rscheffler
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 p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Directory structure for keepers vs non-keepers? | |
Some time ago I read a post/article by someone questioning: why bother rating images for deletion? I.e. use the time to select images, rather than select images for deletion.
My basic workflow is that I make a first-pass through images and pick my 'selects.' I use Photo Mechanic and just give them a #2 color code (red). Use of #2 was partially based on where a finger comfortably rests or reaches on the keyboard, and also to give the option to use #1 for rarer, really excellent images, if desired. At this point I move the selects to their own 'selects' folder and the rest to an outtakes folder (all within the shoot's main folder). I do break the 'no deletion' rule slightly during this first pass if thumbnail images are clearly unusable, such as grossly out of focus or poorly exposed (i.e. flash didn't fire). But I use the majority of the culling time to pick selects.
Depending on the nature of the shoot, I may break the selects down further into subgroup tags, but not moved into their own subfolders. If I do this, it's usually to help with post processing workflow. For example, if an event took place in a variety of settings, I'll group each major setting separately so I can process each for a more consistent look. I prefer this when editing rather than bouncing back and forth with sometimes widely ranging LR adjustments if working in chronological order, which I find breaks the flow of editing. Sometimes I'll use the whole usable PM number/color tag range for subgroups. After these images are imported into LRC, I may then change those to LR's color classification, or use LR's own color classes if I wish further grouping refinement, in addition to those from PM, which LR distinguishes separately from its own.
After export, I may do another run through the images, particularly for clients, to cull similar images. For example I may have taken photos of someone early during an event and also later, but the later images have better expressions that I wouldn't have keyed in on during the first culling run. I'll remove those from the exported jpeg versions, but not the original RAW. A copy of the jpeg exports is kept in the shoot's main folder so that everything is together. I'll also put a copy of the LRC catalog here for easy access if needed. Unlike many, I make a new LRC catalog for each shoot, but if it's something like a trip, I'll make a trip catalog that may span multiple days and 'events.' While I appreciate the DAM aspects of maintaining a single master catalog, my past experience was that once the number of images got to a certain point, LR bogged down and negatively affected my editing flow. I'm also a little wary of putting everything in a single catalog in case of database corruption, or I make a stupid mistake that impacts a large portion of the catalog. For DAM purposes I use a different app (NeoFinder).
I generally don't delete outtakes, especially personal work. But I'm also not a birder with thousands of images per session from 20fps bursts. For most client work I will DNG convert outtakes with lossy compression to knock them down to anywhere from 1/3 to 2/3 the storage size of the originals. This retains some processing flexibility in the extremely rare case I need to revisit these images. I'll keep the original RAW outtakes and the lossy compressed DNG versions for a while until storage starts to fill up or I feel like doing a 'clean up' of the relevant HDDs, at which point the original RAW outtakes are deleted (but only if lossy compressed DNGs have been created).
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