![]() Think like a historian or a journalist and include the who, what, where, when, why and any other key information that you think you may need in the future. It's good practice to get into the habit of filling out metadata on all your images as soon as possible. When a client asks you for an image, they also want a lot of hard information about what's in it. I'm here to say, outside of a few cases, this advice is bull****. If you talk to some professionals, they may tell you that a photo must be able to stand on its own and it's a poor photo that needs a caption to tell you the story. The more metadata you add, the easier you'll make it for your future self to double-check information about images. If your camera allows for it, also set up location and copyright info. Metadata is kingĪt a bare minimum, set the date in your camera before using it. Not only was I able to quickly find the images, but with an organized approach to file archiving, I also knew exactly where to look for the high-resolution versions of the files that they needed. They were able to pick out something they liked and I was able to make their deadline. At this point I had shot the assignment nearly a decade ago, but thanks to being organized I was able to get a contact sheet to the editor quickly for an edit. ![]() An editor working on a story about Riordan and plans for a new Percy Jackson TV series for Disney+ was curious if I had any outtakes. I had shot the assignment nearly a decade ago, but thanks to being organized I was able to get a contact sheet to the editor quickly for an edit. Thanks to my careful archiving of my work, over the years I have been able to make multiple sales to other publications of this work. Only two of my images got published at the time of the job, but I had also made dozens of portraits and documentary images that ended up as outtakes. I had been on assignment for the UK Guardian to spend the day with Riordan upon the eve of the first movie release of the Percy Jackson series. If I don't know where my stuff is I'm in trouble.Ī few months ago I was contacted by a London-based magazine that wished to license a portrait I had created years earlier of Rick Riordan at his home. I'm lucky if I have until the morning usually it's a matter of minutes, not days. On more than one occasion I've gotten a call from someone looking to license one of my images on deadline. When I started out, Lightroom and Capture One weren't on the scene, so in the absence of 'libraries' I came up with my own system. The software helps me quickly edit, enter metadata, color-code, organize and move files to editors and clients. ![]() I've been using Photo Mechanic since about 2004. I learned these lessons from my experiences in the professional space, where my income depended on assignment work, archival sales and the ability to be quickly responsive to editors and clients when they call. Today we turn our gaze toward establishing a system for organizing your digital assets in way that makes them easier to find and access today and tomorrow, from anywhere at any time. In Part One we looked at how to better organize our cameras, lenses, cables, accessories and other gear. Our team cuts through the noise to share the things that made the biggest impact on our work and what lessons you can bring into your own work. One Thing: Advice, t ips and tricks from the DPReview editors Having a good method for managing your files will help ensure your treasures are here for years to come, and it'll make it easier to access them when you need them. To get the most out of our image making, we need to put our images to work for us. We spend a lot of time talking about cameras around DPReview, but gear is just half the equation. Starting with planning and a method to your archiving can pay off dividends in the future, literally.
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