where there’s smoke there’s forum fire
I want to begin key wording my photographs, and I'm curious about what general keywords are good to use. I already keyword photographs by the people in them, and that has helped me a lot.
I was thinking about using keywords related to the modes on the D90 (or 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 5000, and 3000), like landscape, portrait, action (replaces sports), etc.
Do you think this is a strong approach, or I should use another system. Should I add any keywords?
Keywords are a good idea but inputting depends on the software your using. It might be "over kill" if your just doing it for family photos. But you might have a big family, so it's up to you. Besides date, time, and location, I rank my photos and include words like hot, girl, skimpy, sunset, etc....
I usually just organize them by folder. I haven't found a way to change file names quickly and easily.
Just look for an IPTC editor or viewer but if you have Photoshop, Bridge, or Lightroom, Aperture, or ACDsee you can organize your keywords. Or go to this link for some free batch keyword editors and some good keyword tips.
http://microstockinsider.com/guides/keyword-setting-software-iptc
@NikoDoby:
I use Aperture, so keywording has been relatively easy. I enter a new keyword once and after that I drag it on to the photo I want keyworded. And if you think keywording a few family members would be overkill, you do not want to see my list of people keywords. I shoot at school for the yearbook, so I have lots of photos of classmates. Of course everyone I know has to be keyworded. That's my rule.
Because of this, I have nearly 100 people registered in my person-keyword database.
And it's been useful. Sometimes someone want photos of themselves, and it's been quick to find them. That's why I want to add more keywords to make looking for landscapes, macros, or whatever faster.
I have considered doing ratings with stars, but I'm not good with that. Usually I ask someone else which photo they think is better.
I wish I had the Faces technology of iPhoto in Aperture, as it would speed things up. But hopefully in Aperture 3 they'll take the auto keywording to a whole new level. Since many compact cameras are able to automatically decide which scene mode to use, shouldn't software be able to as well? It would be great if it could automatically keyword landscapes, macros, portraits, etc.
Anyway, I think I'll also use some of the keywords that already came with Aperture, as they include the keywords you suggested as well.
it would be even better, if the camera could take a picture, the software would do the processing, and the page will sell it for itself... ops, got too far in my dreams, or OTOH You could get people to do it for You
as for iPhoto, You know that You can use Your aperture library in iPhoto, haven't checked how the faces works, but this can be a solution for You alphanikonrex, as for aperture the easiest way is to add some general IPTC data at the beginning, and then just add the additional information (keywords) on unique pictures, You can scroll to the keyword panel by hitting "W"
adamz, what you are talking about is a CCTV system :D
I keep my pictures in folders named by date and location. I know that in the future it might bite me in the arse but for the time being I can find photos dating back two years with no real trouble.
@adamz: I don't even have iLife '09! And I don't want to mix iPhoto with Aperture anyway, because the reason I got Aperture as a pose to other apps is it keeps everything together in a nice, tidy Aperture Library. If I start putting photos in iPhoto, then I'm going to end up with two of every picture, which takes up unnecessary space.
@monty11: I use the same folder method as you, except that in Aperture folders are called projects. I just want to take my organization to the next level.
aplhanikonrex - You don't have too put images in iPhoto, as You can only access the aperture library, also mac gives You the flexibility to use this and iphoto libraries in almost any applications where You can use the inspector; as for this what You've wrote about aperture folders (projects) I assume that You store all Your images in the aperture library (there's an option to either store them in aperture library or use them from the current place), the first option is ok, but only when You don't have too many photos, the second one is much more convenient - both for storage and backup. The way I use aperture, is to:
- copy all my pictures from flash cards to harddrive into a separate folder (something like monty does)
- then I open aperture and import this pictures into aperture, using the option to save images in their current locations
this gives me the flexibility and reliability, not to mention the ease of backup, and in case I would like to move to another software in the future, it's gonna be much easier for me this way
Well, Aperture creates previews which are why you are easily able to integrate photos into other applications. However, I've found that previews take a lot of space, so I set Aperture to create tiny, highly compressed previews which are pretty much useless. If I ever need to get photos somewhere, whether iPhoto or iWork, I always have to export the images. A small sacrifice for saving space.
I'm not so much for the idea of keeping the files out of the library, though it is very large (83GB, I believe). To begin with, it would screw up my backup plan, which works through the vaults. But mainly I simply don't want to have to organize my photos inside AND outside of Aperture. As long as the files are in the library, all the organizing which is done in the Finder is taken care of by Aperture. Someday I may be forced to do this, but I'm not convinced it's worth it yet.
And of course, as I'm loyal to Nikon, I will be loyal to Apple. I will (hopefully) never find software to replace Aperture—ever. I love it just the way it is.
You must log in to post.
