Process for organizing and sharing photos

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sunnyday
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Joined: Sat Jul 16, 2011 8:48 am

Process for organizing and sharing photos

Post by sunnyday »

My wife and I take a lot of photos with our two iPhones and DSLR but most of which are never used and take up space on my iPhone, MacBookPro, and backup drive. I often have to go in and delete/transfer photos and videos to save space and I'm not sure where all of my favorite photos. So I'm looking for a more efficient and better process for saving, viewing and sharing my memorable photos.

Here's what I'm thinking about doing:

Transfer favorite videos from iPhone to YouTube after taking them.

Each month, go into iPhoto and pick out my favorite photos. Transfer them to the Picasa.

Each year:
1. Pick out our favorite photos from Picasa and create an annual photo book using ArtifactUprising or Blurb.
2. Transfer all photos from Picasa and videos from YouTube (is that possible?) onto my computer.
3. Delete other photos from iPhone and computer if space is needed.


Do you have a certain process that you use or any recommendations?

What would you recommend for a photo service? I've used flickr and shutter fly but am not a huge fan. I may try Picasa. I don't mind paying a small annual fee if needed.
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SmileyFace
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Re: Process for organizing and sharing photos

Post by SmileyFace »

For organizing go with Picasa. You don't need to go through all the various steps you mention - you can set up Picasa to do the organization for you (I organize chronologically but Picasa has some great advanced features others use - for instance - it has good facial recognition - type in a name once and Picasa can tag all other photos with that same name). I used to use commercial software (purchased) for organization but found Picasa better (and free!).

For sharing - through the last 10+ years I've probably tried them all (many of which no longer exist) but now everyone seems to be on facebook so I just post there like everyone else.
Personally - I'm not crazy about iPhoto. I like to import into folders in the format YYYY-MM-DD-EventName (e.g. 2014-02-05-CarribeanVacation) which Picasa easily does for me.
davebo
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Re: Process for organizing and sharing photos

Post by davebo »

I take most of my photos with an iphone these days and they just put in a nifty feature where you can "heart" your favorite pictures and it will organize it into a separate folder.

For pictures:

1) I transfer them to my computer and put them in a folder with the date range.
2) I upload them to picasa so I can have instant access to them.
3) My normal backup process to Amazon Glacier and Backblaze runs (long-term storage).

For videos:

1) I transfer them to my computer and put them in a folder with the date range.
2) I don't upload them anywhere for immediate access, but I do tend to keep my favorites on my phone.
3) My normal backup process to Amazon Glacier and Backblaze runs (long-term storage).
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Toons
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Re: Process for organizing and sharing photos

Post by Toons »

I upload them to Google Photos then share the albums via email. :happy

http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/
"One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity" –Bruce Lee
dolphinsaremammals
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Re: Process for organizing and sharing photos

Post by dolphinsaremammals »

The most important thing, imho, is to be an editor. No one needs a bunch of photos of the same thing from infinitesimally different angles. Especially the people one sends photos to :D

I copy photos onto my laptop into pertinent subfolders in a photos main folder. Like, raccoons on deck, or trip to NH Sept 2014. They get backed up when the laptop is backed up. A select few I adjust, crop, and resize to email size (saving the high res versions) using free HP Photosmart Premier from HP's website and inflict on my family and friends.

I delete all photos from my camera as soon as I copy them to my laptop. I backup about every day, so that doesn't leave a large time when the one copy can get lost.
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retiredjg
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Re: Process for organizing and sharing photos

Post by retiredjg »

I find this issue very frustrating. Whatever works for one camera/computer combination does not work as easily for other camera/computer combinations. Time changes how things are done. What was once easy to put in just a plain old folder now has to go through iPhoto first. Whatever worked in 2000 does not work in 2014 so photos end up all over the place.

Ignore me. I'm just venting. I've got photos on slides, in photo albums (the paper kind), on computers, etc. It's kind of like music - whatever you have today will be obsolete in a few years and you'll have to figure out what to do with it all.
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climber2020
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Re: Process for organizing and sharing photos

Post by climber2020 »

I process photos through Lightroom, trash the ones I don't want, and store the rest on iPhoto. Over the last few years, I've gotten much more selective about which photos I actually keep.

Within iPhoto, I created an album of all my favorite pictures which I add to frequently. This album gets routinely synced to both my phone and iPad via iTunes, so in case my apartment burns down, it's all good.
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rob
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Re: Process for organizing and sharing photos

Post by rob »

dolphinsaremammals wrote:The most important thing, imho, is to be an editor. No one needs a bunch of photos of the same thing from infinitesimally different angles. Especially the people one sends photos to :D
As someone old enough to understand where the word "slideshow" really comes from I have to emphasise this point.

As I like to say: A good photographer deletes 90% of the bad ones and a great photographer 99% :D Heaivy self editing is the way to go along with some good keywording.
| Rob | Its a dangerous business going out your front door. - J.R.R.Tolkien
Topic Author
sunnyday
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Joined: Sat Jul 16, 2011 8:48 am

Re: Process for organizing and sharing photos

Post by sunnyday »

Thanks for the replies. For photos, I started this process which has worked great so far:

1. Open iPhoto: iPhoto automatically streams in my and my wife's photos from our iPhones. I don't believe Picasa will do that from iPhone.
2. Select a month and flag my favorites.
3. Upload the flagged items to Flickr. Name the new album YYYY - MM. This is done directly through iPhoto.
4. Clear the flagged items. Move onto a different month.

I wasn't a big fan of Flickr but after using it a bit more, I'm getting used to some of the nuances. Also, I never even have to login to flickr.com or any other websites, because everything is done directly through iPhoto.
rob wrote:
dolphinsaremammals wrote:The most important thing, imho, is to be an editor. No one needs a bunch of photos of the same thing from infinitesimally different angles. Especially the people one sends photos to :D
As someone old enough to understand where the word "slideshow" really comes from I have to emphasise this point.

As I like to say: A good photographer deletes 90% of the bad ones and a great photographer 99% :D Heaivy self editing is the way to go along with some good keywording.
Now that I have a toddler, 99.9% of my photos get edited. But only because I'm an amazing photographer and my toddler is never fussy and always smiling at the camera :)
Caduceus
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Re: Process for organizing and sharing photos

Post by Caduceus »

Are all your photos in digital format? If you have any old family photos, you might consider storing them in archival-safe material that has passed the P.A.T. test. The materials aren't cheap, but it's hard to put a value on the preservation of family history.

I've been doing this piecemeal over the last year. It's amazing what light, dust and moisture can do to photos. The basic principles are to use archival material for storage (chemically stable, no off-gassing, etc.), store in a place with no light, constant (moderate) humidity and protect from dust and pests.
HoosierJim
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Re: Process for organizing and sharing photos

Post by HoosierJim »

Just saw this new product in preview from Microsoft called SWAY Click on the RAINER 2014 and use your mouse/scrollwheel/arrowKey /space bar/

Kinda like a twitter bootstrap meets powerpoint.

I was thinking that each vacation or adventure or project could be documented this way. The best part is that I really don't want to share them but organize and annotate.

I typically can't recall details from past vacations so the annotation would be helpful.
OatmealAddict
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Re: Process for organizing and sharing photos

Post by OatmealAddict »

I'm obsessive compulsive when it comes to my photos and have found the following storage method works best for me.

1. I import them via Picasa into a folder structure that I've built, organized by date:
Year
01 - Album name
Year 2
01 - Album name

2. That folder structure is synced with Google Drive so everything is instantly backed up as soon as it hits my hard drive
3. I view / edit primarily via Picasa or the Google Drive app when I'm in a pinch (it doesn't always download pictures for some reason)
4. I share select Google Drive folders with friends and family so they can see new pictures without me having to do anything extra, e.g. sending email
5. For photos and videos that I take on my phone, I'll batch upload all of them once a week or so to their respective folders in Google Drive - I don't keep any stored locally on my phone

I'd love to use the auto-upload / storage option from Google+, but the fact that it won't allow me to sort my albums by date is a major deal killer. Until then, I'm happy with Google Drive.
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