Overwhelmed with all these shots

Tamron 16-300mm Di II VC PZD MACRO w/Canon Nikon mount

06/02/2008 05:14:57 PM · #1

Saturday, I went to an organzed shoot thing. I had 5 models for 7 hours.

I have taken out all the OOF, Crap ones, and generally bad photos and I am still left with about 600 shots. And they are all pretty good. Some are brilliant, some are excellent, some of them I can play with in photoshop.

What do I do with them all, where, what , why, I mean just resizing the lot of them is a nightmare, let along any tweaking i have to do,

how do you cope with a large batch of shots, cos I am lost

Patrick_R

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM

06/02/2008 05:17:56 PM · #2

Are they similar poses? If so zoom in on just the eye and whichever has better focus take it. I know your pain though. Honestly I grab the ones I really reall really like and edit those and let the others sit on my harddrive until I have free time to get reinspired by them.

dsa157

Canon EOS-50D

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

06/02/2008 05:19:08 PM · #3

what tool do you use for organizing? In Lightroom, for example, I can rate all the shots very quickly from 1 to 5. I go through a fast first pass. Then I filter to show the 5 rated images and re-rate. If I have several of the same great shot where the expression is just slightly different, I just pick one of them. I narrow down to some manageable batch size and then start my post processing.

totaldis

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

06/02/2008 05:21:08 PM · #4

Invest in Lightroom!

You will never use anything else to organize.

Tamron 16-300mm Di II VC PZD MACRO w/Canon Nikon mount

06/02/2008 05:23:20 PM · #5

I do not have lightroom, is it worth the money> what else can you do with it, can you tell i havent even readup on it yet?

Katmystiry

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

06/02/2008 05:25:11 PM · #6

I'm going to watch this thread! I just got back from vacation and have over 900 photos to organize (after I took out the bad ones!)

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

06/02/2008 05:28:44 PM · #7

Originally posted by JulietNN:

I had 5 models for 7 hours.

I had the same situation once when I was much younger. Looking back, I wish I'd had a camera.

Eyesup

Nikon D300

Sigma 70-200 /2.8 APO EX DG Macro HSM II

06/02/2008 05:30:38 PM · #8

Originally posted by JulietNN:

I do not have lightroom, is it worth the money> what else can you do with it, can you tell i havent even readup on it yet?

I love lightroom.... other than it's organizational benifits (I was able to go through 875 pick from my model shoot get it down to 101 picks and get the basic editing done in about 1 hour). it's great for simple edits (contrast, exposure, WB, etc) and if you do want to tweak it in PS you can send a photo straight from LR to PS no muss no fuss.

I definatly think it's worth the money (and for an Adobe Prduct it's reasonable)

littlegett

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

06/02/2008 05:40:45 PM · #9

I am not sure I understand the issue.

When I used to create that many images.... (I don't anymore during shoots I somehow get what I want with a handful instead of hundredfold.) I would sort them and pick out the few best of the best. The rest would sit and collect digital dust until I had time to come back to them.

So, you rooted them already. Your next step I can not tell you what to do. I would just edit and post the series/sets to my website. If it has to be done in bulk I do that, or with editing do that way.

I am confused. what are you asking exactly?

littlegett

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

06/02/2008 05:42:29 PM · #10

Originally posted by Art Roflmao:

Originally posted by JulietNN:
I had 5 models for 7 hours.

I had the same situation once when I was much younger. Looking back, I wish I'd had a camera.

You are a goofball L()L. Though /off topic/ someone just confused me for you L()L. Anyway.

totaldis

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

06/02/2008 05:43:52 PM · #11

I think it is $99 and is well worth the money. It helps a lot if you have multiple shots taken in the same room with the same light and exposure settings. I shot a wedding and the church was very poorly lit and every photo needed adjustments. Lightroom allows you to edit a photo then save all the tweaks you have made to a "preset". You can highlight the entire set and process the photos with one-click! Although each individual photo may need to be edited differently, the preset gives you a better starting point than just a RAW output.

You're better off just downloading a copy and trying it yourself.

//www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/?sdid=CDXRD

Patrick_R

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM

06/02/2008 05:45:19 PM · #12

Originally posted by Art Roflmao:

Originally posted by JulietNN:
I had 5 models for 7 hours.

I had the same situation once when I was much younger. Looking back, I wish I'd had a camera.

oh my gosh art you are priceless.... ha I'm almost in tears...

cdrice

Nikon D7000

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED

06/02/2008 06:05:53 PM · #13

Oh, I'm still wiping my eyes from reading Art's post. Whew, I think I hurt myself. (Probably what Art said - Ohhhhhhh!) ;)

Another vote here for Lightroom.

I just did a series of four concert shoots over the weekend (and have another tonight - ugh!). Nearly 1,000 shots so far -- without LR, I'd be one lost puppy.

With the 30-day free trial, I think it would be worth the time to download it to deal with this one project -- nothing to loose but a little bit of time learning the interface, which doesn't take long for basic functionality. (And I think by the end of organizing this project in LR, you'll be sold on it anyway).

Message edited by author 2008-06-02 18:10:15.

PhotoDave

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II

06/02/2008 06:06:19 PM · #14

Originally posted by totaldis:

its $299us ;) Ive been debating myself whether to get LR or not, Im still a little pissed they wouldn't budge on the price with me owning the extended versions of the Design Suite and Web Suite :( I do like it a bit more than Bridge but not sure if I like it $300 more...

-dave

Beetle

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

06/02/2008 06:29:07 PM · #15

Whilst Lightroom no doubt is wonderful ( I loved the trial version), there is an alternative until you decide to buy it.

With your camera came Zoombrowser. If you downloaded the latest update for it, you'd have a way of assign ratings, too.

I often use Zoombrowser's slideshow to easily assign a star rating, and delete the ones I know I don't want.

Tamron 16-300mm Di II VC PZD MACRO w/Canon Nikon mount

06/02/2008 06:43:50 PM · #16

Originally posted by littlegett:

Basically, I rooted out the crap stuff, now I have 600 shots to work on. I don't know where to start, there are so many that trying to organize them is (for me) nigh on impossible. It is just overwhelming to have that many shots.

I think what I need to do is go through them again and do what other people have suggested and sort them into a ranking system.

I shall have to get very nit picky on each shot. It is just so time consuming, so having some sort of system helps.

It boils down to 100 shots per model, adn those shots are pretty damn good. I need to boil it down some more though

cynthiann

Nikon D810

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8

06/02/2008 06:57:43 PM · #17

I did my first wedding a last week and took 600 shots (wedding party of 30). It was my first time organizing this many, but here is how I did it. I went through and took out the obvious ones (not focused, etc.), then I went through again and got rid of closed eyes, poor angles, etc, then I went back through and picked the best of my 'repeats'.

After that, I used a star system in Bridge. Similar to Lightroom, but comes with CS3, so I use it.

I think the trick is to just practice some patience and eventually you'll come up with something that works for you. Next time will be faster, and the next, and the next...

cdrice

Nikon D7000

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED

06/02/2008 06:57:57 PM · #18

Originally posted by JulietNN:

I shall have to get very nit picky on each shot. It is just so time consuming, so having some sort of system helps.

Another LR-related suggestion/tip -- LR has survey and compare views -- I use them very often when weeding down my final picks -- you can see side-by-side (or side-by-side-by-side-by...) the photos you have selected; you can zoom in, pan around, etc.

Let's say you had 3-4 very similar shots (you took in burst mode, for example). You can pick your four (or however many) shots, go to survey view and see them all at once. To get a closer comparison, you can choose any two photos, go to compare view, zoom in, pan to the eyes (or whatever "important" feature you care about -- then take actions on the shots on the screen. You can change their ranking, drop them from the survey view, etc. You can select two specific shots at any time and go into compare view, and see them (at any zoom setting) side-by-side). As you drop items out of the view, you're left with a view of your remaining shots, and you can keep widdling it down to the best (or best 2, whatever you want).

Like most things in LR, for each feature, there are a number of associated hotkeys you can use to speed things up, or you can just use the tools buttons on the screen.

I use survey and compare view all the time when going through collections of photos, but it's one of those neat little features some people never even try (vs. flipping back and forth and back and forth in loupe view, viewing each picture at a time).

Anyway, just a thought -- I'm sure similar features are available in other tools, too; so I'd recommend looking into that functionality with whatever organization system you choose -- having a feature like that is very handy and saves "flipping" between similar shots over and over.

Message edited by author 2008-06-02 18:59:58.

littlegett

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

06/02/2008 07:04:09 PM · #19

Originally posted by JulietNN:

(snipped for space)

It boils down to 100 shots per model, adn those shots are pretty damn good. I need to boil it down some more though

Ok, so I think I understand, you are basically standing before a monster and do not know how to overcome the monster.

Well, in that situation, This is what I do with multiple models I will place each model into their own folder and inside that their own folder set. Drive:models/Name/set type of thing. If there are two or more models in the set They can either A go into one of the model folders, or B a group folder then the set folder.

After that, being broken down they seem less daunting. Even if you just break them down by location, or whatever.

Now, even if all of the images are all part of the same set, The next thing I would do is open the set folder in slideshow and go through them one at a time looking for imperfections. This is the nit picky part. Some you can fix, some may take too long to fix, what you want to do is find the 'handful' of images that can be ready within the first couple days after the shoot.

After you break them down to just a handful, you know you have your best shots and the rest can hang out until you get time or decide what to do with them.

Moose408

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

06/02/2008 07:17:19 PM · #20

Another vote for Lightroom. You can very quickly sort through several hundred photos (or 600) and I couldn't live without it.

citymars

Nikon D700

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

06/02/2008 07:17:50 PM · #21

When you do a "batch" process on a group of photos, I assume there is a way to keep your original file intact and only process copies?

Moose408

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

06/02/2008 07:26:51 PM · #22

Originally posted by citymars:

When you do a "batch" process on a group of photos, I assume there is a way to keep your original file intact and only process copies?

All edits that Lightroom does are non-destructive meaning you can get back to the original at any time (you don't actually edit the original you are just creating an instruction list or recipe for what to change). If you want to edit the photo in Photoshop or some other program it will automatically create a copy that you can edit preserving the original file.

The batch processing is great, spend 5 minutes tweaking one photo then apply those tweaks across hundreds of other photos. If you don't like the changes, change it or revert back to the original.

yanko

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

06/02/2008 07:35:44 PM · #23

Originally posted by JulietNN:

Some are brilliant

How about just narrowing it down to those?

Oh and you definitely need to get lightroom or something very similar. I like that you can rate each photo when you view them in lightroom. You can then sort by those ratings and other flags you can set and apply batch edits to them.

emorgan49

Olympus E-5

Olympus 50mm f/1.8 MF Normal Zuiko

06/02/2008 07:37:22 PM · #24

Stupid question !3 - Do Aperture and Lightroom do sort of the same thing?