philmurfin Loc: Bakewell, Derbyshire UK

Hello,
Can some of you please share your ideas towards organizing your photos?
Please include the software you use and as importantly any tips you may have.
I, like many of us here, have a gazzillion photos, I thought I had an order to them but they are getting out of hand.
Many thanks for any ideas and help.
Best.... Phil

traderjohn Loc: New York City

I would think if you punched in that same question on YouTube you would find your answer. Also the benefit of a visual solution.

sumo Loc: Houston suburb

Smug Mug

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Lightroom.

I have over 200,000 images (not quite a gazzillion) and it usually takes me less than 5 sec to find one. I use keywords and virtual collections. Piece of cake. The key is the multi-indexed nature of the Lightroom catalog (database) - which makes it very fast.

Gatorcoach Loc: New Jersey

I use Lightroom and there are a few ways of organizing your pictures. The absolute easiest is using only one collection for everything. The key is using "keywords. Every image must have keywords that completely identify the image: date, time, subject, location, person names, etc. The more, the better. Then, after hitting "search" (or find) and type in keywords all the images meeting the description open up. My instructor uses this method and has thousands and thousands of pictures in his collection.


Other search functions in LR will display images by camera, lens, etc.

The first time it is very tedious but any method will be the first time but once established and going forward it is very simple and effective. Initially you can highlight several of your existing pictures and add similar keywords, then add additional keywords as needed.

Covid-19 shutdown gave me the opportunity to update my collection and it works flawlessly. I did a bunch each day. As a bonus it gave me the opportunity to delete hundreds (thousands?) of poor, duplicate, or unwanted pictures.

A variation is making separate collections for special jobs especially if sales are involved.

You will receive many ideas from fellow hoggers. I hope you find one that works for you.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I've been using this simple system for years. My Pictures > Animals > Ours > Funny > Wild; Travel > Earth > England > France; Solar System > Mars > Venus; etc. Although I have been to England and France, Mars and Venus are still on my To-Do list.

Basically, I store them by category. I don't have to remember when they were taken.

Xanadu Loc: Clay County FL

Categories (birds, landscapes, etc.), Name (Egret, main street), Date

Works for me without involving and software except for my soft brain.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Neither can I. Besides, the date taken is in the metadata.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Pick a single main folder structure, like the Windows10 default "My Pictures". Inside the single main folder, use very simple structures after that, such as by-year 2021, 2020, 2019 and so forth. Under that, again a very simple structure:

20210830-Lincoln-Park Zoo
20210721-Chicago-Air-Show
20210715-Cubs-Game

Each new calendar date for images, just create the appropriate new folder and copy the original image files from the camera into that folder. Use an organizing software to manage all the 'descriptive' aspects of the images via 'keywords'. Use your organizing software to search your images, by the camera, or lens, or exposure, or shooting date, or all your keyword descriptions like Chicago, or Wrigley Field, or Cardinals, or Baseball, or Jane Doe, and so forth.

The structure above also allows you to clean-up and organize your existing inventory of images into the same overall and logical and simple structure.

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

I use a dual system. The first thing I do on download is change the file name to something descriptive of the images. I use Downloader Pro, which will also store the files in a folder [ year ]/[ descriptive file name]/RAW. I then import the files into Lightroom, where I add keywords. First edits are done in Lightroom, and more keywords are added if necessary.

The Lightroom organization is my primary means of finding things but since my family doesn’t do Lightroom, they have a chance of finding things by the descriptive file names.

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/user-page?upnum=1595

juan_uy Loc: Uruguay

I do the same as Paul does
The only difference is that I rename files by adding the folder name as a prefix (so the filename has also the date and description of event/trip/etc.).

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I don't rename my files. What I found in the past in renaming individual files is to retain the original image number, so IMG_0123 might become 20210715-Wrigley-0123. But, using LR and all the search keywords and metadata / EXIF data sort and search options inside the image database, I have no need to rename the file names. Only when sharing the edited results do I consider renaming the files at export to send to others.

juan_uy Loc: Uruguay

Yes, I agree.
A file named IMG_0123 would become 20210715-Wrigley-IMG_0123, so I could eventually undo the renaming if needed and at every moment I keep the original name.
The renaming is just in case I need, for some strange reason, to access/find a file in explorer and not through LR.
Probably, almost sure, is not needed. But it takes 5 seconds as it's done with an app automatically, so.....

Good to see my method is useful for someone like you, because I bet your volume of photographs is way bigger than mine Makes me feel I'm on a good path for the future

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

Renaming files is not required if you're using Lightroom. The database doesn't care what the file name is, or even if it's a duplicate file name (although the OS requires that duplicate file names be in different folders).

But it doesn't hurt anything and might help those who come after you who don't do Lightroom.

Think long term.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

If a filename is relevant, I create that on export of the edited file. The original unedited file is just as irrelevant as the the original 8x3 file name.