Marsha Ingrao – Always Write

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How Do YOU Organize Your Photos?

Hi Friends, Do you struggle with organizing hundreds or thousands of digital photos? I do. Maybe you have some words of wisdom to share about how you organize them so you can find them when someone asks you for a specific photo. What are your biggest issues: finding pictures of people for someone (an award,…

Marsha
1 minute
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Hi Friends,

Do you struggle with organizing hundreds or thousands of digital photos? I do. Maybe you have some words of wisdom to share about how you organize them so you can find them when someone asks you for a specific photo.

What are your biggest issues: finding pictures of people for someone (an award, funeral…), finding pictures for a challenge, events, finding the unaltered, printable photos?

Tomorrow I have the privilege of interviewing Lisa Coleman about how a photographer of 20 years organizes her photos so that she can find them again. The post will appear next Thursday or Friday.

In preparation for and to be a part of the interview, if you have a question, tip, or link to one of your posts on this topic, please leave it in the comment box.

Looking for Your Words of Wisdom on These Posts!

How do you teach your children responsibility? How did your parents teach you? How do you deal with people who are not responsible?

Don’t forget to write a post for this week’s #WQWWC using your own quotes about RESPONSIBILITY. To participate in the challenge, it’s YOUR responsibility to find an appropriate quote to illustrate your point, write the post – any genre you want, and link back to my post. 🙂

Do you know what’s in the cabinet? What would you do if someone took your trophy and put it in their cabinet?

Did you read Geoff LePard’s short story, “The Trophy Cabinet” this month? It’s not too late to ask him a question or leave a comment. I can’t wait to read your comments!

76 responses to “How Do YOU Organize Your Photos?”

  1. theunretired Avatar
    theunretired

    Will you be doing a summary of comments? With links to apps?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Marsha Avatar
      Marsha

      It will come out on Friday. 🙂

      Like

      Reply
  2. theunretired Avatar
    theunretired

    Great suggestions. I follow the rules of directories and sub directories, year, theme, place. Have a Best category within some categories. Use iCloud on PC and phone and Camera. Major agro is Pictures app on PC. It doesn’t synch pictures I edit/delete on the phone.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Marsha Avatar
      Marsha

      Those are excellent ideas. Lisa and I have been editing our photos like crazy since we started this project. Thanks so much for contributing. 🙂

      Like

      Reply
  3. Helen Bushe Avatar
    Helen Bushe

    Ps Recently I’ve been sending full-size images directly from Lightroom straight to iPhotos, where they can go in various albums.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Marsha Avatar
      Marsha

      i loved iPhoto when I had a Mac. It doesn’t work so well with a PC.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  4. Helen Bushe Avatar
    Helen Bushe

    I’m finding iPhotos really useful now, and have over 30,000 pictures on it. Those take on phone can easily be located by place or date. For RAW files straight from camera, I download into named folders on laptop or external hard-drive. When I’ve processed the “best” ones, these JPEGs go into named folders in iCloud or external drive.
    During past 12 months I’ve really enjoyed revisiting old files and processing images from trips from way back (yes, I have kept every single image from all trips to foreign parts! Thank goodness. )
    Also I have a Flickr Pro account, where I upload pictures, with various tags, once they’re done. This is often the simplest way to find a particular image. Some of these images are made public, some are not.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    1. Marsha Avatar
      Marsha

      Thanks, Helen. iCloud works great from a a Mac, makes it easy to find photos. I use my phone sometimes to find what I want because I can’t find it on my computer.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  5. Marathon or Sprint Posting? Tagging My Prescott Walks-Peavine Trail Photos or Not? – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write Avatar
    Marathon or Sprint Posting? Tagging My Prescott Walks-Peavine Trail Photos or Not? – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write

    […] next Friday the long-anticipated interview with photographer, Lisa Coleman about how to organize your photos. This helpful post will also feature your […]

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  6. the eternal traveller Avatar
    the eternal traveller

    As I download photos, I put them into named folders within folders for each year and place we visit. Easy to find when I need them for a post.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
    1. Marsha Avatar
      Marsha

      Thank you so much, Carol. You are one of the most organized people I know. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  7. Jason S. Sullivan Avatar
    Jason S. Sullivan

    Hugh, decluttering photos is vastly underrated! It helps with productivity, creativity, and staying organized.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
    1. Marsha Avatar
      Marsha

      Hi Jason. Do you have any tips for doing this? I find it hard to decide which photos to delete.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply
      1. Jason S. Sullivan Avatar
        Jason S. Sullivan

        Keep the best, delete the rest. And, maybe a “less is more” mentality helps. I know it’s not easy, though.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply
        1. Marsha Avatar
          Marsha

          That is a lot of decision making. What is best? lighting? fuzziness, composition? Could cropping help, or enhancing the color? Might it be a good one to play around with in Photoshop? See my decision-making dilemma?

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply
  8. Cindy Georgakas Avatar
    Cindy Georgakas

    Oh my it’s an ongoing dilemma! I can’t begin to talk about it but I love this to know someone is tackling it! Nice Marsha! I’ll come back to this when I can! 💖🤗

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Marsha Avatar
      Marsha

      I talked to Lisa for over an hour yesterday. She’s like you, so easy to talk to. We pounded out a few ideas. One of the ideas that kept coming up was about tagging. I still don’t know a fast way to do it, but here is a post I wrote five years ago about the subject and revised it today and I forgot to create tags for the new photos so I had to go back! https://tchistorygal.net/2016/11/30/stupid-questions-you-need-to-ask/

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply
      1. Cindy Georgakas Avatar
        Cindy Georgakas

        Oh great, I’ll check it out, thanks!🤗

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
  9. Hugh W. Roberts Avatar
    Hugh W. Roberts

    And don’t forget to get rid of duplicate photos (or ones that look the same) by way of an app like the Rem Duplicate Photos Remover. Not only will you free up space on your computer (or, in my case, on my iCloud account), but you’ll have a lot fewer photos to sort through.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
    1. Marsha Avatar
      Marsha

      Does that remove them from your phone or your computer?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. Hugh W. Roberts Avatar
        Hugh W. Roberts

        If your computer, tablet and phone are all in sync, it removes them from all devices. Otherwise, just from the device, you’re using the app on.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply
        1. Marsha Avatar
          Marsha

          They’re not in sync totally. My computer is not an Apple. The camera roll will still download automatically but the pictures are in HEIC form, and I can’t put those on Photoshop, WordPress, Canva, or anything.

          Liked by 2 people

          Reply
  10. Susan Gutterman Avatar
    Susan Gutterman

    Mine are organized in Lightroom and I swear by this method. At the start of each year I set up a new catalog. Folders and sub folders in the catalog are named by subject. For example, I have a folder called “Nature Photos” and a sub-folder inside of it called “Flowers”. I also tag the photos within each folder so a flower might be tagged “red rose”. When I export my folders out of LR to an external hard drive I generally export them to “same folder as original folder” so the stay organized as set up in LR. Occasionally I export as “ choose folder later” if I want to move the photo somewhere else. When I want to search for a photo in an archived catalog in LR I switch to that catalog and then switch back to my current catalog when I’m done. I do need to be much better at culling photos that I will never use!

    Liked by 4 people

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    1. Marsha Avatar
      Marsha

      Wow, Susan, I’m impressed. Did you take a Lightroom class or watch the videos. I downloaded it but haven’t tried to use it yet. Also I’m going to have to learn more about tagging photos. Do you do that right in LR?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. Susan Gutterman Avatar
        Susan Gutterman

        Hi Marsha, I watched videos. I think the best instructor is Julianne Kost. Start with Lightroom CC: Organizing Your Photos. Yes, I tag my photos right in LR. Unfortunately the tags don’t follow when you export, so I have to tag again on my drive.

        Liked by 2 people

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        1. Marsha Avatar
          Marsha

          That’s a bummer. Why do it in LightRoom, then?

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          1. Susan Gutterman Avatar
            Susan Gutterman

            So that you can also search in LR by the tag

            Liked by 1 person

          2. Marsha Avatar
            Marsha

            So you keep all your photos stored in lightroom rather than in files on your computer. Do you get a ton of storage? It sounds like you do both. I’m trying to figure out how to create tags that stick with with photos. I process them, which labels all of the ones which have been formatted for WordPress, but the originals are not labeled.

            Liked by 1 person

          3. Susan Gutterman Avatar
            Susan Gutterman

            Marsha, photos are actually never stored in LR. They live on a drive and LR stores all of the information about them in the catalog. Mine are stored on an external drive with large storage capacity, so I don’t use space on my computer. LR automatically creates the same folders on the drive that you’ve set up in LR. A very important rule is to only move photos in LR, not on your drive. If you move them on your drive LR won’t be able to find them. It sounds very complicated until you actually start using the software.

            Liked by 2 people

          4. Marsha Avatar
            Marsha

            You are right. I think Photoshop Elements has something that works similarly, and I spent about an hour trying to figure it out – to not much avail. I can’t say none, because I now know it exists and there are catalogs and they have the same names as my files. How they got there and how to make changes in them is an entirely different matter. More to learn. that’s what keeps me going! 🙂 Thanks Sue for all your help and suggestions. I spent the evening putting alt information into my photos from today on Word Press after I processed them through Photoshop. Thanks again!!!!!

            Liked by 1 person

          5. Susan Gutterman Avatar
            Susan Gutterman

            Keep trying with LR. My understanding is that PS is great for editing but doesn’t store in the same way. LR can do almost all that PS can and after watching a lot of videos, I find it more intuitive.

            Liked by 2 people

          6. Marsha Avatar
            Marsha

            I talked to Lisa about LR last night. She is thinking about trying it, too. She has it and uses Photoshop more, but I told her what you had said.

            Liked by 1 person

  11. Terri Webster Schrandt Avatar
    Terri Webster Schrandt

    Hmm, for as organized as I like to think I am, I could do better with my thousands of photos, especially when I need to dip into the archives when researching themes for my Sunday Stills challenge. I have a premium Dropbox account for which I pay $120 a year for 2 terabytes of memory. Every photo I take automatically lands in the camera uploads folder. As I prep photos those go into labeled folders. Since I’ve been shooting photos since 2006 with my first digital camera, I have 100s of folders. I tend to use photos taken since January 2017 when I got my Lumix so I really only have to dip back 4 years. But, I’ve been gifted with a ridiculous memory so I can find photos relatively easy once I remember the year and month. I wouldn’t recommend this practice to others, lol! Sometimes one photo triggers the memory of another so I can find it. Again, I need to do better before my memory eventually goes the way of the dinosaur 🦕 Great prompt Marsha!

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
    1. Marsha Avatar
      Marsha

      You must have a gifted memory, Terri. Thanks for this great input. Does your camera take HEIS photos? My camera uploads go to my one drive which has 1TB of memory, but with my new phone the photos are unusable unless I load them manually. 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

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      1. Terri Webster Schrandt Avatar
        Terri Webster Schrandt

        I don’t know what HEIS is, so what does that tell you? I’ve had loading issues with some camera functions where I can’t read them but I plop those into a different folder and open in lightroom.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply
        1. Marsha Avatar
          Marsha

          They are interesting photos. They move like a micro second video. We have the new iPhones, and that is the default setting. They are also supposed to take up less space. I haven’t tried opening them in LightRoom. I downloaded the program for a trial, but I haven’t tried it yet!

          Liked by 2 people

          Reply
  12. Toonsarah Avatar
    Toonsarah

    I try to keep mine organised – training as a librarian many years ago helps a bit, as I understand how to create a hierarchy of files etc. But I as I organise them by where they were taken (continent, country, then year of travel) I still struggle to retrieve them when I only half remember them. Where did I take that photos of a striking red flower? Which market was I in when I saw that strange fruit? And so on. Too late I realise that I should have been tagging all my photos for easy retrieval but it’s too enormous a task to go back to now!

    One tip – I find the free software of Fast Stone Image Viewer very useful for sorting and labelling images, as you can drag them into order in a folder and then bulk rename with a numbering system that keeps them in your chosen order 🙂

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
    1. Marsha Avatar
      Marsha

      That is good advice, Sarah. I’ll check out the Fast Stone Image Viewer. You have the same problem I do. I can’t always remember when I took the picture I remember, or where. The ones I use for a post, I process through Photoshop using the multiple picture processor which resizes them for digital use and puts a signature on them, names the file and numbers the picture. But those are not good for other purposes because of their size. Do you tag some of your pictures?

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Toonsarah Avatar
        Toonsarah

        No I don’t tag – but I’m realising it would be useful if I did! It just seems like a lot of rather dull work 😦

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply
        1. Marsha Avatar
          Marsha

          Hugh has said a lot about that. I’m not good at tagging. There must be an easier way than to do it in WP.

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    2. Erica/Erika Avatar
      Erica/Erika

      I will investigate Fast Stone Image Viewer. I have a sort of system for filing in the Photos app, yet I would LOVE suggestions. I use the “Info” category often when I am hunting down a photo, since I know approx date/year/event and go from there. I often immediately categorize into A/B/C depending on how much I like a photo. I greatly appreciate your above suggestion.

      Liked by 3 people

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      1. Marsha Avatar
        Marsha

        Thank you for investigating. You can me my expert commenter on that subject.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
        1. Erica/Erika Avatar
          Erica/Erika

          Scan the information……..definitely no expert 🙂

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply
          1. Marsha Avatar
            Marsha

            Probably none of us are total experts, but together we are amazing! BTW that was supposed to be “be my expert” not “me my expert.” Yikes!!! 🙂

            Liked by 1 person

      2. Toonsarah Avatar
        Toonsarah

        I like that idea of a simple rating system to quickly sort out favourites 🙂

        Liked by 3 people

        Reply
        1. Marsha Avatar
          Marsha

          Simple is super, Sarah! 🙂

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply
        2. Erica/Erika Avatar
          Erica/Erika

          A super basic A,B,C, helps me when I go back to the photos for more sorting………likely many ways to approach this🙂

          Liked by 2 people

          Reply
          1. Marsha Avatar
            Marsha

            That sounds super doable, Erica. I’ll definitely include that idea in the post.

            Liked by 2 people

  13. thoughtsnlifeblog Avatar
    thoughtsnlifeblog

    Apologies what does #WQWWC stand for?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    1. Marsha Avatar
      Marsha

      Writer’s Quotes Wednesdays Writing Challenge.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. thoughtsnlifeblog Avatar
        thoughtsnlifeblog

        ahh thank you

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
        1. Marsha Avatar
          Marsha

          Thanks for asking. I will hopefully look forward to reading your quote and response! 🙂

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply
          1. thoughtsnlifeblog Avatar
            thoughtsnlifeblog

            oh yes for sure, now I know for what it means

            Liked by 1 person

          2. Marsha Avatar
            Marsha

            Yay! 🙂

            Liked by 1 person

  14. runningp Avatar
    runningp

    I need help – I am anxious for suggestions.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    1. Marsha Avatar
      Marsha

      You are the one who inspired this post. You and I both need help. It was right after the fiasco with trying to find the garden pictures that I contacted this photographer/blogger. I’m looking forward to our interview tomorrow. Any specific questions, Sally?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  15. Janis @ RetirementallyChallenged.com Avatar
    Janis @ RetirementallyChallenged.com

    I think I’ve done a pretty good job organizing my photos on my computer (it took a long, long time). Now, I just need to get better at culling them… not all are worth keeping.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
    1. Marsha Avatar
      Marsha

      That’s what Jason just said! So how are they organized, if you don’t mind sharing a bit, Janis.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. Janis @ RetirementallyChallenged.com Avatar
        Janis @ RetirementallyChallenged.com

        I created categories (I think I ended up with seven total, but whatever works) that all of my pictures could be classified into (Travel, Family and Friends, Local Fun, etc.), then I have folders under those broad categories. For instance, in travel, I have a folder for the year and location. When all else fails, I have a “Miscellaneous” category for anything that can’t fit into one of the others. My system isn’t perfect (sometimes I have to search, but not very far), but it works for me. And, I think that’s the key: develop a system that works for you and the way your mind processes things.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply
        1. Marsha Avatar
          Marsha

          This is an awesome idea, Janis. I will definitely share it.

          Like

          Reply
  16. Jason S. Sullivan Avatar
    Jason S. Sullivan

    I don’t have much to offer on this as I struggle with it too. But, one thing that works for me is to only keep the best photos. If it’s not the best — or at least meaningful, interesting, or irreplaceable — I delete it. The fewer photos you have, the easier it should be to organize them and find them later.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
    1. Marsha Avatar
      Marsha

      Thanks, Jason. I haven’t learned that lesson yet!!!

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      1. Jason S. Sullivan Avatar
        Jason S. Sullivan

        I admit, it’s easier said than done!

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
        1. Marsha Avatar
          Marsha

          yes, and I have discovered as I learn more about editing that I can salvage things I never knew I could. Here’s what I learned a week ago. https://tchistorygal.net/2021/02/07/lens-artist-134-how-to-turn-car-show-photos-from-forgettable-to-favorite/

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply
          1. Jason S. Sullivan Avatar
            Jason S. Sullivan

            Very nice! Thanks for sharing!

            Liked by 1 person

          2. Marsha Avatar
            Marsha

            Thanks, Jim. And so you can see why it is so hard for me to throw away pictures – even bad ones.

            Like

    2. Hugh W. Roberts Avatar
      Hugh W. Roberts

      Same here, Jason. If it isn’t good, then I delete it. Plus, once a month, I go through all the photos I have taken over the last 30 days and delete more that I know I’ll never use. Decluttering gives me such a good vibe.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply
      1. Marsha Avatar
        Marsha

        I bet your house is clutterless, Hugh. I have to really work at making those kinds of decisions. Sometimes it takes 20 years or so to decided that I don’t really need something I’ve been saving in the garage. Photos are even worse. 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply
        1. Hugh W. Roberts Avatar
          Hugh W. Roberts

          I look at photos like I do shoe boxes, Marsha. If they are empty, I get rid of them. 😁

          Liked by 2 people

          Reply
          1. Marsha Avatar
            Marsha

            Nice concept. My problem — until we moved I kept both the shoes I didn’t wear AND the shoe boxes!!! 🙂 I know – HOARDER! But trust me, I only bought as many as my closet would hold. I buy and wear only one pair of shoes about every eight months now that I’m retired. Fashion is out the window. Comfortable and safe are in. But back to photos. Space is another important factor, and labeling so you can find your pictures wherever they are.

            Liked by 2 people

          2. Hugh W. Roberts Avatar
            Hugh W. Roberts

            Yes, I totally agree. We have to make everything as easy as we can for when we come back looking for something.

            Liked by 1 person

          3. Marsha Avatar
            Marsha

            This project has inspired me to work on my photos. Vince said this morning, “What are you doing? It’s like you have been at this computer for 24 hours.” Yesterday was windy, so he’s not far off.

            Liked by 1 person

  17. Forestwood Avatar
    Forestwood

    I look forward to hearing others’ tips on organizing photos. I need help with mine.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    1. Marsha Avatar
      Marsha

      You and me too, Amanda!

      Like

      Reply
  18. Erica/Erika Avatar
    Erica/Erika

    An excellent topic, Marsha, that will resonate with many people. I take many photos each week, and I have a sort of plan when organizing these photos. I greatly appreciate any recommendations and first hand tips from Lisa Coleman. One potential question: Are two copies on separate hard drives placed in a home safe a good way to preserve photos? Should I be doing more?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    1. Marsha Avatar
      Marsha

      Those are excellent questions, Erica. I look forward to her answer.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

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