help me decide on directory structure for photos

[troypiggo]

In the past, I had a directory tree that looked like this:

2009->2009_11_03->jpg->web
2009->2009_11_04->jpg->web
2009->2009_11_04->print

The dates would contain all the RAW files, "jpg" would only be those I converted, "web" was saved for web, "print" would be for the rare occassions I get something printed.

It was all quite simple, but now I have a few cameras; I'm trying to tweak things to make backing up easier; and I'm also rethinking how I do things because I bought Lightroom (but still getting used to it).

One thought was to have a separate dir for each camera, then just do the same as above.

Or should I just keep the same as above and don't bother distinguishing which camera?

Or should I have one directory tree for the RAW files, one for jpg conversions, and one for web etc? Like this:

RAW->2009->2009_11_04
RAW->2009->2009_11_05

JPG->2009->2009_11_04
JPG->2009->2009_11_05

WEB->2009->2009_11_04
WEB->2009->2009_11_05

I thought that might make backing up and archiving simpler, because I'd be more paranoid about the RAWs than the other stuff.

[kevitivity]

This is one of the reasons I like Aperture so much - the sophisticated organization with tagging, rating, etc. I presume LR has similar features.

I typically have a folder for each year, and then an Aperture "project" for each shoot. I then make sure to have very descriptive meta data and lots of tags to make searching for a specific shoot or photo quick and easy. You could do something similar for your print/web images. Or you could simply use tags for that too. Aperture Albums and Smart Albums add organizational features...

I then use the built in archive feature to back everything up to external drives (one of which is kept in a fire safe).

In the end it's like iTunes but for photo shoots. I've learned that it's also very important to keep whatever system you use as simple as possible.

There are a ton of good organizational tips for Aperture users here: http://www.oreillynet.com/digitalmed...our_apert.html

[Amamba]

Ligthroom allows you to sort / filter images based on EXIF data. So if you use it all the time, in theory you could just dump them all into one directory and still get them organized in whichever way you care.

I would be careful not to create too many directories, first this is very inflexible and somewhat permanent, second too many directories would sooner or later impede file browsing. I am just placing files in year / date directory (2009->2009_10_11), and do any other sorting / filtering using XNView category / color tagging features. What you have in LR is way more powerful and easier to use.

[troypiggo]

Thanks guys. I'll keep playing with LR then.