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#21 pvstoy

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Posted 03 March 2019 - 04:04 PM

You are correct it is a huge task that has left me not really going through past images.  I have images that I have not culled over the years and having so many it has become harder to make time to do it. Some I'm going to be surprised as I have not looked at them while most are not worth keeping.   We both are photographers and between us have 28 TB worth of files.  We have 3 32tb NAS boxes, one working and two off site.

 

I have gotten better the past two years since obtaining a nice laptop for traveling.  Images at 14 frames per sec of wildlife can accumulate fast.  I find culling through wildlife is must faster and easier than landscapes.

 

I have Photo Mechanic  http://www.camerabits.com/  and that has allowed me to quickly view images, add a color tag, say red to delete, yellow for really cool and could look at at home for future use.  After viewing a card I can delete all the reds and then if time allows go through them again. I can delete 60 to 90 percent per card before getting home.  Photo Mechanic is so much faster than Lightroom.

 

Once home we upload though Lightroom and allow it to rename images.  The yellow tags that were done in Photo Mechanic are read by Lightroom from the XMP sidecar file created by Photo Mechanic.  

 

I do want to add that while traveling I have three copies of the images.  Two hard drives and the original card.  I cull images from one of the hard drives and when home that hard drive is uploaded to the server.  My cards are never formatted until they are used again and formatted by the camera they are used by. 

 

Rubberlegs if you shrink your images remember you can never make them bigger again in case you really want to do something with them later.  Use the ones you are deleting as a learning experience, how can I make this better the next time.  You could ask other photographers for advice from a photo club or..  Caution, family and friends will give you positive comments while great for your ego it's not helping you improve.


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Patrick

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#22 Lighthawk

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Posted 03 March 2019 - 06:19 PM

Great discussion here, with a variety of tech levels.   I'm keeping it fairly simple.

 

  • Download card to iMac internal HD, where TimeMachine (native software) duplicates to external HD (4TB)
  • Cull images on LR and delete 20-40% . Process winners and upload full sized jpegs to SmugMug (cloud b/u).  Having my most important images in the cloud is a big win. :D    I also use DropBox for work, where all my important images are stored on DB, and often are on my SmugMug account for work.  
  • I mirror TimeMachine with Carbon Copy Cloner to a second external HD, for a total of three copies. 
  • Rotate the mirrored HD to my office building, off site.  I do this periodically, especially before leaving town on a trip.  
  • I can manage 6 - 9 months on data on my iMac HD, but when it gets full I will delete  :o  3 -6 months of data, only after I've confirmed I've got my TM, second HD backups, in addition to the offsite HD at my office. :D

We're going on a photo tour of Costa Rica in two months, and are dragging along a laptop (Macbook Air).

I did buy a 2TB Toshiba external HD for $60, and will be doing some processing of images on the trip, as that is part of the workshop.   Of course I will back up as we go.  Like Patrick, I plan on bringing enough SD cards to keep all of the original data on them until returning home.   I need to learn how to start a LR catalog on the trip, then import it into my master LR catalog at home.

 

I think it's relevant to talk about how much data we are managing:

I'm managing approx 250k images, and can return from an event shoot, or a week long trip with ~2k images from 24-42MP cameras.  I shoot only RAW, but exports are jpeg when sent to SmugMug, or to WHCC.com for prints, or for publication.

 

I suspect when I'm gone, that no one will want to go through all my images, so I work on collections for "Best Of" for each year.   I sometimes think the work of being a photographer, and the management of my images as a legacy project, that my wife and I will enjoy for years to come.  I imagine twenty or thirty years from now, I'll be able to lay in bed,  blink my eyes and watch slideshows on the ceiling of my bedroom, recalling all our incredible travels in our camping rigs.  I already refer to photos to recall details my 60 year old brain doesn't retain!

 

I know I've learned a lot by going through my parents photos, and being able to quickly access them to share has been valuable.  I suppose that's another conversation, but I've photographed all the old family photo albums, and have done a fair amount of work organizing them with key words, so it's easy to pull up images to share with family, or for example ancestry.com.  I've given all my siblings small thumb drives with collections I've harvested from mom's photo albums.  We've also spent a rainy weekend photographing my wife's suitcase full of family photos.  

 

We both feel more secure knowing these valuable images are now on multiple HD's and the best are on SmugMug or DropBox.  Note:  SmugMug allows for private and public galleries and folders.  With unlimited storage, it's a good place to stash backups.   

 

 

 

 


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2021 RAM 3500 Crew 4x4, 6.4 hemi/8 speed trans with 4.10 gears, Timber Grove bags, Falken Wildpeak 35" tires.

OEV Aluma 6.75 flatbed, Bundutec Odyssey camper on order for 2024

For this year we're still using our 2008 FWC Hawk with victron DC-DC charger, 130w solar, MPPT controler

with 2000w inverter and external 120v output and 12v solar input with 100w portable solar.   http://lighthawkphoto.com


#23 pvstoy

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Posted 03 March 2019 - 07:03 PM

" I need to learn how to start a LR catalog on the trip, then import it into my master LR catalog at home

Everybody does this differentl so here is just one example,

we don't upload any images to the laptop hard drive but work off the external hard drives on a trip. laptops can die or get stolen or any drive can have the same demise. We have tried years ago to sinc a catalog from a mac to a windows home machine with terrible results. They may have made it better today but we do it differently now.

We each have two hyperdrive stand alone hard drives that download the card directly. One of the drives is used to work on with the laptop. In Lightroom just add the drive to the catalog. This is a fast process as you are not moving or copying any files. MAKE SURE you have create XMP files turned on in preferences. Lightroom has this turned off by default.

Now anything you do in Lightroom is saved to the XMP sidecar file. Stars, color and any edits you make for a image. At home that hard drive is removed and put in a bare drive attached to the computer by 3.1 speed. Now I download the images through Lightroom and it renames files, puts them in the proper directory with dated subdirectories.

Now the cool part. It also copies the XMP sidecar files that were created on the laptop that contain any and all edits. When you look at your image everything you did on the laptop is now on your home computer. Easy peasy

Between me and my gal we only use one catalog, and that is with over a million images. Lightroom can handle it and we don't have to worry about juggling multiple catalogs.

Many different ways on doing it as it is best to do it as you understand the process and are compentant to have success in the end. Life is too short while traveling where your time is better spent absorbing and enjoying the adventure you have paid for. Less time and stress worrying about saving and editing images. Make a simple plan that yields successes and enjoy the adventure.

Now what to do with your images now and when you pass i see you are taking steps toward that and this can easily be a new topic as there is a lot to say and consider.
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Patrick

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#24 rubberlegs

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Posted 04 March 2019 - 02:00 AM

Rubberlegs if you shrink your images remember you can never make them bigger again in case you really want to do something with them later.  Use the ones you are deleting as a learning experience, how can I make this better the next time.  You could ask other photographers for advice from a photo club or..  Caution, family and friends will give you positive comments while great for your ego it's not helping you improve.

 

I was really into photography several decades ago, having my own dark room and shooting a lot of slides. I culled out about 1/3 to 1/2 of each roll and cataloged the rest.  I showed them frequently. Eventually I decided my photos weren't really "art", and lost interest. It sure was fun when I was really into it though. Then digital came around, with the ease of shooting magnitudes of order more photographs. I've heard the last 5 years has as many photographs as the history of photography (well, I heard that a few years ago). 

 

I admire anyone who can store 30,000 photos, in multiple places, and look at them, and enjoy them. To me it would be a burden, like hoarding stuff so that you can't move about your house. I think I'd print the best 15 and put them on the wall. If I lost the rest... liberation!

 

It reminds me of having a big freezer in the basement. The bottom of the freezer has food that's years old. I store my frozen food at the grocery store! Saves on electric bills too.


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#25 Lighthawk

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Posted 04 March 2019 - 08:30 PM


Between me and my gal we only use one catalog, and that is with over a million images. Lightroom can handle it and we don't have to worry about juggling multiple catalogs.

 

 

I learned this from you several years ago, Patrick.  I switched to a single catalog since then and it's great.  Thanks!

 

Now I want to be sure I get how to use LR on a trip and import images with XMP data, instead of importing a LR catalog.  Do I have that correct?

 

1. MAKE SURE you have create XMP files turned on in preferences.

Lightroom has this turned off by default.

2.  I'll be using an external HD, and keeping my cards without reformatting during the trip.  I could have my camera write to both cards (dual memory slots on my bodies) for a third copy!

3. Once home, simply import the files, which bring with them the XMP edits into my current LR catalog

 

I love it!

I've had bad experiences trying to import catalogs in the past, so this system sounds really good.

 

 

 


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2021 RAM 3500 Crew 4x4, 6.4 hemi/8 speed trans with 4.10 gears, Timber Grove bags, Falken Wildpeak 35" tires.

OEV Aluma 6.75 flatbed, Bundutec Odyssey camper on order for 2024

For this year we're still using our 2008 FWC Hawk with victron DC-DC charger, 130w solar, MPPT controler

with 2000w inverter and external 120v output and 12v solar input with 100w portable solar.   http://lighthawkphoto.com


#26 pvstoy

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Posted 04 March 2019 - 10:47 PM




1. MAKE SURE you have create XMP files turned on in preferences.
Lightroom has this turned off by default.

Yes....

2. I'll be using an external HD, and keeping my cards without reformatting during the trip. I could have my camera write to both cards (dual memory slots on my bodies) for a third copy!

Yes.. use the external HD for all your edits and culling. When home use that HD to upload through Lightroom. It I'll copy the XMP sidecar file with the image file. When using both card slots on the camera check to see if both record RAW and does not slow down the camera at a faster frame rate capture.

3. Once home, simply import the files, which bring with them the XMP edits into my current LR catalog

Yes....

You can do a quick test at home with a dozen or so images and know how and what to expect

Let me know if I can be of more help.
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Patrick

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#27 pvstoy

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Posted 04 March 2019 - 11:02 PM

Rubberlegs wrote
..."It reminds me of having a big freezer in the basement. The bottom of the freezer has food that's years old. I store my frozen food at the grocery store! Saves on electric bills too."...

I like your thinking, thanks for sharing.

Lots of images is hard sometimes, but Lightroom is good at a data base for finding things.
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Patrick

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#28 Lighthawk

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Posted 06 March 2019 - 05:33 PM

You can do a quick test at home with a dozen or so images and know how and what to expect
 

 

Good idea.  I'll run a test at home.  I'm looking at buying a few SD cards, and the jury seems to be out on whether UHS-1 or UHS-2 really matters in slot 1.  When writing RAW to both cards, I could see how it might slow things down. 


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2021 RAM 3500 Crew 4x4, 6.4 hemi/8 speed trans with 4.10 gears, Timber Grove bags, Falken Wildpeak 35" tires.

OEV Aluma 6.75 flatbed, Bundutec Odyssey camper on order for 2024

For this year we're still using our 2008 FWC Hawk with victron DC-DC charger, 130w solar, MPPT controler

with 2000w inverter and external 120v output and 12v solar input with 100w portable solar.   http://lighthawkphoto.com


#29 Lighthawk

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Posted 06 April 2019 - 07:35 PM

Reporting back....

I installed LR on my wife's MBP (laptop), which we will take on our trip.
I turned on "write to XMP"
Imported RAW files with LR to my external HD, adding keywords
Then did a few minor edits in the Develop module
Quit LR
Disconnected external HD
Reopened LR and the previews are still there, which is great.

THEN...
Fired up the iMac I use for desktop editing
Imported from external HD
And Eureka! The imported files have the keywording, edits from the work I did on the laptop.

BUT..

When I look in the history tab within the Develop module, it only goes back to Import on xx/xxxx
Similar to editing jpegs, it seems I'm unable to recover the original RAW file without edits.
Sometimes I like to go back and reprocess images and I'm concerned this would freeze my ability to go back to the original file.
One workaround, that I can think of is to make virtual copies of all my edited images and revert those back to original state, before I import to my main machine.  I would then have the imported and edited file, AND the original RAW file

It's still the best way I've learned to do remote editing, with the ability to import all that work to my main machine when I come home.

Thoughts?


Edited by Lighthawk, 06 April 2019 - 07:38 PM.

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2021 RAM 3500 Crew 4x4, 6.4 hemi/8 speed trans with 4.10 gears, Timber Grove bags, Falken Wildpeak 35" tires.

OEV Aluma 6.75 flatbed, Bundutec Odyssey camper on order for 2024

For this year we're still using our 2008 FWC Hawk with victron DC-DC charger, 130w solar, MPPT controler

with 2000w inverter and external 120v output and 12v solar input with 100w portable solar.   http://lighthawkphoto.com





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