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Digital photo managment

F

firestorm

pfm Member
I've got about 10 years worth of digitally sourced photos. Most are jps, theres a smattering of tifs and NEFs (Nikon raw) and Panasonic RAW files.

I'm averaging 20k images per annum now.

Firstly I'm looking for a system to help manage that lot and also to do raw and colour to monochrome PP. My first thought is Adobe Lightroom. I have a PC acting as a server for AV media. I use external HD drives to backup my material and a couple of laptops, all running Windows 7.

Is LR3 a good candidate ? I plan on using an educational discount, as I have a child in primary school.

Your thoughts and comments please.
fs
 
I use Lightroom and it works well for me. I am not in the same quantity leage as you are. It has enough post processing capability for most tasks too. As a result of the way it works, you always have the original, I may move to shooting RAW exclusively (I shoot RAW and basic JPEG now) and convert to JPEG for export only.

There is a lot of information on Lightroom, including tutorials, on the web.

I hope this helps.
 
I'm using lightroom 2 and the latest RC of lightroom 3 on a Macbook Air - that gives me a portable solution when I am away from the house. On the main laptop at home I use CS5 and I manage my files in folders on an MS Homeserver with 5 Terabyte disks in a protected array.

The workflow of CS5 Bridge plus the Raw converter plus Photoshop itself is really easy to use and you can easily copy development settings on the bridge and preview before exporting. I think Lightroom, although cheaper, is a bit more complex to use - for instance you have to import the photos before you get a view like the bridge - even if you only import but leave in place.

Like me, you seem to be building up a problem which really doesn't exist if you're ruthless enough. If you use something like Hasselblads free solution "Phocus" then it has a neat system where you can flag files as Red, Green and Amber, and then bin (or just ignore) all the ambers and reds in due course, leaving your directory within Phocus only containing the green ones. To be fair, the only circumstances where you might not want to RAG your photos is if they are just family snaps and you might want to treat them all as green. But if you're trying for an artistic shot or even for a money shot if you're doing reportage, the system is a neat way of making you focus on the ones that might actually be worth something.

Actually, I'm not all that interested in the subject of photography. Once the picture is in the box, I'm not all that interested in what happens next. Hunters, after all, aren't cooks.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Click to expand...
 
Cliff - I've had a look at Phocus, unfortunately the PC version doesn't have 3rd party RAW file compatibility. I've downloaded the trial version of LR3 from Adobe. I was hoping LR3 would have the smart clone tool, I guess that reserved for CS5, which I'm unlikely to purchase. I wonder if the latest version of Elements has it ?
 
firestorm said:
Cliff - I've had a look at Phocus, unfortunately the PC version doesn't have 3rd party RAW file compatibility. I've downloaded the trial version of LR3 from Adobe. I was hoping LR3 would have the smart clone tool, I guess that reserved for CS5, which I'm unlikely to purchase. I wonder if the latest version of Elements has it ?
Click to expand...

Phocus for Mac definitely supports Nikon Raw files including the D300 and D3S.

for instance:


rain by cliffpatte, on Flickr
 
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