Slogging at the Keyboard

One of the biggest problems I've encountered in the years that I've been a professional photographer is the issue of how to manage the vast inventory of images that I've amassed. I've tried several solutions, but they all had their shortcomings. I'm heavily invested in Adobe Lightroom now, and it's working for me. I shuddered at the idea of keywording 60,000 photos. Yet if I didn't I would have to rely on (a rapidly fading) memory of where I was when I took a particular photo so I could somehow retrieve it for a potential sale. It's been a nightmare up til now. Three weeks into it, all photos have some sort of keywords, some more detailed than others right now, but at least there is some sort of organization going on.

Last week a client placed an order for an image I presented three months ago. I had the small jpg and that was it. Less than a minute later I had located the original raw file. A month ago I might have spent an entire day tracking that one image down.

Next is cataloging my paintings. I don't have near as many of those but still think creating a catalog is the way to go. I can keyword each one and when I have a project looking for "red abstract" I'll be able to easily find them.

What a relief to get a handle on something that has bogged me down for years!