Series: Digital Photography Workflow for the Beginner - How to file digital photos on your computer
This is part 1 of 6 in my series on Digital Photography Workflow for the Beginner. In this lesson, I’m going to share my photo storage methodology.
Welcome to my series on Digital Photography Workflow. This is the first in a multi-article series. The intended audience is the amateur / beginner photographer, but established shooters may find some useful tips as well. Today I will review my photo storage methodology. Future posts in the series will cover:
- How to easily download digital photos to your computer using Downloader Pro
- How to proof (review) your photos
- How to email images
- How to post images to a web page using Breezebrowser Pro
- How to easily prepare photos to make quality prints using Breezebrowser Pro
As we continue evolving to an entirely digital state, it is incumbent upon us to establish workflows that are both convenient and logical. Doing so sooner rather than later will help us avoid becoming overwhelmed due to digital overload. One such workflow I’d like to share today is with respect to storing your digital photos on your computer.
When downloading photos from your digital camera’s media card, your computer will automatically save them in a default format from the camera that may look something like the following examples. (Note that future articles in this series will cover a cool tool to get images from your camera to the computer.)
IMG_3960
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In addition, they will likely be saved into a default My Pictures folder, or something of the like. Actually, keeping all of your images within the My Pictures directory is fine (it’s what I do), however, I suggest creating folders within My Pictures to further define the image contents. Here’s an example of an organized file system:
- My Pictures
- 2006 Photos
- 2007 Photos
- 2008 Photos
- New Year’s
- Dad’s Birthday
- Easter
- Portraits
- Thanksgiving
Now, take it one step further and create 3 additional folders and name them Originals, Proofs, and Prints. Your file system should now look like the following, using Dad’s Birthday as an example.
- My Pictures
- 2006 Photos
- 2007 Photos
- 2008 Photos
- New Year’s
- Dad’s Birthday
- Originals
- Proofs
- Prints
- Easter
- Thanksgiving
Now, simply dump your images into the corresponding Originals folder when moving the photos to your computer.
Stay tuned for upcoming articles in this series as I detail my methodology for proofing (reviewing) images and easily creating better images when ordering prints online.
I’m interested in learning others’ approach to this potentially burdening issue.
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Similar Posts- Series: Digital Photography Workflow for the Beginner - How to proof (review) your photos
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