Time Saving with Online Photo Management
Friday, October 5th, 2007Managing photos online has been a challenge since the start. The one thing that the online photo sharing sites did right was to keep the organization of photos simple (the old KISS principal, Keep it Simple Stupid, still rules). When sharing photos online, you need to be able to upload a photo once and then use it where ever you want. This is the beauty of the flat storage structure. Rather than deciding first how you want to organize your photos, just dump them into a big bucket and organize them later. Even better, configure smart tools to auto organize them based upon the meta data contained within the photos.
Being a Professional Photographer today means wearing many hats; many hats in the operation of your business and, even more importantly, in the way you present your business to the world. Unless you are well known for a specific type of photography, you will need to follow the concept of multiple streams of income and offer your services into multiple vertical markets. Thus, a portfolio that showcases your work for each vertical is needed. However, many times a single photo can fall into multiple portfolios. This is where the power of the flat storage structure shines…after you upload the photo once, you can place it into as many portfolios as you want. The organizational structure is virtual and lives side by side with the actual photos (versus the photos physically living inside your organizational structure).
Likewise, just being a photographer—professional, semi-professional, or enthusiast—requires fun and creativity to keep the spark alive. Many times this means creating something new or just capturing a moment as it presents itself. And many times this also means having a photo or two which are worth sharing but don’t fall into your organization structure (or at least not yet). Again, the flat storage structure allows you to just toss it in the bucket and share those photos just by themselves. Damn the organization….full speed ahead!
Ahh, but the pain of manually organizing hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of photos! Technology to the rescue…to the rescue of time wasted doing something manually that computers can do much faster and dynamically. Smart tools that allow you to create portfolios on the fly based upon meta data contained within the photos. This is where the investment in a strong and consistently executed work flow comes in. Always keyword your photos. Always add as much IPTC meta data possible about where the photo was taken, what the photo depicts, etc. Once that data in there, it can be leveraged in the future to save you time and give you dynamic control over your images. A portfolio that dynamically changes as you add new photos to your bucket. The ability to quickly create new portfolios to display your work in new and fresh ways. This is when the fun begins!
Make sure that the photography tools you choose are flexible and utilize technology to save you time and not lock you into something that can’t be changed easily in the future. Your time is the most valuable asset you have…closely followed by your skill and photographs!
