Workflow - 10 000 images...now what?

[SnapHappy10]

Hi. I'm new to the forum and would appreciate help from more experienced photographers.

I am a keen amateur and have amassed a running total of 10 000 images on my hard drive. I use Photoshop Elements 5.0 to import images, delete the poor images, edit the decent ones and save in both .psd and .jpg format. I have only recently begun to work with raw format.
I do regular backups of my images to an external hard drive, but I must admit that I do have occasional "reconnection" issues as I tend to tinker with my catalogue.

I would like to free up space on my computer's hard drive (for more photos of course!), but just cannot take that leap of faith that means I will be deleting images from my computer. Is it worth creating a collection in Elements with my absolute favourites in, just to be on the safe side? Please could someone take me through best practice on a step-by-step basis, to ensure that I have a permanent backup of all my images and to help me with what feels like a rather brave step to take on my own!

[ALwin]

I use Adobe Lightroom to manage my 30K+ photos, a majority of them are jpgs from the first year of owning a DSLR and doing several timelapses and practicing photography. I still consider Lightroom to be the best for managing huge loads of photos.

[Chris Humphreys]

I've been here before and it does take some nerve to finally press that 'delete' button, even though you know everything is safely backed up. However, I would stongly recommend using more than one back up, particularly now that you are going to remove photographs from your hard drive and will essentiantly be relying on the longevity of one external drive.

For what it's worth, here's my fairly simple system:

1. My computer has the following structure:
- Library: past 6 months work, every shot taken, RAW and jpg (split into sub-directories for each shoot)
- Gallery: favoured shots / portfolio, split into sub-directories for different categories (landscape, architecture, people etc)
- Upload to web: processed jpgs that are to be uploaded to my website(s) (same categories as the Gallery, once uploaded the photos are deleted)

2. Everything on my computer is backed up weekly to two external hard drives (kept in seperate locations).

3. Any shots in my library older than 6 months get archived onto the same two external hard drives and removed from my computer

4. All 'gallery' shots on my website are essentially another backup as they are full res and retievable from the remote server. So if all else fails I'll still have my 'best' work.

When I fill the hard drives, I buy two new hard drives, back up all files from my computer onto them and stick the old ones into envelopes and put them in storage (in seperate locations).

That's about it, hope it helps. You'll feel good once you've purged your computer, but make sure you have everything backed up in at least two locations.

Cheers

Chris

[SnapHappy10]

Thanks for your advice ALwin and Chris. I'm still feeling some trepidation, but I know that it is time to grasp the nettle and have a sort out. Chris - you have reassured me that it is the right thing to do!

Incidentally, I have been wondering about purchasing Lightroom as I have heard so many good things, but I have also heard that some people use both Lightroom and Elements or Photoshop. Is this not complicating the process by the addition of more software? Or do you use Lightroom alone? Would I be better off upgrading to the latest version of Elements or purchasing Lightroom? If you look online, both of these can be found at a reasonable price. Decisions, decisions...

[ALwin]

Lightroom is a digital darkroom and file management software, however it doesn't offer all the finer editing that Photoshop can offer. Thats why many people use both. For myself I usually start work in Lightroom, however if there are finer details I need to edit I just click "Edit in Photoshop" from LR.

There is an advantage to working via Lightroom -> Photoshop. In Lightroom any adjustments you make do not affect the original file, it is Non-Destructive editing. In Photoshop you need to save your edited file as a duplicate if you want to keep the original intact.

When I click "Edit in Photoshop" inside LR, I have my preferences set to "Edit a copy with Lightroom adjustments" because though Lightroom offers non-destructive editing, other programs do not. Therefore Lightroom allows you to edit a copy of the file in another software, usually as a Tiff file (PSD format is available for PS), and when I finish editing in the supported external program/plugin I just close it and Lightroom re-imports the edited Tiff file for you to continue working.

Other reasons why I use Lightroom for managing my photos:
1) Management of Keywords/tags, metadata, etc
2) Ability to work on massive amounts of files at the same time if needed. e.g. Sync adjustments across multiple files
3) Ability to export multiple files easily, either onto local drives or to online galleries such as Facebook, Flickr, Smugmug.
4) Helps sorting files inside catalogs by date, time, etc.

I think there is a trial version of Lightroom available, try it out. Also Scott Kelby wrote a nice book on Lightroom: The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers.
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/ For the trial version and some slideshows/videos showing what you can do.
This is a book by Pro photographer David duChemin which I recommend reading after you finish with Scott Kelby's book. Vision and Voice: Refining Your Vision in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

As for file and disk management, Chris offered great advice.

For my workflow, I never delete a file unless it's a file I don't want, mostly because it didn't come out right or I accidently pressed the shutter button when I wasn't ready.

Since I work off a laptop, I usually keep only the files concerning the current year on the local drive. All previous years get exported onto 4 external drives:
1) Primary USB drive that I carry around with in my laptop bag if I quickly need to access previous files.
Since my laptop has either a USB 3.0 port or eSata port this drive is a fast portable drive like the Lacie Rugged 2.5" drives.

2) 3x backup drives where I make duplicate copies of all my files. Each stored inside a padded soft bag in separate locations.


In Lightroom I create catalogs for every 2 years worth of photos. I have set Lightroom to backup each catalog once a week, and delete old backups on a regular basis. Normally as long as I have the 3 most recent backups of a catalog, I delete any backup which is older.

[ALwin]

Now that eSata, USB 3.0 and soon Intel Lightpeak will be offering data speeds much higher than USB3, I intend to work off my primary portable drive for all my work in Lightroom. That way I don't need to export 'Catalogs' if I want to move my work from one computer to another, I just plug that external drive into another machine and can continue working. The only issue with this is to make sure that the external drive uses the same drive letter on every computer. Before with USB2 when I had my files locally and wanted to move the work from my office computer to home computer and vice versa I had to export and import catalog files. Sometimes because the files are stored on drives of different letters between home and office machines not everything gets imported easily.

[SnapHappy10]

Thanks for your tips ALwin. You make a strong case for the purchase of Lightroom!

I'll definitely research the books you mentioned too...really useful. That's why I love forums, you can pick up so much useful info from people with a passion for photography!