Hello 365ers!
As a new photographer, I'm still trying to work out organizational methods for saving the excessive number of pictures I'm taking every day. So far, I shoot a ton of pictures throughout the day (deleting obvious throw-outs as I go), then at night I upload the entire daily batch and edit on my computer, deleting more that don't quite work.
My computer is filling up quite quickly with files. Perhaps I am just a picture hoarder, afraid to part with "maybe" kind of pictures in case I want to go back to them when, in truth, I can barely keep up with my daily pictures- let alone revisit old ones.
I am also afraid of deleting the keepers from my memory card in case something happens with my computer files. Is that a rational fear? Memory cards can get expensive...
I'm looking for feedback on what you do to keep your files organized. Do you have a system? Do you keep pics on memory cards long after, or do you upload and delete? Any suggestions are much appreciated!
Lindsey :)
I use Picasa to post the best shots online as a backup and for friends to see them. After that I wipe the card. Some people keep everything until its a year old and then press delete.
Once the pics are on my computer and back-up drives (I've got two 2TB external hard drives) I wipe the memory cards. I delete obvious duds and duplicates straight away, but other than that I keep pretty much everything. I use Elements to tag and sort them, so it's easy to find them when/if I need to.
I never delete anything in camera as I'm shooting. It's too easy to delete something that may have a hidden gem. All deletion occurs after upload to the PC.
For storage, I have 2 2-TB external hard drives that store my primary photos. Those are backed up to another external hard drive. Finally, I use Livedrive to backup my 2 external hard drives online. (Livedrive offers unlimited backup storage.) Only after there are 3 versions of my photos - 2 copies on external drives and one copy on Livedrive - do I reformat my memory card. (Note that I always do a reformat; I never just erase the files. There's a huge difference between the two, thanks to the way a FAT system handles file deletion.)
For organizational purposes, I use Photoshop Elements Organizer, and tag each photo into various categories. Want a photo of a swan? I can click on the "swan" tag and view them based on a 1-5 star rating I assigned to each shot when I processed them.
I subscribe to this: It has some of the best tips.....and recently talked about just your issue.......I added a seagate external drive....with 500GB.....will hold tons and tons of pics...and frees up your computer. My computer was slowing down because of the amount of pics I was storing..... http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/how-to-backup-photos/
I never delete anything from the camera, I'm with @kannafoot it is too easy to destroy a possible gem.
I down load to a 2TB external hard drive and delete the images from the card. I then review and select the images I want to use and convert them to a more manageable size. I don't delete anything and even at up to 100 images a day I have years of space. At monthly intervals I back up the month's worth to DVD Data disks.
I'm not that well organised that I tag and rate my images, just have them stored in date folders within months and years. I have to browse to find a particular image. I do create 'special' event folders for holidays and trips away.
Delete what you don't need. With regards to storage, I got a 3tb mirrored drive and use the Sony software for cataloging, tagging, searching, etc. In addition to the mirrored set up I have external drives which I periodically back up my entire collection to. I will probably be taking one of the externals off site soon- in case of fire, etc. Pictures are valuable to me especially when you get older.
Hey Lindsey!
I have, since December 2010 been saving my photos in monthly files, (I started taking about 8 gig a month, after 4 months I went right down to about 500mb a month for over a year, now I'm shooting with models I get a lot more). So I do a shoot, I empty the pics off my camera but don't delete them (like Ron I don't ever delete in camera) I go through them in the following 48 hours and delete the shit. Then the remaining file gets titled, like 'pinup shoot' and I move it to the file for that month 'August' then if I'm sharing the folder with a model I'll put it in a dropbox shared file, which essentially gets the pics to the model but also backs them up for me. dropbox is free, just type in dropbox.com.
Then I delete them off the camera, usually the day after the shoot. Finally at the end of the month, I'll open a new file 'September' and I'll move 'August' off my laptop altogether and put it in an external hard drive. they're cheap, I got mine from a supermarket for about £35. All my model shoots are in two places in case something goes wrong, but my photos which don't come from model shoots are just on my external. ;)
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For storage, I have 2 2-TB external hard drives that store my primary photos. Those are backed up to another external hard drive. Finally, I use Livedrive to backup my 2 external hard drives online. (Livedrive offers unlimited backup storage.) Only after there are 3 versions of my photos - 2 copies on external drives and one copy on Livedrive - do I reformat my memory card. (Note that I always do a reformat; I never just erase the files. There's a huge difference between the two, thanks to the way a FAT system handles file deletion.)
For organizational purposes, I use Photoshop Elements Organizer, and tag each photo into various categories. Want a photo of a swan? I can click on the "swan" tag and view them based on a 1-5 star rating I assigned to each shot when I processed them.
http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/how-to-backup-photos/
I down load to a 2TB external hard drive and delete the images from the card. I then review and select the images I want to use and convert them to a more manageable size. I don't delete anything and even at up to 100 images a day I have years of space. At monthly intervals I back up the month's worth to DVD Data disks.
I'm not that well organised that I tag and rate my images, just have them stored in date folders within months and years. I have to browse to find a particular image. I do create 'special' event folders for holidays and trips away.
Hope any of that helps.
I have, since December 2010 been saving my photos in monthly files, (I started taking about 8 gig a month, after 4 months I went right down to about 500mb a month for over a year, now I'm shooting with models I get a lot more). So I do a shoot, I empty the pics off my camera but don't delete them (like Ron I don't ever delete in camera) I go through them in the following 48 hours and delete the shit. Then the remaining file gets titled, like 'pinup shoot' and I move it to the file for that month 'August' then if I'm sharing the folder with a model I'll put it in a dropbox shared file, which essentially gets the pics to the model but also backs them up for me. dropbox is free, just type in dropbox.com.
Then I delete them off the camera, usually the day after the shoot. Finally at the end of the month, I'll open a new file 'September' and I'll move 'August' off my laptop altogether and put it in an external hard drive. they're cheap, I got mine from a supermarket for about £35. All my model shoots are in two places in case something goes wrong, but my photos which don't come from model shoots are just on my external. ;)
You've all been very helpful. Thank you!