Renaming and storing photos

[mrsfotografie]

@mrsfotografie - I am not familiar at all with EOS utility. Do you feel it is better than using a LR-only system?
Many, many thanks everyone!
Daniel

For importing of photo's I don't think it matters much, Daniel. I'm sure Lightroom gives you the option to rename as you like on import, and otherwise you can always rename thereafter. EOS utility includes some other tools that allow you to adjust camera settings etc, can be useful. If you're happy with lightroom, stick to that.

 

[Don Haines]

There's an easy workaround in Lightroom to solve this and to achieve unique filenames for all of your photo's. Automatically.

Some things can be variable, but I use a variation of an official renaming system here:

First part is my name (initials):
GeAr
The date (dec 22 2013):
20131222
The time (17h14min12sec):
171412
The filenumber (from _MG0001.CR2):
0001

So the name will be: GeAr_20131222_171412_0001.CR2

Even if you use 10 camera's, you will never shoot a picture with more then one camera in one second. And even if you do, there is very very little chance to have the same 4-digit number in one second. If you're affraid to have this problem, you can make extra presets to add your camera name (eg GeAr_20131222_171412_7D_0001.CR2)

The most important thing is obviously to set your cameras exactly at the same time. This can be done very easy and quickly.

What about burst mode? I need a 10,000 frame per second burst mode

Seriously though, good naming scheme.

 

[mb66energy]

I do not like to have identical file names so I use a naming scheme like this one:

IMG_40D1_001234.cr2
IMG_40D2_001234.cr2
IMG_S95a_001234.cr2

Red are the original parts of the file name, 40d is the camera type and the cipher 1 is the first of my two 40Ds. The 00 prefix allows for unique names of the next 990000 shots.

Renaming is done with irfanview which lets you choose the files to rename in a batch job. The black part of the previous exampes is inserted by irfanview.
But try this feature with a copy of not so important files before you do the renaming of important data.

 

[DanielW]

I do not like to have identical file names so I use a naming scheme like this one:

IMG_40D1_001234.cr2
IMG_40D2_001234.cr2
IMG_S95a_001234.cr2

Red are the original parts of the file name, 40d is the camera type and the cipher 1 is the first of my two 40Ds. The 00 prefix allows for unique names of the next 990000 shots.

Renaming is done with irfanview which lets you choose the files to rename in a batch job. The black part of the previous exampes is inserted by irfanview.
But try this feature with a copy of not so important files before you do the renaming of important data.

That's a great scheme, and I'll use it myself with a slight variation:

IMG_60D_YYYYMMDD_####.cr2
or
IMG_S120_YYYYMMDD_####.cr2

Well, I guess it's time to go organize some 10,000 photos now...

Thanks, mb66energy and all others!

 

[dstppy]

I've sort of got my problem under control now; I used to rename and it was painful when I had to back up a drive or migrate to separate things.

One thing on OS X/Linux you can do is use exiftool and learn to script perl (don't roll your eyes at me, it's not THAT hard).

I still have to sort out stuff from my powershot days, but now I stick to pictures\5D_CR2\<images in original name> then worry about tagging them in Lightroom.

 

[Halfrack]

Bulk renaming is actually a place where PhotoMechanic is better than Lightroom (that and tag'ing photos). Give their free demo a run, it's really fast to work with. Even if your camera isn't set to exactly the right time you can have it update that as well. It's easy to burst out multiple shots the same second when you have a remote camera setup or are shooting sports.

Personally, I do:

Year\Month\day_topic\CameraNumber_####.cr2

 

[PaulTopol]

Use DownloaderPro from Breeze systems.
Totally customizable for downloads.
I get DL to sort into camera (1d2, 1dx, 5d3)
You can also sort by camera serial number. Easy with DL.
You can also set it to store 2 copies (1 onto 1 disk, another onto backup disk)
Outstanding program. Been using it for years.

Paul

 

[Digbydriver]

I import all photos according to date, and they live in those folders. I have set up a conventional naming scheme which is applied during import.
THEN,
I sort the photos from that DATE into different COLLECTIONS. (Fishing, Portraits, Family, Ice Cubes, Flowers, Dogs, Insects, Foliage. etc)
The collections are endless, and new ones are created for new subjects of interest. All photos, however, live in the date they were shot folder.

 

[DanielW]

@Digbydriver - I understand date is more important than subject. Used to think otherwise, but in terms of organizing inside the computer (not inside my head) the date is more important. Thanks!

@PaulTopol - Yes, I will look for a free trial and see how it goes. Thanks!

@Halfrack - I have come up with DW60D_YYYYMMDD_HHMM_####.cr2 (initials, camera etc). Thank you!

@dstppy - I'm first renaming everything I have (just bought Better Rename 9, wow, terrific program), and then I will start to organize. I have decided to store the originals in two external HDs (mirrored) and use LR to catalog, and to not copy the files into the iMac. On the external HDs, I will sort files by year and month, and use tagging on LR more religiously. Then, I will back up folders a second time to DVDs, also in this year/month scheme. Thanks!

 

[dstppy]

@dstppy - I'm first renaming everything I have (just bought Better Rename 9, wow, terrific program), and then I will start to organize. I have decided to store the originals in two external HDs (mirrored) and use LR to catalog, and to not copy the files into the iMac. On the external HDs, I will sort files by year and month, and use tagging on LR more religiously. Then, I will back up folders a second time to DVDs, also in this year/month scheme. Thanks!

Beware the loading speed of the USB bus, it's a killer.

I'm using FW800 now with a hybrid drive and it's tolerable. USB 2.0 is just not effective for actual active use of the drive; it's fine for transferring back and forth.

If it's a newer USB 3.0 mac and they're 3.0 drives, that should be sufficient.

 

[Canon1]

Also will mention that I use collections extensively. All of my best shots are organized into collections. This way I can easily look at all of my moose shots or great egret shots or landscapes or whatever without having to peruse through my database.

Another thing I noticed on here is that it appears a lot of people are leaving raw files in the camera format of .cr2 .
I have gone to converting all files to .dng so that in the future if certain raw formats are no longer supported I will still be able to access and edit all of my old files without needing to convert to something else. digital negative is a universal format and will be supported long after raw versions for specific camera bodies.

 

[WPJ]

Canon1, good idea on the dng convert, gave we had any camera raw support dropped yet to date?

 

[privatebydesign]

Nonsense, that is just supposition, there is no indication whatsoever that DNG will outlive .CR2. But even if it does, .CR2 is not going to become unreadable or unconvertible overnight. Besides, the programs that convert the .CR2 to DNG will always support .CR2, and .CR (the Canon RAW format before .CR2) and TIFF, the Canon RAW format that predates them both.

 

[WPJ]

Nonsense, that is just supposition, there is no indication whatsoever that DNG will outlive .CR2. But even if it does, .CR2 is not going to become unreadable or unconvertible overnight. Besides, the programs that convert the .CR2 to DNG will always support .CR2, and .CR (the Canon RAW format before .CR2) and TIFF, the Canon RAW format that predates them both.

I have also read that the ce2 to dng converter just put a wraper on the cr2 file so you still need to know the cr2

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

When importing using lightroom, its ok to put them into one folder, but religiously use key words. Many prefer to file by date and event, as well as using keywords.

There are as many opinions as there are photographers, and most will say to use what works for you. Lightroom is great for searching by many different parameters.

 

[photo212]

Pictures >> 2013 >> 13.07.04 (fireworks) >> img_1203.cr2 through img_####.cr2
edited images get renamed fireworks_1203.jpg (and *.psd) and placed in the same folder

Then later, when I'm looking for the original to fireworks_1203.jpg, I simply search on *1203.jpg and find it. Sure there are many other files matching, but chances are narrowed that any 1203 file is of a firework. Even if you specialize in fireworks, you'll be able to find that one original in a hurry.

File converters will be around for a long, long time. Your bigger problem is Photoshop not recognizing a newer file format on a new er camera, and having to use their CC as your only option.

 

[alexturton]

On importing I organise my in folders lightroom as follows:

Top level (e.g. "Working")
year (e.g. "2013")
Month (e.g. "2013_09")
Day (e.g. "2013_09_15")

this way even if you view the folders outside of lightroom they are always in date order.

Then lightroom imports into each days folder. Within that folder I might sub sort into image type e.g. if I've been to the zoo I might separate out monkeys to birds.

Then once a batch of RAWS are editted I move the folder into a similar structure set of folders but under a "done" top level. On moving the folder I export all pictures to iPhoto as JPEGS. Periodically I move the "done" folder to a backup hard disk.

I give pictures names in iPhoto when I upload them to flickr, but I never rename the files because I can't see the point/merrit