Hello, I need some photography image file organizational suggestions/tips please - but for the love of all that's sacred, please, please, no Adobe Lightroom or 'keyword' suggestions! I'm certain to be one of the few humans around that seems to (or at least openly admits to) having a serious dislike for the Lightroom 'Catalog' and the use of 'Keywords' for organization. I used LR for years, keywords for much less, and have found myself going back to my original workflow method with Camera Raw, Photoshop, and the NIK Plugin suite the past year - that said, I feel my workflow is better for the return. To preface this, I confess my still used organizational method was born in the darkroom and studio. I continue to shoot digitally as I shot film; that is, methodically and carefully, always exercising discretion as to when to open the shutter and when not to. I don't have hundreds of thousands of image files to sort through. In reality, my 'old' film organizing method is working well enough. It uses a generated file number for each session; for instance, the first session of January, 2025 will be '010125-,' followed by a reference for the subject. If it's a landscape shoot in a Maryland state park, it could read '010125-L/CalvertCliffs.' I'm curious to see if anyone may have something better. Fire away...
I probably fall in line with a similar approach to file handling. I organize based on the photoshoot/session/event as well and that has been the way I think all the way back the darkroom. File storage wise, I have folders for each year, and then session inside that folder, So for me it would be like 2024/Jan-MarylandStatePark. Or something of that sort.. which should be easy enogh to remember back to a photo and identify the shoot it was part of. I use and like LightRoom, but for me its about the ease of file handling post the organization combines with workflow between LR and PS.
I do like the DDMMYY format followed by subject but instead use YYMMDD format followed by subject for better SORTING abilities.
The system works, and a big part of my thinking is, 'why change it?' Still, someone might have something which works more efficiently in the grand scheme...a 'I hadn't considered that...' moment. And, I should be clear - I like the processing functions in Lightroom; it's the catalog/database systems I find annoying. And, I'm not shooting weddings or studio portraits, or advertising or food/products for commercial accounts. I don't have the requirements for a database to keep thousands or hundreds of thousands of files under control. Using Bridge, Camera RAW, (and we all know LR is pretty much a dressed-up version of Camera RAW), Photoshop, and the NIK Suite of plug-ins gives me the results and look I want in my shots.
