Scrapbook Challenge

Cynthia, over at Life is Good, is trying to figure out the best way to get her digital photos off her camera & in to a workable format with the fewest steps on her PC. I'm sharing my photo work flow to help, but I have to admit to chuckling while I type that. I'm really not sure this is going to help at all Cynthia & it may just make your "Wacky Work flow" look not so wacky. ;-)

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I want to hear about your photography work flow. What steps do you take to get your pictures from your camera to your blog and/or photo album.

I try to download my photos frequently & almost always after an event. I want them off the camera quickly. When I download them, I add the date to the file name. This is something new. This way, when I move them for later reprinting/sharing, I won't run in to the "file the same" name thingie that plagued me at the beginning of using digital photos.

Here is what typically happens...

• Download photos on to PC. Hmmm, let me share my folder system first

I have folders that look like this.....

Lisa's

--Camera

---2008

-----monthly folders

------dates within the folders from whenever I took a photo even if it's just one for that day

Having said that...under "Camera" I also have reprint folders. For instance, there is a "2007-2008 School Folder." This means I had to search through ALL the folders for 2007-2008 that fell within the school year & find all the photos that I needed for reprinting that fit in that category.

Okay, before I get off on that tangent though...back to what I do with my first downloads...

• All photos from the camera downloaded in one go to the appropriate monthly folder
• New date folders set up for all the days downloaded (anywhere from one to five at times)
• Photos are dragged/dropped in to the new folders.
• Go in to each day folder & put view on to "filmstrip"
• Scroll through each photo & decide if I'm keeping it or not. Change orientation if need be so they all look right.
• Decide if any are going to be put on the blog. Open those using Microsoft Office Photo Manager (because it came with the computer)
• Edit - generally just compress the photos to use very little space on line (and deter anyone from taking them & reprinting them without permission)
• Save them using the labels "blog1, blog2, etc) for uploading to the blog

If I am going to be having them printed out, I generally use Snapfish. I go in to all my folders & find the ones I want to reprint. I put them in a new folder. Then I go through those & edit anything that needs editing...cropping, red eye removal, brightening, etc. Then they get uploading & ordered. I try not to do this until I'm ready to put them in to scrapbooks!

I should say that I own Creative Memories Memory Manager program. I know I need to start using this. I'm blushing to say that I bought it well over a year ago. I do finally have it uploaded on my PC but now I need to play with it. I SO need to get it going so I can have all my nifty sort boxes going so I don't waste so much time finding photos for projects.

I'm not sure this is going to help you at all, Cynthia, but it's helped me see what my next project will be! ;-)