It seems there are as many methods and advice about sorting photos as there are helpful hint websites.. Why don't we make a thread about the methods that we have found that WORKED for us.
My new Years res this year is to sort and merchandise my photos..or what's left of my photos. I don't have kids or family photos to worry about, but i have been shooting for most of my life and never actually developed a system.
I hang out with a lot of photographers and they all have personalized methods, usually involving codes, years, cameras and clients. I tried a few and so far this year i have settled on a couple of things..like all systems it will evolve as it suits my needs - but its basically VERY simplified.
DIGITAL -
For my digitized images I have done a macro sort by location
so the FOLDER/LOCATION in the computer begins with the place i.e.
MAINE - KITTERY - FORT MCCLARY
METHUEN - SPICKET RIVER - Green Bench
then for images without a specific location.
CATS - Mine - Dave
CATS - MINE - DAVE AT NIGHT
CATS - MINE - Moby
an entire folder may contain just many versions of the same photo.
MISC - RED LEAVES
I have a lot of OLD Family photos scanned in, some for restoration etc..
FAMILY - DADDY's GRADUATION
BACKUPS
All my digital images are on a spare harddrive not my main crashable harddrive, and intermittently i make backups to other media such as CDs and flash drives.
However digital is not a permanent medium...these files can become corrupted and destroyed quite easily..so multiple backups is a very good idea. If i had kids I would use one of the online backup sites to store my images out on the net away from my computer.
PRINTS
I have just started sorting my PRINTS (3x5 & 4x6) using a similar method.
not all need to be scanned nor destroyed..It's a long process and i only do a handful once a week or so, so I scan as i go along any which deserve scanning.
(really with the prices of scanners these days it doesn't cost ANYMORE to buy one that does prints, negatives and slides)
I store small prints in the black and white speckled cardboard index card boxes with manila dividers.
I store larger prints in an accordion file with an elastic that wraps around. I try to rotate the prints in frames on my walls. I take the frames down, remove the print, dust the mats and wash the glass, reframe and rehang - voilá new artwork!
NEGATIVES
I lost a large number of negatives when i moved after the divorce
and I miss them a lot. To get a reprint or an enlargement i have to scan a snapshot and then clean it digitally. so basically SAVE YOUR NEGATIVES.
I use to just keep them in the plastic sleeves from the processor
and then put the sleeves in envelopes and mark the envelope with the contents.
and put the envelopes in the boxes along with the prints.
Now I have 3 hole pages that hold all the negative strips for 35mm
and will soon have pages for my odd sized negatives as well.
If i had contact sheets i'd put those in the 3 hole pages as well.
SLIDES
I don't have many slides left, most got lost as well.
THOSE i scan in at a high resolution and unless it's an image i may one day want to print, I pitched them.
If i like the image, i scan it at 700 and then store the slide.
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What other methods have people found helpful?
