots, duplicates etc. and tag the photos straight away. If you don’t do it then you’ll never get round to doing it and it makes a huge difference when trying to find photos at a later date. Then when you do have time you can spend it playing with the shots rather than boring cataloging.

As for backups i always backup up to Amazon’s servers using Jungledisk. I did think about using a hard drive but what happens if theres a fire in your house? I wanted to use something offsite.

Lightroom – very rarely any need for anything else.

Lightroom Aperture – very rarely any need for anything else.

To taking fewer, but better, pictures? If you like taking, wading through and sorting hundreds of ‘snaps’, then don’t, I suppose.

Where to cut down though? If I want to try several shots of something, to see which I like – should I not do that? Should I only take one picture of each subject? What if the subject turns out to be not good.. perhaps I should only take pictures of one or two things each time I go out. Maybe I shouldn’t take any at all!

PS I don’t find it a chore to flick through lots of images, the good ones jump out easily enough.

Can get depressing when you get home to look through all your shots of the day……….and realise there is nothing worth keeping

True.

But my photos are dual purpose. Documentary family snaps and also arty nonsense. So the snaps can stay 🙂

Where to cut down though?

That’s up to you. Like I said, if you like taking snaps, then keep pressing that shutter button. If you want to develop (pardon the pun) your photographic eye, it helps to spend more time looking through the view finder than you do flicking through the virtual pile to find ‘good’ images. I guess it’s about developing the deliberate act of taking a particular image. Taking several shots with different settings can obviously help with learning your equipment/art/technique, but that’s not the stuff I’m talking about.

There’s always going to be a certain amount of foresight and consideration for the development process, but considering focus, framing, lighting, perspective, mood, etc. before capturing the image is, to me, part of the discipline, and indeed enjoyment, of photography.

That’s up to you

Oh how generous of you, thanks! 😉

If you want to develop (pardon the pun) your photographic eye, it helps to spend more time looking through the view finder

In all honesty I don’t share your viewpoint. WHILST snapping away I am also thinking carefully about what I am doing. I have lots of ideas. Why bother humming and hahihg over whether or not it’ll be a good shot if I can just find out at the press of a button?

You speak as if there is only one good photograph in any given situation…

Perhaps the way we approach photography reflects our personalities?

I use Aperture – at any one moment in time it is better or worse than Lightroom, but once you start with one it’s not worth changing.

I organise pictures by data in folders for year, month, day – Aperture does that on import.

Just getting to the stage of filling up my hard drive so I need to decide what to do about external back-up. Right now I am using Backblaze for online backup, as well as 2 Time Machine backups. Ideas for hard-drive strategies gratefully received!!

I have been making books with Blurb – v expensive, but top quality.

In all honesty I don’t share your viewpoint. Why bother humming and hahihg over whether or not it’ll be a good shot if I can just find out at the press of a button?

You’re right; we’re miles apart. Enjoy your snaps.

Perhaps the way we approach photography reflects our personalities?

I would imagine that it does. Should we do a show and tell?

Enjoy your snaps

I take it by the use of the term ‘snap’ that you think a photo’s not worth as much if it’s not had care taken over it? (genuine artistic question, not aggro)

Should we do a show and tell?

We could but I’m really not confident about displaying my pics as art. Not surprising really 🙂

molgrips – Member

So, how do you deal with the thousands of images you end up accumulating?

I don’t. After say a trip up north where I might shoot a couple of hundred pics I edit them down to the 15 or so best, save those and delete the rest