jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I shoot raw, process them in LR and then save them as JPEGS. I don't want to discard the original raw files, so I have been saving them in a separate folder labeled Raw. Why do I save the raw copies? I may want to go back and process them differently, and as software gets better, so do the results. As I accumulate more raw images, I can see myself duplicating all my picture folders. Everything would have a JPEG folder and a raw counterpart. An alternative would be to keep the raw images in with the JPEGS. I know hard drives are getting larger and cheaper, but I don't want to have a room full of them.

How do you deal with storing JPEGS and raw files?

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

Sone of the cloud services offer unlimited storage, it just takes money!

MMC Loc: Brooklyn NY

I am storing both of them in the same folder. If I want to edit my Raw file one more time I can see my previous JPG result and without any problem I can find my Raw file.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

I shoot in RAW and process with Lightroom. I only keep the RAW files, and output to JPG when needed.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

I shoot raw exclusively but I don't store them beyond processing. And I don't process that many any more.

No doubt as my abilities improve and the technology advances redoing old images would result in improvements,
but I don't have the inclination or the time.

I'd rather focus on the present and look toward the future. My best work is yet to come.

chaprick

This is a very good question. Currently I am keeping all RAW files in Lightroom folders. If I export several files I will create an external hard drive folder just for the exported Jpegs. This works fine for wedding and such as I simply name the exported Jpeg folder for the bride.

Where I run into issues is when I process one or two files for myself (maybe a landscape shot), and export it for showing on a website or Facebook. Where do I put that one Jpeg?? Currently I let it float around awhile and it usually ends up deleted. Then 6 months later I end up looking for it and have to reprocess it. Not a big deal though....I still have the RAW file with edits. I also sometimes create virtual copies of the RAW file if I know I intend to develop it in different ways.

Would love to hear how others deal with the random Jpeg export.

Bill_de Loc: US

I use subfolders. Within a given folder I have 3 or 4 subfolders. NEF, JPG, DNG (where needed), and processed.

The main hierarchy is general location, date, then what is shown above.

The most important thing for me is the delete key. If I have four or five or ten similar pictures, I chose the best one or two and discard the rest. Sure, I might miss some useable ones, but so what. How many thousand images do I want to look back on.

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Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I tried the separate folder thing, but MMC is right. I went back to using the same folder. I keep both.

DGStinner Loc: New Jersey

I don't see the point of keeping both. You can quickly recreate the JPG at any time. I export JPGs if I need them for something and then delete them once they're no longer needed.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I have many images. Keeping the JPEG helps me browse through them easier (I use Windows Explorer for looking.) to see which one I want to work with. I guess I could delete them and use an editor for browsing the RAW.

DGStinner Loc: New Jersey

If you use Lr, you should be able to locate any image in a matter of minutes through the use of keywords, collections and metadata.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I only have Elements 14, Photo Impact Pro, and one other, plus the dedicated RAW editor. I kinda run them as editors. I've been using computers for so long I'm still old fashioned in as much as I keep the photos in directories\sub-directories\date by subject matter. (Like Photos\Places\Acadia\2014-10). I thought about using a photo browser/editor to catalog the images, but, even though I only have ~10,000 photos, the time involved to catalog them is not appealing.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Storing originals? Always off computer.
Archiving? Use cloud service (as long as you pay for it and knowing the price can go up and when you stop paying your collection is gone)

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Not only does the software get better, you get better with practice. I find I can go back a few years and pick out something I did back then and improve on it significantly. Partly software, partly me.

First of all, my folder structure is photos/[Year]/Subject/RAW. The raw files go into that folder. After processing, the selected jpgs go into the folder above that, i.e. photos/[Year]/Subject. So there is a folder with my images and an associated folder with the original raw files. When I back them up, I back up by folder so the raw subfolder goes with the images.

I don't have a room full of disks. I have 3 3TByte external drives to store my 1.5 TBytes of images (includes a lot of junk that is being weeded out as a winter project). One of the drives is connected to my desktop computer. One is stored in another part of the house. The third is stored off site (I have a barn a mile away).

About once a month I grab the off site disk and the elsewhere in the house disk and synchronize them with the disk on the desktop. The disks then get rotated: the desktop disk goes elsewhere, the elsewhere disk goes off site and the off site disk goes to the desktop. That way all the drives get similar usage for long term health.

At the rate I'm going, I would expect that 5-10 years from now I will need a 6-8 TByte disk. I'll get 3 of them and they will take over the function of the current disks. (By Moore's Law, it will probably take less than 5 years).

PS: Not only do the files get larger (more MPx in the newer cameras) but I do more Photoshop work. Saving PSD files takes up a lot of space. That will use storage at a faster rate than just increasing the number of pictures. But the external hard drives are increasing capacity and they will most likely keep up with that process as I get new ones.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I've been hearing that all my life! :D