How to build an Archive as a Street Photographer
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- Опубліковано 27 чер 2024
- What to do with the mountain of photographs we Street Photographers collect over time? If you haven't figured out your archiving workflow, it is time to change that! Here is how I organize and back up my photography work.
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#streetphotography #archiving #photographer
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Intro
00:54 How my Archive looks like (offline + online)
05:01 Cloud Storage Solution
06:56 Step by Step Workflow (Importing, Renaming & Editing)
15:10 Archive Workflow for Everyday Snapshots
15:43 Ending
Great minds think alike ;) When I was an independent trucker, I dealt with freight brokers who gave me loads. So, I created a similar archive system to keep track of my trucking jobs. I had folders for years (2017, 2018 etc); each year had 12 folders for the months; and then inside each month I had a separate folder named after the broker who gave me the load ("project'). Say, April 2017 would have 3 folders each named something like ABC Logistics, Premium Transportation, and Fast Express. These were the 3 brokers I did work for in April 2017. Inside each of those I'd keep my bills of lading, customs paperwork, my own invoices etc... I quit trucking last year, but I still keep this on my laptop... I can go back 5 years and quickly find how much money I made on a trip in - say - May 2019, where i went, and what the load looked like. Your system to track photos is similar to what I use to track my trucking. BTW, I do photograpahy as well, and I have yet to organize my photos! Thanks for a useful video.
"I dealt with freight brokers who gave me loads." Hell yeah! Homoerotic....
I agree using folders and manually making things easy to find with consistency is the best. Being software dependent is not good for future usage….that’s the whole premise of archiving for future usage and for someone else to find photos easily with out software.
I've used Lightroom since the 2nd version was released. It is a little slow, but over 18 years, it's just become an ingrained part of what I do. I archive, then edit like you do. I spent the pandemic sorting through my digital files and organising them, so now I have a system that works for me. My favourite feature in LR is the smart folder set up, it allows me to review work quickly (once keywords are set up). I also mainly edit with LR as I am too lazy often to go into PS!
Well, I have to strongly (and friendly) disagree. I think LRC catalogue is one of its best features. Using a database driven catalogue, together with keywords, allows users to search and find pictures very quickly and easily. Combined and crossed searches are way more powerful and convenient than folder-based searches (i.e. find all my photos from Barcelona in any year, photos taken with a specific lens... the options are endless!); It's also worth mentioning smart collections and/or the rating system.
I know it takes time and effort to add keywords, but it does pay in the end.
Agree. A picture may usually have one more theme/style/element in it. For example you may shot a picture with children, dogs, shadows, geometry in background/negative space, etc. Using keywords/tags is especially helpful when you see a weekly contest theme or you want to share a collection of a theme.
As long as you pay for it Lrc is great. However, you may have to consider the possibility of increasing fees and or that you may not wish to pay their fees in the future. In that case, a system like this might be useful
Projects folder is gold!!
I personally instead of YYYY folder naming start the folder name with ISO date. Like YYYYMMDD . That way they arrange by date when I sort by name.
100% Agree, This method works better with shortcuts too, for example a multiyear project can be just a collection of the folders you need, without moving files around. Project specific files can be on this folder too in a named subfolder. For Multiyear project I also include the year the project started, just to have a time reference for my future self.
Thanks, this video is exactly what I was looking for yesterday. Keep up the good work
😊 I watched your video with great interest and I was pleased to discover I use almost the same kind of Archive. I've just to do some little adjustments. Very useful!!! Thanks Samuel
I do something very similar but a much more simplified version. I have folders for every year, month, and day. I put any pictures I take on a specific day into their corresponding folder regardless of specific people, the camera I used, or anything like that. I like your method because locating specific photos months or years later seems much easier. With my method, I'm taking a shot in the dark when I want to find something. So I may be borrowing some concepts from this video! Thanks as always Samuel.
Happy to see my city features in the thumbnail
Thanks so much for this Samuel !
This is tremendously helpful. Thank you!
Thank you very much. I was looking for a tutorial like this.
Thanks for this! I really needed this, and I might try the workflow with camera raw
Food for thought. I take my RAW files directly to a RAID mirrored device and catalog in 2 different ways-year and location so that means I have 2 RAID devices for RAWS. I use C1 and also use 2 RAID devices for my C1 Sessions-location and year. I realize I complicate my life with all these devices, but it works for me. As for backups I copy all data as noted above either to SSD or HDD drives which I put in a bank box and rotate these periodically which normally means if something happened I would loose perhaps one month of processing data. However, when I have been shooting a lot I will get that work into the bank box on a weekly basis. My 2 cents.
I use Photo Mechanic Plus (=Photo Mechanic + Archiving function) for selecting/deleting/metadata tagging images. Lightroom only for editing.
Storing images on minimum three locations and technologies in plain directories structures like camera / year / date+event name+image file type [RAW, JPG, TIFF (only for film)]
nice, I use a similar method and I also directly had to start learning it from the get go, as I started out as a concert photographer and you for sure need a clean logic for archiving and clean folders when going to several shows a month :)
thanks for the tip though with pcloud, I looked for an online solution for a while but couldn't really decide so it's nice to get a tip from a fellow photographer :)
Nice video as always!
I do it very similarly although nearly completely automated with Capture One.
I create a session every year. I then import and automatically rename it all with date and location and camera directly from the SD card.
All these pictures are then in the „capture“ folder of the session. I then go through all and give one star to all „alright“ pictures. All of them are then transferred into the „selects“ folder. In there I go through again and give 2 stars to the better ones and maybe I go a third time and give three stars if there are still too many. This also means if I want to make a backup and i don’t have much storage it’s sufficient to backup the selects because all at least good ones are in there.
Then I edit and use an export recipe which automatically exports a 2000px jpg as well as an 1080px Instagram file in a folder and renamed with an Instagram suffix.
It’s really easy and fast.
Same here, although I utilize multiple select folders (family, street, random, travel eg) I then sort into. My export recipies resemble that structure or move files to cloud for sharing. All in all highly automated
Hi. To be honest I think is the first time I see someone talking about this. 🎉🎉🎉
I mainly just use Lightroom CC (where your library is stored in the cloud). It means my raw files automatically get backed up into the cloud and I can just edit them on my laptop, my phone or even a browser with the changes being synced across. It also helps with organising since you can create virtual folders, give star ratings, flags and labels. Adobe also has AI features that lets you search for images in your library with a text prompt. Super convenient and worth the price of subscription for me (but I'm just an amateur who only shoots a few thousand images a year). I probably should still try to back up my photos somewhere on a hard drive as well in case Adobe ever has an issue and loses my files...
I do almost the exact same with folders and names but use Capture One for raw editing and then photoshop for special retouching etc
Photomechanic is a fantastic app. Loved it when I shot weddings. So quick.
Capture one pro is great though
Proud to see someone using brave browser too
Screw Lightroom folders and archiving. I do not trust it one bit. (Or should that be One Byte?) I am the same, I store it all on hard drives.
Great video. Learned a lot! Just started my photography journey after using just a mobile phone for the last 2-3 years taking landscapes and sunsets and realising I'm not getting as close to the same images i see with the eye or in low light as i would like. My budget is quite limited and i have decided to purchase either GRIII, GRIIIx or X100V. ... so a quick question... 1. what Memory card 'size' (and speed) and how many do you recommend with any of these cameras and how many batteries would be the optimal for 1 or 2 days of shooting and one day off. thank you Samuel! i've been binging on your videos over the last 2 weeks learning as much as i can. (leaning toward the GRIII/x ... but can't decide as a beginner 26 or 40 focal length. :D
Wonderful. Very similar to my process with some differences. I also use Photoshop and ACR and do not like Lightroom. Nothing to say anything against Lightroom users. Everyone is right in their own comfort zone. But thank you for sharing.
thanks for sharing. Photomechanic is great. When putting images in the projects folder is it also both raw and jpeg? Do you keep a copy of the file in the year folder as well, when putting something into PROJECTS?
You using Photoshop instead of LR was a shocker haha. Thanks for all the tips.
Archiving my images. What a concept.
I have never done this. Vivian Maier is my model. Of course, my images ,are nowhere as good as hers. Nobody will find my images when I die and say these are pretty good. Nobody says my images are pretty good while I am alive. Once I leave this earth plane I will not care what I have left behind.
I have many images on the hard drive of a couple laptops. I have several images on a plethora of memory cards. Sometimes I look at the images I created after a day of walking on the street. Many times I don’t. My images don’t matter. What matters is getting out of the apartment and walking.
For those of us that think our images have value archiving the images are important. Your point is well taken. Hard drives are cheap. Getting the images off the hard drive is important to allow more room. For me, this is an option I won’t pursue.
Thank you for the video.
Mask On Nurse Marty (Ret)
❤
I show my photos to friends and family, some of them they like (especially made together), some of them are even saved. And the archive, or at least a selection of the best, can be given to children as a keepsake. For example, if someone becomes interested in "how did my grandfather live." As a last resort, you can upload photos to the network, and the AI will use them to generate new images 😅
Hi Martin - love your approach. The process of getting out is so valuable. All this work in front of a screen is soo……..
I mostly only save edited jpegs at quality 11, so it takes up less space, and there will not be a big gain in quality compared to other formats.
Interesting method, especially the use of Photo Mechanic. However, when I shoot with GRII, I also make jpegs in camera, and very often they are already fine with the preset I choose, and getting it back from RAW takes time. So I should save both... is that worthwhile?
I used to have a similar and frankly complicated workflow but I simplified everything, quite radically.
1) I try to not press the shutter if I feel it's mid
2) I delete the obvious fails in-camera
3) I manually copy from the SD card to the SSD into the corresponding year folder
4) I browse the pictures and edit them in my only Capture One Session (Sessions do not require importing).
I aggressively try to minimise my past archive by going through it again and again and keeping only the print worthy. I basically hit delete in Capture One. The files then go to Session Trash where I might have a look later just to be sure but I try to force myself to clear it without looking.
My SSD is backed-up by Time Machine into another HDD.
11:21 Do you need to check the box for “Apply Metadata Template to copied files” to have the descriptions saved on the selected RAW files? Also, if you have to search for photos, what search tool do you use (e.g. Windows search bar, Photomechanic, etc.)?
I never knew about photo managing softwares so this is cool. Thanks!
I had it by Year > Month > Date > raw, post, sooc, prints
I don't use LR catalogue. I just organise my own files in folders on the HDD. I organise them by years and months
Same, same...at least really close. Thanks a lot for the insights!
Dennoch eine Frage: Funktioniert Photo Mechanic auch mit raw-Dateien?
Wenn das bspw. für Ricoh, Fuji und Sony funktionieren würde, wäre das der absolute Hammer bzgl. der Bilderwahl.
PS.: In dem Beispiel-Ordner war auch Wien zu sehen. Ein Video mit Stadt an der Donau wäre schon sehr fein, wenn Material und Motivation vorhanden?!
Nochmals herzlichen Dank und beste Grüße, M.
Hi Samuel, Thanks for the video. Quite important to share such things. I recently moved back to Lightroom after having spent years on Capture One and then dXo Photolab. I'm quite careful with my folder structure and archiving, and this made the transition way smoother for me. I have year folders too, and then I name all folders starting with the year, followed by the month and date range and then followed by the place in which the pictures were taken. It works for me, but obviously to each their own.
How do people feel about adobe Bridge? Is it too old school or is it still viable for some people?
Have I seen the x-pro3 in the back? 🤔
I struggle to get to that part where you put the card into the computer. 😂
Editing feels like homework to me. I hate to do it. So I only do it for the absolute best keepers. And trash the rest. This has bit me in the ass before though. I went to Bali and have almost no photos from Bali because the light was bad that week due to haze and pollution. 😅
I pretty much use the same logic/folder structure. Also not a fan to organize things in Lightroom.
Nutzt du Lightroom auch nicht zur Bearbeitung? Würde mich interessieren. In LR hab ich auch Probleme mit Archiv. Liegt wahrscheinlich an meinem chaotischen Workflow ;)
I hava question, mate somebody can't help me! Im asking myself, what is the best program for Mac to archive my pictures. I always use Lightroom, but I know also some people use Lightroom Classic and im saure there are other alternatives. Can somebody recommend what is the best to use for only Archive purposes?
Back up!
what does formating SD Cards mean. pls somebody explain ✌🏼
Wow, this looks like a very time consuming way to archive and edit photos 🫣 I use captureone, it’s faster than lightroom but works the same way when it comes to the catalogue. And if you prefer you can work with sessions. The thing is that if you just learn, you can collect your photos in the exact same way in lightroom or captureone, but you don’t need to go back and forth that much. Everyone do as they want, but this looks like a mess 🤷♂️
For example, in captureone. Put in your SD-card, get your photos, choose where to store them, choose a Style/preset you think fits and import them. Rate the photos as you want, depending if you want to keep them or delete them. Then make some last changes and you’re done. If you want to export them you just do that as well and store them inside or outside the CaptureOne catalog 🤷♂️
I use Raw fileviewer and C1. As a wildlife photographer I often come back with 2000 shots and RFV is really fast for viewing, culling etc. It also gives you a RAW histogram not jpeg histogram view too.
what is the difference between raw and jpeg why need to save as jpeg?
I feel like a noob now, using manual selection then copy pasting into the folders myself (and cursing if I misclicked and have to reselct again).. 😅
Thanks for this! 🎉
why would I archive BEFORE editing? Do you keep all the bad pictures?
No no :) I only keep the ones that I select through photo mechanic and then afterward edit them. If I start with editing then I might miss images or waste time by having to go through too many images. And if I don’t have time to edit the photos then they are at least already selected and saved as RAW‘s. It‘s just easier for me when I have a lot of images to backup at once.
5:47 lmao
Interesting that you still use Photoshop when you don’t use Lightroom; why not switch over to Affinity Photo?
Edit first then archive what is edited. Why archive throw away pictures.
Agree on this, it would definitely save on storage space and potentially help with improving your photographic eye.
I've done this before but ended up trapped in the recency bias...aka. overestimating my newest photos and underestimating the older ones. Looking back to my SD card from 3-5 years ago, I realized how many photos that I've been shrugging before actually looked better than my recent takings.
my archiving is a mess tbh and I hate Lightroom but I feel forced to use it, never though that you could export more than one picture into Camera Raw lol so I'll try to use that method and burn Lightroom into oblivion
I agree that Lightroom's organizing section is crazy confusing.
Now I believe you are german :)
I do not understand your sentence "I don't use NAS because I don't want my data connected to the internet" (1:25)!?
NAS is an abbrevation for Network Attached Storage. Network does not (necessarily) mean Internet. I use a NAS and it is of course not connected to the Internet. Sure, a NAS is more expensive compared to locally attached drives but also offers more functionality. Locally attached mainly means that your storage farm must be very close to your computer, while a NAS might be placed far away (e.g. in the basement somwhere) and everyone in the household connected to your family network can use the NAS.
I used locally attaches storage drives in the past but switched (for the reasons mentioned above) to a NAS some a bit more than 2 years ago.
A few years ago, my entire archive was stolen from me.
Man I agree Lightroom's library is not great but you are wasting so much time of your life by not using for editing. Also LR's library is great for filtering, making collections, etc.
I don't know what you mean by wasting time? PS Camera RAW is exactly the same RAW Developing Software as Lightroom. I only miss out on the Catalogue features. Yeah Collections are great but I can do that with Photo Mechanic nad do that with folders :) It is one extra step though.
@@SamuelStreetlife well working within Lightroom is so much more agile than in Camera Raw alone. Photo Mechanic is great for culling, I use a similar software for that, but with LR you can combine, keywords, rating and metadata filtering with the ability to just jump between files, synchronize edits, make fast collections, automate exports, etc.
boring :D