Optimum format for filenames?

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I'd appreciate learning what format others have chosen for renaming
photos please. Despite much experiment, I've still not settled on
anything consistent!

In particular, with future sorting in mind, I vary between making the
major field the Date/Time Taken, or some keyword about the subject.
For example, my photo taken at 4:26pm yesterday on a walk from a place
called Exceat could be renamed from
DSC0005.jpg to
2005-07-17-09-16-26-Exceat.JPG
or
Exceat-2005-07-17-09-16-26-Exceat.JPG

But, assuming I do settle on making Date/Time Taken the major sort,
there are so many formats possible for that. I've tried:
2005-07-17-09-16-26
2005-07-17 09.16.26
05-07-17 09.16.26 (that space can cause problems)
2005Jul17-16.26
2005Jul17-16.26
2005Jul17-16:26 (looks better but often the ':' screws up)

and more. What do others use please?

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK
 
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Terry Pinnell wrote:
[]
> But, assuming I do settle on making Date/Time Taken the major sort,
> there are so many formats possible for that. I've tried:
> 2005-07-17-09-16-26
> 2005-07-17 09.16.26
> 05-07-17 09.16.26 (that space can cause problems)
> 2005Jul17-16.26
> 2005Jul17-16.26
> 2005Jul17-16:26 (looks better but often the ':' screws up)
>
> and more. What do others use please?

2005-03-20-1032-49

Each image is also in a tree folder structure:

\2005\
\2005\03\
\2005\03\20\
\2005\03\20\2005-03-20-1032-49.jpg

Dead easy to navigate, and keeps the number of images per folder down to a
couple of hundred at most.

Cheers,
David
 
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$number.$format for example 4312.jpeg. Other meta information is best
mtained in exif or an in external database (but a given piece of info
should be "owned" in one place only).

Most file systems become progressively slower as files are added to a
directory. Hence the need for directories each containing, say,
at most 500 entries each. Hashing would a useful mechanism to map
files to directories, for example, hash(4312.jpeg) -> 17/2/4312.jpeg
(17 and 2 were here chosen randomly but would depend on your hash
function). 2 levels would allow for 500^2 levels of files 250,000
files. When you hit that limit you can rehash your files using
3 levels (alternative decide what would be a reasonable large number and
use that from the start).

number is a plain sequence number and date searching can be implemented
by binary search knowing the maximum number added so for. Say, you
need 2005-3-18. You then look in hash(max/2) and see (file system, or
meta data contained in file) is smaller than 2005-3-18. Depending on
the result you repeat the search in either the 1st or 2nd half, or hit
it right on the nail to begin with.

If you have multiple streams of images, you want to serialize it into
one when added to your archive. Searching probably breaks hence you
want to use meta data, and an external database then becomes very
useful (database means just a collection of information, could start out
as a text file). Tree naming convention is not general enough, so
meta-data probably needs the capability to tag multiple pieces of
information on a given picture. For instance, subject for a picture
could include: people, spring, water, family.

Hope that helps?


/Allan
 
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Hi Terry!
This is the way I proceed:
year, month, date, "underscore", title
For example, 05-07-18_party-at-mikes
This way, I know the date and the do. I can also upload directly without
changing the title
Marcel



"Terry Pinnell" <terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:vglmd19jb3a5hf19g43h1apl0b751p6htp@4ax.com...
> I'd appreciate learning what format others have chosen for renaming
> photos please. Despite much experiment, I've still not settled on
> anything consistent!
>
> In particular, with future sorting in mind, I vary between making the
> major field the Date/Time Taken, or some keyword about the subject.
> For example, my photo taken at 4:26pm yesterday on a walk from a place
> called Exceat could be renamed from
> DSC0005.jpg to
> 2005-07-17-09-16-26-Exceat.JPG
> or
> Exceat-2005-07-17-09-16-26-Exceat.JPG
>
> But, assuming I do settle on making Date/Time Taken the major sort,
> there are so many formats possible for that. I've tried:
> 2005-07-17-09-16-26
> 2005-07-17 09.16.26
> 05-07-17 09.16.26 (that space can cause problems)
> 2005Jul17-16.26
> 2005Jul17-16.26
> 2005Jul17-16:26 (looks better but often the ':' screws up)
>
> and more. What do others use please?
>
> --
> Terry, West Sussex, UK
>
 
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"Terry Pinnell" <terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:vglmd19jb3a5hf19g43h1apl0b751p6htp@4ax.com...
> I'd appreciate learning what format others have chosen for renaming
> photos please. Despite much experiment, I've still not settled on
> anything consistent!
>
I leave the filename as it is from the camera. I dont believe in making the
filename searchable.
Instead I use EXIF/IPTC data, which can be embedded into the picturefile.
This way I can use a lot more keywords, than there is room for in the
filename. And I get a lot more flexibility when searching.
Also the keywords and other info follows the picturefile.

I use www.pixvue.com for adding EXIF/IPTC keywords/metadata and
www.picasa.com as "photodatabase".
In Picasa I can search for the keywords and other info in my picturefiles.

regards



> In particular, with future sorting in mind, I vary between making the
> major field the Date/Time Taken, or some keyword about the subject.
> For example, my photo taken at 4:26pm yesterday on a walk from a place
> called Exceat could be renamed from
> DSC0005.jpg to
> 2005-07-17-09-16-26-Exceat.JPG
> or
> Exceat-2005-07-17-09-16-26-Exceat.JPG
>
> But, assuming I do settle on making Date/Time Taken the major sort,
> there are so many formats possible for that. I've tried:
> 2005-07-17-09-16-26
> 2005-07-17 09.16.26
> 05-07-17 09.16.26 (that space can cause problems)
> 2005Jul17-16.26
> 2005Jul17-16.26
> 2005Jul17-16:26 (looks better but often the ':' screws up)
>
> and more. What do others use please?
>
> --
> Terry, West Sussex, UK
>
 
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"Terry Pinnell" <terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:vglmd19jb3a5hf19g43h1apl0b751p6htp@4ax.com...
> I'd appreciate learning what format others have chosen for renaming
> photos please. Despite much experiment, I've still not settled on
> anything consistent!
>
> In particular, with future sorting in mind, I vary between making the
> major field the Date/Time Taken, or some keyword about the subject.
> For example, my photo taken at 4:26pm yesterday on a walk from a place
> called Exceat could be renamed from

<< SNIP>

> Terry, West Sussex, UK

How long did it take to get to the coast and was it crowded ?

Steve
--
Milk floats, stainless steel sinks...
 
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"Terry Pinnell" <terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:vglmd19jb3a5hf19g43h1apl0b751p6htp@4ax.com...
> I'd appreciate learning what format others have chosen for renaming
> photos please. Despite much experiment, I've still not settled on
> anything consistent!
>
> In particular, with future sorting in mind, I vary between making the
> major field the Date/Time Taken, or some keyword about the subject.
> For example, my photo taken at 4:26pm yesterday on a walk from a place
> called Exceat could be renamed from
> DSC0005.jpg to
> 2005-07-17-09-16-26-Exceat.JPG
> or
> Exceat-2005-07-17-09-16-26-Exceat.JPG
>
> But, assuming I do settle on making Date/Time Taken the major sort,
> there are so many formats possible for that. I've tried:
> 2005-07-17-09-16-26
> 2005-07-17 09.16.26
> 05-07-17 09.16.26 (that space can cause problems)
> 2005Jul17-16.26
> 2005Jul17-16.26
> 2005Jul17-16:26 (looks better but often the ':' screws up)
>
> and more. What do others use please?
>
> --
> Terry, West Sussex, UK
>
>
One alternative out there over the past year has been indexing programs such
as X1 and Copernick Desktop Search that index all H.D. files, emails and
attachments, etc. I think these programs make having to use any type of
sophisticated file-naming scheme largely unnecessary, beyond giving the
jpeg, RAW, etc., a descriptive name that tells roughly what's there and
approximately the date. These programs, because they maintain a "live"
index, yield search results instanteously. Maybe EXIF is same functionally
(live index??), I don't know. But I can tell you that all my Outlook emails
are not kept in topical folders any longer at work.
 
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I was talking about a subdirectory of course.
Pictures are either renamed (001, etc. , or left as is)
Marcel


"Celcius" <cosmar@rogers.com> wrote in message
news:SpSdnewAA80fSUbfRVn-rA@rogers.com...
> Hi Terry!
> This is the way I proceed:
> year, month, date, "underscore", title
> For example, 05-07-18_party-at-mikes
> This way, I know the date and the do. I can also upload directly without
> changing the title
> Marcel
>
>
>
> "Terry Pinnell" <terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote in message
> news:vglmd19jb3a5hf19g43h1apl0b751p6htp@4ax.com...
> > I'd appreciate learning what format others have chosen for renaming
> > photos please. Despite much experiment, I've still not settled on
> > anything consistent!
> >
> > In particular, with future sorting in mind, I vary between making the
> > major field the Date/Time Taken, or some keyword about the subject.
> > For example, my photo taken at 4:26pm yesterday on a walk from a place
> > called Exceat could be renamed from
> > DSC0005.jpg to
> > 2005-07-17-09-16-26-Exceat.JPG
> > or
> > Exceat-2005-07-17-09-16-26-Exceat.JPG
> >
> > But, assuming I do settle on making Date/Time Taken the major sort,
> > there are so many formats possible for that. I've tried:
> > 2005-07-17-09-16-26
> > 2005-07-17 09.16.26
> > 05-07-17 09.16.26 (that space can cause problems)
> > 2005Jul17-16.26
> > 2005Jul17-16.26
> > 2005Jul17-16:26 (looks better but often the ':' screws up)
> >
> > and more. What do others use please?
> >
> > --
> > Terry, West Sussex, UK
> >
>
>
 
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Allan Wind <allan_wind@lifeintegrity.com> wrote:

>$number.$format for example 4312.jpeg. Other meta information is best
>mtained in exif or an in external database (but a given piece of info
>should be "owned" in one place only).
>
>Most file systems become progressively slower as files are added to a
>directory. Hence the need for directories each containing, say,
>at most 500 entries each. Hashing would a useful mechanism to map
>files to directories, for example, hash(4312.jpeg) -> 17/2/4312.jpeg
>(17 and 2 were here chosen randomly but would depend on your hash
>function). 2 levels would allow for 500^2 levels of files 250,000
>files. When you hit that limit you can rehash your files using
>3 levels (alternative decide what would be a reasonable large number and
>use that from the start).
>
>number is a plain sequence number and date searching can be implemented
>by binary search knowing the maximum number added so for. Say, you
>need 2005-3-18. You then look in hash(max/2) and see (file system, or
>meta data contained in file) is smaller than 2005-3-18. Depending on
>the result you repeat the search in either the 1st or 2nd half, or hit
>it right on the nail to begin with.
>
>If you have multiple streams of images, you want to serialize it into
>one when added to your archive. Searching probably breaks hence you
>want to use meta data, and an external database then becomes very
>useful (database means just a collection of information, could start out
>as a text file). Tree naming convention is not general enough, so
>meta-data probably needs the capability to tag multiple pieces of
>information on a given picture. For instance, subject for a picture
>could include: people, spring, water, family.
>
>Hope that helps?
>
>
>/Allan

Thanks, appreciate the detailed response, but I'm afraid it's largely
over my head! You lost me on this 'hashing' stuff.

Also, if I've understood the rest correctly, I'm afraid some sort of
'meta' or serial number approach wouldn't suit me. I like my filenames
to be inherently meaningful in *some* way, even if it's only the date
and a word of text.

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK
 
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"Morten L.Pedersen" <mlp@melped.dk> wrote:

>"Terry Pinnell" <terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote in message
>news:vglmd19jb3a5hf19g43h1apl0b751p6htp@4ax.com...
>> I'd appreciate learning what format others have chosen for renaming
>> photos please. Despite much experiment, I've still not settled on
>> anything consistent!
>>
>I leave the filename as it is from the camera. I dont believe in making the
>filename searchable.
>Instead I use EXIF/IPTC data, which can be embedded into the picturefile.
>This way I can use a lot more keywords, than there is room for in the
>filename. And I get a lot more flexibility when searching.
>Also the keywords and other info follows the picturefile.
>
>I use www.pixvue.com for adding EXIF/IPTC keywords/metadata and
>www.picasa.com as "photodatabase".
>In Picasa I can search for the keywords and other info in my picturefiles.

Thanks, I'll take another look at both Picasa and pixvue.

What do you with filenames for images that have no EXIF, such as from
old scans?

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK
 
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On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 08:13:16 +0100, Terry Pinnell
<terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote:

>I'd appreciate learning what format others have chosen for renaming
>photos please. Despite much experiment, I've still not settled on
>anything consistent!

In view of the somewhat complicated approaches mentioned here, I
prefer my current system (having moved away from a more structured,
somewhat encrypted system that I used for films and negs).

Here is an example directory snippet:

Set044_Mar_2005_Renaissance_Festival
Set045_Mar_2005_St_Patrics_Day
Set046_Mar_2005_Universal_Studios
Set047_Apr_2005_Key_Lago_Dolphins
Set048_Apr_2005_Loxahatchee
Set049_Apr_2005_Sprinkler

Set number represents a 1Gb or under CF card being filled. I usually
empty the card after any 'major' event, create the set and name it
accordingly. Underscores are optional of course, and this system
allows you to use whatever date format you are happy with because the
set-number keeps them in chronological order. One set will often
contain photos taken over a number of days, and the descriptive tag I
choose is one that best describes the majority of the photos.

Inside, the DSC_NNNN.NEF files get renamed to the set number:

048_0001.NEF
048_0002.NEF
048_0003.NEF

and so on...., this keeps the filenames of the images unique, but
still nice and small.

Every few months I get around to making a small html based index in
each set, for fast visual location of a particular file (using
software that makes small thumbnails + 800x600 preview files, and
exposes the EXIF data for each image).

I'm too damn lazy to add EXIF descriptions for every shot or create
some kind of database. Everything I print (using mpix.com) gets the
filename printed on the back of the photo, which makes it easy to
re-print if I need to.

--
Owamanga!
http://www.pbase.com/owamanga
 
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"Biker2 \(Threadstopper\)" <steve at pvl dot co dot uk> wrote:

>
>"Terry Pinnell" <terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote in message
>news:vglmd19jb3a5hf19g43h1apl0b751p6htp@4ax.com...
>> I'd appreciate learning what format others have chosen for renaming
>> photos please. Despite much experiment, I've still not settled on
>> anything consistent!
>>
>> In particular, with future sorting in mind, I vary between making the
>> major field the Date/Time Taken, or some keyword about the subject.
>> For example, my photo taken at 4:26pm yesterday on a walk from a place
>> called Exceat could be renamed from
>
><< SNIP>
>
>> Terry, West Sussex, UK
>
>How long did it take to get to the coast and was it crowded ?
>
>Steve

An hour from East Grinstead to Exceat, mainly on very busy A22,
arriving at 10:00. Area was 'crowded' compared to a weekday in April,
but spread out over the 9.5 miles we weren't tripping over other
walkers <g>.


--
Terry, West Sussex, UK
 
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Terry Pinnell <terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> writes:
>I'd appreciate learning what format others have chosen for renaming
>photos please. Despite much experiment, I've still not settled on
>anything consistent!

>What do others use please?

I don't rename the image files at all. Too much work. Instead, I
transfer them from the card using the free Breeze Downloader. I have it
set up to read the date in the EXIF data and then store the images in
individual folders for each date. The folders name pattern is
"2005-07-18". Then I add an entry to a simple text file telling me the
general subject of photos shot on that day.

To find photos about a particular subject or place, searching the text
file is fast. Then I use a browser like ACDSee or Irfanview to show me
thumbnail images of all images in the folder. When I find a particular
image, I can look at the EXIF info to tell me what time of day it was
shot, as well as exposure conditions.

So the date turns into the folder name, the time isn't used (but is
stored in EXIF), and any comments are in the text file.

Note that this method is for someone who "sorts" or looks for images
infrequently than they transfer recent images, so it minimizes the
amount of work done at the transfer stage. If I was a commercial
photographer who wanted to be able to search for a particular image by
keyword, I'd probably maintain a database of them. But I'm not.

Dave
 
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>I'd appreciate learning what format others have chosen for renaming
>photos please. Despite much experiment, I've still not settled on
>anything consistent!

I think you're best bet is to make heavy use of subdirectories. I use
a different subdir for each event, so it's easy to find the photos.

But if you're going to name each photo individually, why not put lots
of information in the name? After all, Windows will look for subparts
of a file name. If you have something like
"July14,2004:RiverInMaineWithFishInTheStream.jpg" you should be able
to find it"

As for dates, I've always found that spelling out the month is the
best way to go.

-Joel

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
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"Terry Pinnell" <terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:vglmd19jb3a5hf19g43h1apl0b751p6htp@4ax.com...
> I'd appreciate learning what format others have chosen for renaming
> photos please. Despite much experiment, I've still not settled on
> anything consistent!
>
> In particular, with future sorting in mind, I vary between making the
> major field the Date/Time Taken, or some keyword about the subject.
> For example, my photo taken at 4:26pm yesterday on a walk from a place
> called Exceat could be renamed from
> DSC0005.jpg to
> 2005-07-17-09-16-26-Exceat.JPG
> or
> Exceat-2005-07-17-09-16-26-Exceat.JPG
>
> But, assuming I do settle on making Date/Time Taken the major sort,
> there are so many formats possible for that. I've tried:
> 2005-07-17-09-16-26
> 2005-07-17 09.16.26
> 05-07-17 09.16.26 (that space can cause problems)
> 2005Jul17-16.26
> 2005Jul17-16.26
> 2005Jul17-16:26 (looks better but often the ':' screws up)
>
> and more. What do others use please?
>
> --
> Terry, West Sussex, UK
>
I use month-day-year-image sequence number. I also have an Excel
spreadsheet which gives more information including a thumbnail. Just use a
format which you understand.
Jim
 
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I guess it depends upon how many photos you take. I take drga racing and
family photos, not commercial.
I store my photos in folders with the date they were taken.
I then browse the new directories with IrfanView thumbnails to determine
what was taken on each date. I then make a brief note of what is each
directory in a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet has a different page for each
year and the entries are in date order.

--
remove n u m b e r s to reply
Terry Pinnell wrote in message ...
>I'd appreciate learning what format others have chosen for renaming
>photos please. Despite much experiment, I've still not settled on
>anything consistent!
>
>In particular, with future sorting in mind, I vary between making the
>major field the Date/Time Taken, or some keyword about the subject.
>For example, my photo taken at 4:26pm yesterday on a walk from a place
>called Exceat could be renamed from
>DSC0005.jpg to
>2005-07-17-09-16-26-Exceat.JPG
>or
>Exceat-2005-07-17-09-16-26-Exceat.JPG
>
>But, assuming I do settle on making Date/Time Taken the major sort,
>there are so many formats possible for that. I've tried:
>2005-07-17-09-16-26
>2005-07-17 09.16.26
>05-07-17 09.16.26 (that space can cause problems)
>2005Jul17-16.26
>2005Jul17-16.26
>2005Jul17-16:26 (looks better but often the ':' screws up)
>
>and more. What do others use please?
>
>--
>Terry, West Sussex, UK
>
 
G

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"Ralph" <Ralph.Smith2@team4.telstra6.com> wrote:

>I guess it depends upon how many photos you take. I take drga racing and
>family photos, not commercial.
>I store my photos in folders with the date they were taken.
>I then browse the new directories with IrfanView thumbnails to determine
>what was taken on each date. I then make a brief note of what is each
>directory in a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet has a different page for each
>year and the entries are in date order.

Many thanks for the many further replies. Several new ideas I hadn't
previously considered seriously, especially:
- dated *folders* rather than (or in addition to) dated filenames
- the complementary use of a spreadsheet to aid retrieval (at the cost
of additional input effort)

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK
 
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"Terry Pinnell" <terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:1mfnd11ls6ufuu00hekbg4gam59sbqohgu@4ax.com...
> "Morten L.Pedersen" <mlp@melped.dk> wrote:
>
> >"Terry Pinnell" <terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote in message
> >news:vglmd19jb3a5hf19g43h1apl0b751p6htp@4ax.com...
> >> I'd appreciate learning what format others have chosen for renaming
> >> photos please. Despite much experiment, I've still not settled on
> >> anything consistent!
> >>
> >I leave the filename as it is from the camera. I dont believe in making
the
> >filename searchable.
> >Instead I use EXIF/IPTC data, which can be embedded into the picturefile.
> >This way I can use a lot more keywords, than there is room for in the
> >filename. And I get a lot more flexibility when searching.
> >Also the keywords and other info follows the picturefile.
> >
> >I use www.pixvue.com for adding EXIF/IPTC keywords/metadata and
> >www.picasa.com as "photodatabase".
> >In Picasa I can search for the keywords and other info in my
picturefiles.
>
> Thanks, I'll take another look at both Picasa and pixvue.
>
> What do you with filenames for images that have no EXIF, such as from
> old scans?
>

I give them a meaningfull filename (E.g. "<keyword>_<Date>.jpg") AND add
EXIF/IPTC metadata (To make them searchable in Picasa).

regards

> --
> Terry, West Sussex, UK
>
 
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"Owamanga" <owamanga-not-this-bit@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:bmhnd1des6o3uef3dhr49jucp778kkfotm@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 08:13:16 +0100, Terry Pinnell
> <terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote:
>
>
> In view of the somewhat complicated approaches mentioned here, I
> prefer my current system (having moved away from a more structured,
> somewhat encrypted system that I used for films and negs).
>
> Here is an example directory snippet:
>
> Set044_Mar_2005_Renaissance_Festival
> Set045_Mar_2005_St_Patrics_Day
> Set046_Mar_2005_Universal_Studios
> Set047_Apr_2005_Key_Lago_Dolphins
> Set048_Apr_2005_Loxahatchee
> Set049_Apr_2005_Sprinkler
>
> Set number represents a 1Gb or under CF card being filled. I usually
> empty the card after any 'major' event, create the set and name it
> accordingly. Underscores are optional of course, and this system
> allows you to use whatever date format you are happy with because the
> set-number keeps them in chronological order. One set will often
> contain photos taken over a number of days, and the descriptive tag I
> choose is one that best describes the majority of the photos.
>
> Inside, the DSC_NNNN.NEF files get renamed to the set number:
>
> 048_0001.NEF
> 048_0002.NEF
> 048_0003.NEF
>
> and so on...., this keeps the filenames of the images unique, but
> still nice and small.
>
> Every few months I get around to making a small html based index in
> each set, for fast visual location of a particular file (using
> software that makes small thumbnails + 800x600 preview files, and
> exposes the EXIF data for each image).
>
> I'm too damn lazy to add EXIF descriptions for every shot or create
> some kind of database. Everything I print (using mpix.com) gets the
> filename printed on the back of the photo, which makes it easy to
> re-print if I need to.
>
> --

With this approach it's difficult to find photos showing a particular person
or photos with other specifich properties.
The EXIF/IPTC metadata-approach takes a little work and effort, but it pays
off, when you need to find that one particular picture.

regards

> Owamanga!
> http://www.pbase.com/owamanga
 
G

Guest

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Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Tue, 19 Jul 2005 10:29:52 +0200, "Morten L.Pedersen"
<mlp@melped.dk> wrote:

>"Owamanga" <owamanga-not-this-bit@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>news:bmhnd1des6o3uef3dhr49jucp778kkfotm@4ax.com...
>> On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 08:13:16 +0100, Terry Pinnell
>> <terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> In view of the somewhat complicated approaches mentioned here, I
>> prefer my current system (having moved away from a more structured,
>> somewhat encrypted system that I used for films and negs).
>>
>> Here is an example directory snippet:
>>
>> Set044_Mar_2005_Renaissance_Festival
>> Set045_Mar_2005_St_Patrics_Day
>> Set046_Mar_2005_Universal_Studios
>> Set047_Apr_2005_Key_Lago_Dolphins
>> Set048_Apr_2005_Loxahatchee
>> Set049_Apr_2005_Sprinkler
>>
>> Set number represents a 1Gb or under CF card being filled. I usually
>> empty the card after any 'major' event, create the set and name it
>> accordingly. Underscores are optional of course, and this system
>> allows you to use whatever date format you are happy with because the
>> set-number keeps them in chronological order. One set will often
>> contain photos taken over a number of days, and the descriptive tag I
>> choose is one that best describes the majority of the photos.
>>
>> Inside, the DSC_NNNN.NEF files get renamed to the set number:
>>
>> 048_0001.NEF
>> 048_0002.NEF
>> 048_0003.NEF
>>
>> and so on...., this keeps the filenames of the images unique, but
>> still nice and small.
>>
>> Every few months I get around to making a small html based index in
>> each set, for fast visual location of a particular file (using
>> software that makes small thumbnails + 800x600 preview files, and
>> exposes the EXIF data for each image).
>>
>> I'm too damn lazy to add EXIF descriptions for every shot or create
>> some kind of database. Everything I print (using mpix.com) gets the
>> filename printed on the back of the photo, which makes it easy to
>> re-print if I need to.
>>
>> --
>
>With this approach it's difficult to find photos showing a particular person
>or photos with other specifich properties.
>The EXIF/IPTC metadata-approach takes a little work and effort, but it pays
>off, when you need to find that one particular picture.

I guess it depends heavily on your shooting habits. The subject of 70%
of shots is my toddler, 25% is Florida wildlife and 5% is everything
else. A searchable EXIF database has an extremely limited appeal for
me. I can recall an image with good accuracy based on the event, and
with my visual indexing system, finding the exact file is extremely
rapid.

--
Owamanga!
http://www.pbase.com/owamanga
 
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