Cataloging Images


Left Image:
Minolta Maxxum 9, 200mm f-2.8 APO lens, extension tube, Fuji Provia 100, flash off camera.
Multi-segment metering, 1/250 sec at f-5.6. Aperture priority and manual focus.

Photography is not just about going out and taking pictures. It also requires some office work. What do you do with your pictures once you get them back from the lab and evaluate them? You need to store and file each image. This is something many people overlook. It is easy to look for a certain slide or negative if you only have a few hundred images. Once you have one thousand images or more, you'll have difficulty locating an image in your file unless you have set up a good filing system. You can use binders, file cabinets, or photo albums to protect your valuable pictures. This only provides protection, but how do you find that sunset shot you took in the Caribbean two years ago? You could go through every single page in your binders or cabinets, which can take a long time, especially if you have thousands of images, or you could make it easy on yourself by coding each and every shot in your stock. Whether you shoot for yourself or clients, you must develop a working system to quickly find any image you want. If a client requests images of wolves for instance, can you find all your wolf images quickly for your client?

There is no right or wrong way of cataloging photographs. Each person has his or her own system that works for them. This is how I file my images. My system is not the best method and has its problems, but it is a system I've been using to file my pictures and I'm comfortable with it. I use binders to store my slides and negatives. Each binder holds 25 pages and each page holds 20 mounted slides or negatives (I also cut and mount each of my color and black & white negatives). Each binder is given a name. For instance, my wildlife binders are named wildlife1, wildlife2, wildlife3, and so on. Each slide in my file is also given a code name which is printed on slide labels. The first image in my wildlife1 binder is W1-1-1. This tells me the exact location of the slide. W1 stands for wildlife1 binder, page 1, and the first image. W10-15-18 would be wildlife binder #10, page 15, eighteenth slide. I have similar coding for all types of subjects. My still-life images are coded ST, nature is N, portrait is PT, architectural is AL. You can also make subcategories if you wish. You can assign coding for birds, mammals, reptiles under wildlife. You can even narrow it down further by each specie. Tigers, wolves, zebras for instance, instead of just mammals. MTig5-12-16 for example, would be mammals/tigers in binder or cabinet 5, twelfth page, sixteenth image. Tig5-12-16 would be tiger image in fifth binder or cabinet, twelfth page, sixteenth image. You can do this anyway you like as long as you can find any images quickly. You should label each mount with their codes and any other useful information (place, subject, technical data, etc.). If you plan on submitting your work to clients, definitely label your name and phone number on each slide.
This is only half the work. You need to enter each and every image information into your computer. There are dozens of software available for cataloging slides and many of them lets you even include thumbnails along with any information. Mine is an old regular database which still works fine and I'm not planning on upgrading it. It gives me all the information I need quickly and accurately. I can find any image or images in my files in less than a minute. Information for each image looks something like this:

This information tells me a lot and helps me find any image for myself or clients. For example, if a client requests bird images, I just type bird under Subject and my database gives me the codes for all my bird photos. If I get a request for eagles, I type eagle under category. If a buyer is looking for images of bald eagle, subcategory would find all my bald eagle images. Location is useful when looking for images taken in certain places. Above example would help me find bald eagles in California. This is helpful if a magazine is trying to do an article on California bald eagles. I would simply type bald eagles under category and California under location and my database would search only for images of bald eagles in California and ignore the rest. Location is more important for travel or nature photography. Sunset in Hawaii or just Hawaii. This would help you find images of certain places rather than subjects. Date obviously shows when the image was taken. I no longer use full technical data (shutter speeds, f-stops, exposure compensation, etc.). I only include camera, lens and film. Having to record technical information for every single image is difficult. Other formats shows me if this image is also available on other formats I use. I regularly shoot the same subject with different formats. For example, If I shoot the same landscape with both 35mm and medium format cameras, I would type MN14-20-5 under other format. This code tells me that I have a similar image on my medium format (M), nature (N), fourteenth binder (14), twentieth page (20), and fifth image (5). Duplicate shows me if I have made duplicates of this image and where it is located at. Duplicates are the best way to submit your work to clients. Above example tells me that duplicate of this image is available under DW8-4-12:duplicate wildlife binder8 (DW8), page 4, twelfth image. In/Out shows me if this image is in my position or has been sent out. If I type Out under IN/Out, my database shows me all the images I have mailed to clients along with contact information and when I should expect to get them back. Sold tells me if this image has ever been sold and how many times and total sale shows how much I have earned from this single image. I can quickly get the total sales of all images I have sold in one year. History shows all other important information I need to know. Who bought this picture before and where it was published or what type of right was given to the buyer.

I once received a request from a greeting card company that needed white-tiger images. They were sending request to all photographers in their list. All I had to do was type white-tiger under subcategory and see how many white-tiger slides I had and where to look for them. I picked 10 that I felt were the best and mailed them to the company and made a quick sale. You should develop your own system that works for you. Find a software that gives you the options you need and if it includes thumbnails, it will be even better. One thing you must do is to start cataloging your images now. Don't wait until you have a thousand pictures. It will be very difficult and time consuming to enter each and every image into your computer. If you plan on selling your pictures, think more carefully on how you want to file your pictures. You have to be able to find a single image in a short period of time. By the way, the picture you see here is coded W24-5-11. I knew exactly where to put it back once I finished scanning it.

Note: Stock agencies have their own filing system. If you plan on working with stock agencies, you should still develop your own system, but you must re-code your images before submitting them to the agency. Stock agencies will provide you with information on how to label each slide or rename digital files.

Recommended Software

ACDsee 8.0