Photo workflow III

I have been working on a photo workflow system which works for me and it's now time to give the series a conclusion. You can read the first two posts here and here. This final post in the series looks into how I plan to implement the system to my (rather enormous!) backlog!

As with most mammoth projects, the key is to create several bite size tasks until you complete said mammoth tasks. I’ve done that for archiving and got somewhere. Now let’s deal with the backlog.

Step 1: Back up all my photos, twice.

I am relatively good with photo backup. I have two external drives and have saved all my photos to both of them.

My 2013 new system folder is already there, looking good and making me proud (and making me feel somewhat reassured nothing will happen to  my photos in a way only backups can!).

What to do with the backlog? Keep the backups. Really! It makes me feel safer to know that if I have a change of heart regarding my current ruthless approach to photos, I can still go back – safety net, I believe it’s called. Having this backup also makes me more able to be ruthless when I get to the *delete* part, as ultimately I can retrieve any images I want. Score!

I also created a backup folder just for the new system. Bit obsessed with backups, I know. And now onto the thing itself…!

Step 2: Implement the new system.

Or go for a nice walk in the park. Or a holiday. Or watch clothes dry. Anything is better than opening your backlog of files and feeling overwhelmed. And nostalgic.

Come back to earth and accept you have to do it. Go, Joey, go!

There really is no point in stressing myself with the size of the backlog or deadlines. I choose to ignore the former and not impose on myself any of the latter. So how will I do it? Chronologically, of course.

Every so often, when I have a bit of time or while I watch a film or a series on TV, I open a folder and go through it. I started with December 2012 and I’m working my way up from there. The process is something like this:

:: open folder in Picasa
:: delete ALL rubbish images i.e. too dark, (not artistic) out of focus, what-was-I-thinking-here, etc.
:: congratulate myself on no-mercy-for-boo-photos approach (ignoring the fact I did it because I have a backup)
:: go through all the selected images and edit + rename + label as appropriate
:: add folder to new system backup

The four steps above may or may not happen all in one sitting, depending on the size of the folder and the editing I think the photos need. I don’t have a problem with that though, this is not a race, it’s a gentle jog.

My goal is to only keep photos I *love* or *really really like* in each folder. The more I go through the archives, the more I want to keep going. Not only because it’s rewarding to see everything coming together nicely, but also because I become better at knowing what to keep and what to bin so the whole process is much quicker now.

Once I’m done with a particular year, I may even consider doing a photobook or two!

Hope you find this short series on my photo workflow system useful. I’ve certainly enjoyed reading about your ways of sorting and storing your images! The world is definitely a better place when photos are neatly organised!

Photo workflow II

I wrote about the two problems I had with my photo workflow system (or lack of) in this post. Finding a solution which was both feasible and made me happy took a little while, but I think I’m there.

Let’s start with archiving. Archiving can (and should!) be divided in two things: Folders and Photos.

Folders.

In creating a photo workflow system which worked for me, I had a good look at how I *think* and how I like to organise things. I think in dates. Since I can remember, I have always dated my work, from texts and poems, to drawings and school art work. This obsession with dating things comes from my Dad, no doubt. He would encourage us to put a date on every little paper we ever gave him. I like this. Thank you, Dad!

So it is no surprise the new system needed to have dates.

To begin with, I like dividing things up yearly. The Year folder stays.

                 2013

As for sub-folders, talking to a friend I realised I think about a year in events (with a date, of course!) and stuff. Events are easy, people’s birthdays, a holiday, done. For stuff, I looked at my Flickr.

A while ago I went through my sets on Flickr and divided it up in a meaningful-to-me way. The backbone of how I see my photography is there; brilliant! Things are looking better now. This year so far looks like this:

2013     201301 Dad’s birthday in PT
            201302 Mum’s birthday in PT
            201304 Aunties in Oxford
            2013 Morning walks
            2013 East Oxford wanders
            2013 Door to the world
            2013 Feet on the ground
            2013 Window to my soul
            2013 Belly time
            2013 Fairytale Oxfordshire
            2013 Home is
            2013 Little snippets of life
            2013 Knits
            2013 Sewing
            2013 England
            2013 London town

Ah, this feels great – an archiving system I like which reflects how I see photo archiving. Cool!

Photos.

Once I had the folders in place, I needed to look into photo naming and cataloguing.

I like to keep the original file name. Once I edit an image, I like to add a snappy title (it also means I’ve gone through that particular image). If said photo appears on the blog or Flickr, that goes on the name too, so I know immediately which photos have and haven’t been used.

DSC8367 – Joey being silly BLOG.jpg

I use Picasa for photo organising and find it quite good. Picasa has a *labels* function which lets you tag your photos for an easy search. Honestly, I think the system above lets me find any photo I want pretty quickly, but… For the sake of 5 minutes to label images, I will not test myself and be proved wrong.

Labels I use: Year (haha!), Month (it’s cool), Event (eg Dad’s birthday) or stuff (eg Sewing), and location (Oxford); if I’m feeling inspired that day, I add quirks (eg morning, red, coffee).

And voila’, my archiving problem is no longer. I need a break before writing the final post – how to implement the system to photos I’m taking now AND how to deal with the backlog. Gulp…!

Does this workflow make sense to you?

Photo workflow I

How does one tackle one’s photographic archive, which one has not kept on top of? One pretends it’s all done and never really finds a method that suits one. One also goes off on one, speaking in the third person so as to detach oneself from one’s photographic chaos. Or... one gives oneself a goal!

One of my goals for June is to create a photo workflow which makes me happy. A good start to this seemingly overwhelming task is to look at what I already have and see what works and what doesn't. 

Looking at my photo chaos, I can clearly identify two problems:

Archiving.
I have been wanting to create a photo archiving system which works for me pretty much since the minute I started taking digital photos. My original system, which largely still stands, was to create a year folder with several sub-folders, numbered in chronological appearance. At the end of the year, I end up with a year folder which has over a hundred sub-folders with a brief description of what’s there. In 2011 I was really into “morning walks” and “wandering around”. Clearly not the most practical photo keeping method when one wants some sense of cohesion to one’s archive (ie all my morning walks in 2011).

Backlog.

This year, I am doing Project Life weekly. This means ALL my photos get looked at fairly quickly which is the BEST way to do it. Previous years are a different story. I have folders and folders of chronologically organised events filled with photos that I have not even looked at. Fear! Not only is there a lack of archiving system, but there are also loads of photos to sort through.

Now that the problems have been identified and clearly labelled, I can have a cup of chamomile tea and a slice of warm bread while I think on how to solve them. I will be writing about my solution later in the week. 

Do you also have this problem? Or have you been blessed with an eureka moment at the right time and now have the perfect system AND are on top of your photos? If you already have a system you’re happy with, please share in the comments, I’d love to know what other people do and what works for them.

9 steps to a successful decluttering session

Having thought of myself as a hoarder throughtout my life (only things of great importance of course, like cinema tickets and little notes of friendship and the odd piece of fabric or 100), the idea of decluttering did not come easily to me. Yet I did it, successfully, and I believe it to be useful to share this process with the world of Little Miss Joey.

Where it all begins

1. Accept the need to declutter

Believe it or not, decluttering starts from within. It took me a month of pondering and fiddling with ideas and where I should start before I actually got round to doing it. Why was this useful? Before, I would just start the declutter and get bored and annoyed half way through having to part with my cute treasures without an end in sight or a real aim. This time however, I thought about it, I knew how much stuff (space wise) I needed to get rid off and I had a plan of action.

Plan of action

2. First things first, second things second, and so on

Think about what you want to say bye bye to and make a list (yes, I'm a list lover!), even if just a mental list, of the order you'll be tackling your decluttering in. This is a huge time saver once you actually start going. You won't feel so lost underneath those charity bags working out what you'll do next, because you already know, oh yeah! For example, for me no1 were fabrics; this would make the most obvious difference and I could use this new found storage space in different ways but I needed to know how much space I'd actually have left to work with. Number 2 were clothes. I'll spare you the rest.

3. Start big

This is not just me thinking of world domination, a prominent theme of LMJ's blog. Seriously, start big. When you get rid of the huge sofa nobody sits on, you see the space left by it, everything feels spacious and nice, and you're encouraged to continue. If on the other hand you start with the smallest items possible, it will be forever until you see a difference and you'll just give up before you've even started. This is why I started with fabrics, as said above (no questions answered on the size of my stash, let's just say it is smaller than most and bigger than some).

4. Set aside the time

Decluttering feels good in the end (believe me, been there, done that), but it's a pretty boring and intense decision making process. Make sure you have free time, preferably a weekend, to dedicate to it. You really don't want to be fiddling with your things while preparing for a formal evening ball. Really! You don't want that!

5. Bye bye packaging

Bin bags are a lot of people's favourite. Personally, I'm not a fan. I never want my place covered in bin bags. But it's a good option nonetheless; simple, efficient and easy to get. I used big shopping bags which I tend to keep from previous shopping trips; I believe if they were good enough to get the clutter in, they are more than perfect to get the clutter out and in style! And a box or two.

Lights, ready, action!

6. The actual decluttering

Now you've accepted your need to declutter (breathe, it's ok, we've all been there) and you've devised your plan of action, you're ready to go. All set? Go!

7. Breathing exercises & hydration levels

While you should keep your trips to the charity shops and/or tip to a minimum, feel free to put the recycling and other garbage items you collect in the outside bins every now and again to keep the place livable and give yourself a bit of fresh air. Oh, and make tea. Plenty of. Or drink juice. Wine may be appealing but lowers your productivity for the task at hand.

The end

8. Never (but never!) go back on your decluttering bags

Once an item is in the bag leave it there. Imagine the bag as a black hole sucking in your stuff. Once they're there, they're as good as gone. Fair enough, it's a black hole you still need to carry to the charity shop or the tip, but a black hole to you it should be. Play with me here, for your own good! I speak from experience; two of my fabrics magically found their way back to my fabric stash when I decided to organise them better for the charity shop. Shiu... noone needs to know.

9. Look around and enjoy

This is possibly the most important step of them all. Look around your now decluttered space and enjoy! Really enjoy it! Why is this important other than for immediate joy and sense of achievement? Because it will keep you from cluttering up the place. Or that's the idea anyway :)

And voilá, be happy!

Any other tips you have to help the decluttering process go smoothly? Feel free to share them, we never know when they might come handy!

Little note: the photo is not of my house, the photo is not of the inside of a house. The photo is of a happy new day beginning, just like the one after your decluttering :)