Advice needed: Mac tools, apps, & configuration for efficient photo processing

Last week I quickly fired off a frustrated tweet about how lost I am on setting up my Macbook Pro so I can start out with a good, organized configuration for working with my photos.

I read through the thread File Organization for the Photographer and decided I was going to go with the file structure of:

\Users\Username\Pictures\Nikon Transfer\YYYY\YYYY_MM\Month_YYYY_MM_DD_XXXX.JPG

YYYY = 4-digit year
MM = 2-digit month
DD = 2-digit day of month
Month = Actual name of month
XXXX = 4 digit sequential number

So a picture taken today would be June_2010_06_10_XXXX.JPG (or NEF)

Prior to using my Mac, I would pull the pictures off of my cards with Nikon Transfer by event and would create a folder for them. ; So my Trip to Disneyland may have been like this:

\Pictures\Disneyland\2010_05\Day_1\Disneyland_YYYYMMDD_Day01_XXXX.JPG

and a pictures of my kids may be:
\Pictures\Kids\Kai\Kai_YYYYMMDD_SomeEvent_XXXX.JPG

Well, I found that method to be annoying and undaunting which resulted in pictures staying on a card until I filled it up. ; On top of that, it made it hard to find pictures when my wife needed a specific picture for scrapbooking when pictures crossed events or were still too generic.

For example, with my old naming convention, if Nancy said she needed a picture from a meal we had at Napa Rose, I'd have to remember what trip it was on and what day, and then look through all the pictures.

So, if I was going to have to employ a software package for managing my pictures visually (ala Picasa), I might as well use a file naming convention that isn't so burdeonsome.

I must admit my naming conventions were modeled after the detailed method I would name my MP3's when I ripped my CDs so that I could find music navigating my harddrive (pre-iTunes).

In this day and age management of pictures (and music) through the file system isn't as necessary.

So, I am viewing myself as having a clean slate.

I am thinking of adding a new directory level for Day but that may only be used for pictures taken on vacation. ; But that's a tangent.

So, here I am faced with these questions:

Should I still be using Nikon Transfer to pull my pictures off my cards?
I do like how it lets me apply naming conventions and pulls off both my JPGs and NEFs at the same time and uses the same naming convention (I shoot JPG + NEF). ;

What I don't like is how it will put both files into the same defined location. ; Are there apps that are just as good, but I could define that I want JPGs to go to one location, but NEF to another. ; Right now I will have to manually move them.

Are there better applications to use for the pulling of the pictures than Nikon Transfer when shooting with Nikon? ; Even if I cannot choose separate locations for my RAW and JPGs, is there something out there that gives me more power than the free Nikon Transfer?

Should I be storing my pictures on my Macbooks main HD
Under my old windows methodology I ended up having pictures scattered all over the place on multiple external HDs and on the local 'My Documents'. ; Is there a better workflow I should give thought to.

Outside the scope of photo processing and organization, are there any free software applications (for download or built-in to my MacBook) or for pay that I should be using

I know there is Time Machine, but I'm not really sure what it is, if it's something I should implement in my process somehow or if there are other powerful Mac tools that I should be looking at.

What packages should I be looking at for organizing my photos
On windows I used Picasa, but it was a bit rudimentary for me and it seemed to be destructive if I made any changes to the photos accidentally. ; I need to be able to organize my photos into multiple categories. ; For example, a photo may be from a specific Disney Trip (i.e. May 2010 Disneyland, Day 01) and it may also be needing to be categorized as Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Fantasyland, and for each of my kids. ; That way I can much more easily locate pictures when prompted by my wife, for my blog, for my Celebrations Magazine articles or by various friends who ask for pictures for their blogs.

I want something with power to keep things no only organized but easily able to find stuff when needed.

What packages should I be looking at for processing my photos
I know a few of my Mac buddies who are pro photogs have pushed Aperture 3, but I know that Nikon's NX2 is Mac-compliant and of course there is Photoshop.

Granted, I could purchase both Aperture and NX2 for less than Photoshop but I'm so lost on features, ease of use and bells and whistles that I will find I cannot live without.


I know that this is really open question since it really is based on everyone's personal experience, preferences, and such. ; But, I know many of you have made changes in your own methodologies and practices based on either previous mistakes or changes in needs. ; So, I'd like to learn from others past experiences if I can.

I can take the opinions voiced here and try and decide what will work best for me. ; But, I'd like to tap into the community knowledge for a bit.

Thanks in advance

 

I think one of Aperture's best features (except the new annoyance in 3, I'll get to it) is the digital image organization.

Rather than using file NAMING it uses metadata, and you can search for those tags. ; Heck you can even split the libraries!


Now my current annoyance is that A2 saved the pics under the users/pics etc file with a directory called the "project". ; Then when you filled up your hard drive and need to move it to an external (Time Machine handles files left on the main HD for me, now I'm using RAID on the external), so can "relocate" the masters to the new HD. ; And Aperture will know where to find them. ; NOW Aperture wants to save the pics in the library file by default, so no one else can use them without exporting them from Aperture directly. ; Otherwise you'll need to create a folder, download the pics to there, and then import into Aperture. ; The old import method was much simpler.....but I'm thinking that for pro use - you would create a library for each "job", and backup those libraries independently, so it wouldn't matter about having the pics inside/outside of the A3 library file. ; Esp. since you can switch libraries quickly.



I haven't played with Bridge...yet. ; Or even Bibble's Image Management tools.

 

Thanks Roger. ; I was hoping you'd chime in since I know you are both a Nikon user and a Mac user. ;

So, I guess that is a vote for Aperture for both organizing and processing photos.

So, do you use Aperture to pull your pictures off your cards or are you still using Nikon Transfer or some other app?

 

I was using Aperture to download the photos, but now I'm just using Finder - copy and paste. ; Then I'll import into Aperture but tell it to leave the photos where they are. ; Starting sometime between tomorrow and 4-6 weeks from now I'm probably going to be shooting RAW+JPG, and then sorting by type, putting the JPG on SD, and RAW to the HD.

 

Sorry Roger, but is SD = Solidstate Drive and HD = Hard Drive?

 

SD = Secure Digital; I plan on putting the JPGs elsewhere for ease of viewing.

 

So, when you pull your pics off your cards you are going to be storing your JPGs on little SD cards or are you going to configure your camera to store the JPGs on SD cards and your RAWs on the CF card and then you'll just label and store your SDs somewhere at home?

 

I'm going to use the SD cards to upload to a different device for ease of viewing...when they're not needed anymore I'll probably just delete the JPGs...but the RAWs will be saved.

 

What kind of device? ; One of those portable devices like that Epson Tim used to have (just trying to learn of possible solutions I have never thought of)?

Regardless, my D300 doesn't support two cards so I won't be able to split my files types to different slots. ; I really wish Nikon had the foresight to realize that people who shoot RAW + JPG might now want them both imported to the same directory. ;

Nikon Transfer does give you the option to configure a "backup" location to copy all files imported off the cards, but how hard would it have been for them to have allowed you to define a location for your RAW images so they'd be slapped there instead of with the JPGs and if you don't shoot RAW it wouldn't be used

I wonder if there are any import tools out there that are that intelligent to recognize you have RAW images on the card in addition to JPG and allow you to put them in a different location.

 

I have one of those....but this would be larger and thinner. ;


Yeah, I think there is a reason why they added the second slot to the D300s. ; I'm sure the new FX body will have two slots as well.

 

Uhhhh yeah I'll let ya know in 24 hours or something.

 

Just another reason I'm upset I didn't wait to upgrade my dSLR from the D80 to the D300, but the deal I got from B&H at the time. ; Now I realize that the deal may have been a precursor to the D300s being launched

 

The big downside to the use of the Finder is that you have to stick with the filenames the camera gives the files. As Gary pointed out in the File organization thread, eventually your counter will roll over and you'll create files with the same name.

 

You can customize the prefix on the camera; I know that would be a pain during a trip, but it's possible. ; Only happens every 10k anyway.

I don't see Aperture having a problem with the same file names because of the sidecar file, which is where the metadata is stored, and that's how you could search for a file.

 

OK. ; That sounds like 2 votes for not renaming your files and use the file format coming out of the camera

 

Okay, how are you doing that in 3? ; I only see the option of "add to library" or "import in same location". ; This wasn't the case in 2.

 

Thanks Scott, I'll take a look at it.