Back and Blue: Organizing digital photos when the trip is over
Sep 5th, 2011, 09:57 AM
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Back and Blue: Organizing digital photos when the trip is over
The trip is over and (as usual) I can't imagine I'll be able to get back to Europe any time soon. (I think it's serious this time, though). I want to help this trip last longer by making use of the photos we took. But there are hundreds and hundreds of images.
How do you sort out and store your digital photos?
Are you quick to delete the lousy ones? (I have tended to keep them ALL for a long time, under the mistaken impression I can always crop an image to save a detail or two ....)
What do you do with them once you've honed the collection? Photo book? Website? Slide show?
I'd appreciate any advice.
How do you sort out and store your digital photos?
Are you quick to delete the lousy ones? (I have tended to keep them ALL for a long time, under the mistaken impression I can always crop an image to save a detail or two ....)
What do you do with them once you've honed the collection? Photo book? Website? Slide show?
I'd appreciate any advice.
Sep 5th, 2011, 10:13 AM
#2
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I tend to keep all my photos, only deleting those that are blurry or an accidental shot of my hand or the pavement.
I put the best ones on shutterfly. I have a domain on that site where you can organize your photos into different workbooks and I then separate the photos by city/town. I have the site bookmarked on my computer and I look at my photos often. I love the photos this way.
You can look at them as thumbnails, create a slide show or video, and add a text box for notes or a link to a trip report.
You can also connect your computer to your TV and look at the pix on the big screen!
Here's a link to my site so you can take a look. The link is for Sicily but you can click on the tabs at the top and choose something else to look at or click on the word "more" for other albums that are not shown at the top.
http://modigliani.shutterfly.com/sicily2011
The site is free and you can put an enormous amount of photos on it.
I put the best ones on shutterfly. I have a domain on that site where you can organize your photos into different workbooks and I then separate the photos by city/town. I have the site bookmarked on my computer and I look at my photos often. I love the photos this way.
You can look at them as thumbnails, create a slide show or video, and add a text box for notes or a link to a trip report.
You can also connect your computer to your TV and look at the pix on the big screen!
Here's a link to my site so you can take a look. The link is for Sicily but you can click on the tabs at the top and choose something else to look at or click on the word "more" for other albums that are not shown at the top.
http://modigliani.shutterfly.com/sicily2011
The site is free and you can put an enormous amount of photos on it.
Sep 5th, 2011, 10:27 AM
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During our three month trip to Europe we took over 6000 pics. (Thank goodness for digital is all I have to say about that!!!)
Each day on our trip I downloaded the day's pics into a folder for that day, filed under location and city: France / Dordogne / Sarlat. When we got home I picked the few hundred best ones and put them on a digital photo frame our son gave us. I printed out a couple dozen and they are around the house and in the hallway. I also put a couple hundred on my computer as my screen saver. I printed a small book with our memories of each place as well as a few photos. This way, I'm never looking at the same pics over and over and I am still reliving the great memories of our trip daily.
Each day on our trip I downloaded the day's pics into a folder for that day, filed under location and city: France / Dordogne / Sarlat. When we got home I picked the few hundred best ones and put them on a digital photo frame our son gave us. I printed out a couple dozen and they are around the house and in the hallway. I also put a couple hundred on my computer as my screen saver. I printed a small book with our memories of each place as well as a few photos. This way, I'm never looking at the same pics over and over and I am still reliving the great memories of our trip daily.
Sep 5th, 2011, 10:47 AM
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Nice ideas, michele_d.
I too sort my shots by location and try to transcribe my notes right away. I then write captions and print it all out and stick it in scrapbooks. DH used to put in a bag each day's receipts, tickets, souvenirs so they get interwoven into the scrapbooks. It's fun to spend a few days at a big table putting it all together. Def. delete duplications and fuzzy shots. It's fun to "go" on the trip again every once in a while.
This was my habit from before digital cameras and online photo galleries, so you can do all your sorting online and scan much if you want. I also made an online book with just a few of my favorite France photos-whatever the mac used as it reduced pictures without cropping them. Watch out for that in some of the online book places.
I'm told that Picasa has good sorting help but have never tried it. Flickr is easy to upload. You can also start your own travel blog. Look at some of the trip reports and see what different posters use for their photos.
Also, I burn a cd of each trip's info and shots as well.
I too sort my shots by location and try to transcribe my notes right away. I then write captions and print it all out and stick it in scrapbooks. DH used to put in a bag each day's receipts, tickets, souvenirs so they get interwoven into the scrapbooks. It's fun to spend a few days at a big table putting it all together. Def. delete duplications and fuzzy shots. It's fun to "go" on the trip again every once in a while.
This was my habit from before digital cameras and online photo galleries, so you can do all your sorting online and scan much if you want. I also made an online book with just a few of my favorite France photos-whatever the mac used as it reduced pictures without cropping them. Watch out for that in some of the online book places.
I'm told that Picasa has good sorting help but have never tried it. Flickr is easy to upload. You can also start your own travel blog. Look at some of the trip reports and see what different posters use for their photos.
Also, I burn a cd of each trip's info and shots as well.
Sep 5th, 2011, 12:00 PM
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I use the free Picasa 3 software from Google to organize and to edit. I have a rule that 50% must be delated the first time through them. Then later I will edit and delate another 20% to 30%. What remains is something that another person may want to see.
Sep 5th, 2011, 12:19 PM
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When we returned from our trip everyone kept saying they wanted to see the pics. When I told them I still had to sort them out they still insisted. When I told them there were 6000, their jaws dropped. I asked them if they still wanted to see them now or when I picked out the top 200-300. It was unanimous, later everyone decided, after they were sorted.
I may want to look at all 6000 because I'm reliving the trip day by day, but to others, it's just overload. I don't want my friends to dread coming to our house for fear of having to look at more pictures. Although they may be interested in the first 50 or so, after number 2374 their eyes glaze over and they can't stifle their yawns. It's just one big blur.
I may want to look at all 6000 because I'm reliving the trip day by day, but to others, it's just overload. I don't want my friends to dread coming to our house for fear of having to look at more pictures. Although they may be interested in the first 50 or so, after number 2374 their eyes glaze over and they can't stifle their yawns. It's just one big blur.
Sep 5th, 2011, 12:55 PM
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I put all my good photos on Facebook, and store the rest in albums on my iPad, as well as the ones that are on Facebook. Facebook is great because it allows a bit of privacy, only people that you've authorized can see your pictures. Also, Facebook allowed me to upload my pictures every night ( during the trip, and so long as I had an Internet connection ) and my family and friends could follow my trip as I was traveling
.
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Sep 5th, 2011, 12:57 PM
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Great ideas, all ... and a few good laughs, too.
Thanks so much for your replies. I think I can face this now.
The new Shutterfly photo books seem tremendously flexible. I finished a big-ish photo book a few months back (for a 2008 trip!!) and I'd been frustrated by the layout options. Now, you can do so much more.
Messing around with the photos will be a nice way to relive the trip in the weeks to come.
Must organize them first.
Thanks so much for your replies. I think I can face this now.
The new Shutterfly photo books seem tremendously flexible. I finished a big-ish photo book a few months back (for a 2008 trip!!) and I'd been frustrated by the layout options. Now, you can do so much more.
Messing around with the photos will be a nice way to relive the trip in the weeks to come.
Must organize them first.
Sep 5th, 2011, 12:57 PM
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On a 3 month trip, I made myself delete pictures almost every day, and upoload the rest to my laptop into folders by city. That also ensured that I wouldn't find myself with no free memory card space while on an outing, or losing the camera and having no pictures at all. When I got home, I uploaded them to Snapfish, and then further reduced the number into a new album until I had an adequate number to create a photo book to be printed. I decided that as interested as my friends might be regarding our world trip, they would only tolerate one page per country, since we visited over 30 countries.
So your friends don't start avoiding you, dreading your thousands of pictures, it may be best to create a diskette with 50 or less.
A friend has several printed photo books on her coffee table, each containing an incredible trip to an exotic location. It's fun to pick one up, get to ask some questions, but not overwhelmed by a huge volume of photos.
We've all had friends invite us to their home specifically to see their vacation pictures. You may enjoy the first 30-50, but you don't need to see every single animal they saw or meal they ate by sitting through hundreds of pictures. Remember the saying "You needed to be there...", it applies to too many photos.
So your friends don't start avoiding you, dreading your thousands of pictures, it may be best to create a diskette with 50 or less.
A friend has several printed photo books on her coffee table, each containing an incredible trip to an exotic location. It's fun to pick one up, get to ask some questions, but not overwhelmed by a huge volume of photos.
We've all had friends invite us to their home specifically to see their vacation pictures. You may enjoy the first 30-50, but you don't need to see every single animal they saw or meal they ate by sitting through hundreds of pictures. Remember the saying "You needed to be there...", it applies to too many photos.
Sep 5th, 2011, 01:21 PM
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How I organize the photos depend on what the result is supposed to accomplish.
Having seen my parents argue endlessly about where and when the pictures were taken, what was the itinerary, which trip was it, etc, I put together a photo album integrated with my journal so that when I get to their ages, I don't have to rely on my (fading) memories to relive my trips. The picture books are for me. However, when showing the pictures to others, this is too much details. For that purpose, I put together a different slide show tailored to the target audience. For those who have been to certain countries, I put together a collection that the target audience is familiar with. Pictures of other countries for most audience usually evoke yawns. Similarly, if the audience are non-foodies, I eliminate the meal pictures.
When grouping the pictures, I usually do it geographically as opposed to chronologically. This usually minimizes the viewer confusions. Suppose my itinerary was Rome#1-Florence-Rome#2, I organize the pictures by grouping (Rome#1 + Rome#2) then FLorence.
Having seen my parents argue endlessly about where and when the pictures were taken, what was the itinerary, which trip was it, etc, I put together a photo album integrated with my journal so that when I get to their ages, I don't have to rely on my (fading) memories to relive my trips. The picture books are for me. However, when showing the pictures to others, this is too much details. For that purpose, I put together a different slide show tailored to the target audience. For those who have been to certain countries, I put together a collection that the target audience is familiar with. Pictures of other countries for most audience usually evoke yawns. Similarly, if the audience are non-foodies, I eliminate the meal pictures.
When grouping the pictures, I usually do it geographically as opposed to chronologically. This usually minimizes the viewer confusions. Suppose my itinerary was Rome#1-Florence-Rome#2, I organize the pictures by grouping (Rome#1 + Rome#2) then FLorence.
Sep 5th, 2011, 01:24 PM
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<< Perhaps I'll relive your trips instead of my own.... >>
LOL - I love looking at them. The later ones that are digital are much better than the photos I've scanned.
BTW - you can hide certain workbooks. I've hidden the family ones so they can only be accessed with a password.
Shutterfly gives lots of deals on photobooks, free photos (pay for shipping only), cards, etc. And the quality of the printed photo is very good.
I organize my photos on my computer first by year and then by date. If you use extra large icons it's pretty easy to spot the photos you want as you can see 2 of the photos in each folder without going into the folder.
I use the microsoft editor to do some minor enhancing. My favorite feature of the editor is picture straightening. I blame the wine for all my crooked pix!
LOL - I love looking at them. The later ones that are digital are much better than the photos I've scanned.
BTW - you can hide certain workbooks. I've hidden the family ones so they can only be accessed with a password.
Shutterfly gives lots of deals on photobooks, free photos (pay for shipping only), cards, etc. And the quality of the printed photo is very good.
I organize my photos on my computer first by year and then by date. If you use extra large icons it's pretty easy to spot the photos you want as you can see 2 of the photos in each folder without going into the folder.
I use the microsoft editor to do some minor enhancing. My favorite feature of the editor is picture straightening. I blame the wine for all my crooked pix!
Sep 5th, 2011, 03:46 PM
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I always bring a fairly large portable hard drive to hook up to my netbook. I also make sure that all of my cameras are in sync by time and date. Then, every night I download all photos and videos from the day into a folder for that day. I organize mine in two ways.
The folder name is simply that of the day in question. At each location that I visit I'll do a video shot and say what I'm looking at. That way, no matter what, later on I can reference the audio from the video file to the photos of the same time. My DW also keeps a pretty complete journal of where we go and what we do.
Once I get home, I then create main and sub-categories. Like London2010 (main), Museums (sub level 1), Tate Modern (sub level 2). I can then move the various files into these categories.
As was said above, one of the easiest programs out there to use to go through these is Picasa. Load in the proper codecs and you can see your stills (both RAW and JPEG) and view any type of video. Shark007 codecs work very well for almost any type of file. Search google, they are free.
If you save files in a RAW format, then each camera mfg will have their own codecs available for free download from the mfg website, under Support.
dave
The folder name is simply that of the day in question. At each location that I visit I'll do a video shot and say what I'm looking at. That way, no matter what, later on I can reference the audio from the video file to the photos of the same time. My DW also keeps a pretty complete journal of where we go and what we do.
Once I get home, I then create main and sub-categories. Like London2010 (main), Museums (sub level 1), Tate Modern (sub level 2). I can then move the various files into these categories.
As was said above, one of the easiest programs out there to use to go through these is Picasa. Load in the proper codecs and you can see your stills (both RAW and JPEG) and view any type of video. Shark007 codecs work very well for almost any type of file. Search google, they are free.
If you save files in a RAW format, then each camera mfg will have their own codecs available for free download from the mfg website, under Support.
dave
Sep 5th, 2011, 04:18 PM
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I like Picasa. I especially appreciate the straightening tool as no matter how careful I try to be, I end up with some wonky horizons. I like Picasa in that one can have public albums and private ones that need a password.
As I make up the pictures in albums, I sometimes rearrange photos and I do add captions.
I try to sort my pictures and delete many on the first run through (obvious duplicates, blurs, finger shots, etc.) Then as I sort the photos into albums, I delete some more. I try to keep the albums to less than fifty so that people will not be bored with them. As someone mentioned above I also make photo shows to play on the DVD player based on the audience.
I also pick two or three of my favorites and have 5x7 or 8x10 enlargements made. I frame them and hang them around the house.
My next project is to try a photo book of travel photos such as the old scrapbooks I used to do with prints.
Whatever you do, it will be lots of fun reliving your trip! Enjoy!
As I make up the pictures in albums, I sometimes rearrange photos and I do add captions.
I try to sort my pictures and delete many on the first run through (obvious duplicates, blurs, finger shots, etc.) Then as I sort the photos into albums, I delete some more. I try to keep the albums to less than fifty so that people will not be bored with them. As someone mentioned above I also make photo shows to play on the DVD player based on the audience.
I also pick two or three of my favorites and have 5x7 or 8x10 enlargements made. I frame them and hang them around the house.
My next project is to try a photo book of travel photos such as the old scrapbooks I used to do with prints.
Whatever you do, it will be lots of fun reliving your trip! Enjoy!
Sep 5th, 2011, 04:58 PM
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Like TDudette I keep all sorts of bits and pieces from our trips and put them into a scrapbook with my favourite photo's and in the back I add my trip reports. They become very personalised books and I love doing them. When I'm sitting in the nursing home with a crocheted rug on my knees I can relive all the memories (I hope!). These get passed around to all our family and friends, everyone seems to enjoy looking at them.
The rest of the 1000's of photo's I store on our computer in folders but my plan is to get this more organised so I think I will check out shutterfly and picasa, thanks for the info.
The rest of the 1000's of photo's I store on our computer in folders but my plan is to get this more organised so I think I will check out shutterfly and picasa, thanks for the info.
