Flinders Ranges BTS: Part 3 – Organisation
Watching the odd couple of YouTube, Casey Neistat and Peter McKinnon (videographer/photographers), Peter has a more ordered system of how he stores his files, while Casey seems to be less organised – although he is actually very organised in a different way (I haven’t seen how he organises his files). If something comes up and Casey wants to share video or photo from 15-20 years ago, he finds it quickly. I’m assuming he has a system that at the very least, he understands. Being in the field for over 20 years, he has a massive library of photos and video. Casey also has an amazing work ethic. He is able to see in his mind what he wants to film and sets about doing so. He may end up filming more than needed, but there is an economy to what he does. It comes across as relaxed and flows nicely, but it is fairly meticulous. He has an idea of the story he wants to tell and sets out to show that. He published 534 daily vlogs (approx. 18 months) requiring a good system, even if it is in your head.
Peter McKinnon shared his process for storing his files back in 2017. He has a particular folder naming system and process for the different cameras, drones etc.
I mentioned in part 1 the process of film development and final arrangement for photos. In contrast I didn’t really have a system of what to do with digital photos. I haven’t had any printed out, I don’t put them in an album as such. From 2004 when I got the CoolPix, I hadn’t been on any major trips. I signed up on Facebook early 2009 as a place I might add my photos.
2016 I built my first website and wanted to put photos there. I travelled overseas late that year and the intention was to blog and upload photos on the go. While travelling I had issues with the login then upon returning home – and having the longest continuous sleep in the five weeks I was away – my brain cracked the code and I uploaded two blogs. June 2017 I managed to sort out the photos, uploaded them to Google Photo and wrote three more blogs. Using Google Photo was my solution of where to put the bulk of the photos. I realised that I was restricted in space on the website. With Google Photo I was able to set my photos up in albums. June 2018 added one more blog, with the remaining five posts in April 2019.
One reason for the delay was I needed to move my website as the original host was unstable and lacking in customer support. When the site went down repeatedly (meaning I couldn’t book clients or process payments) I ended up having to brute force my domain out of the host and set up with a bigger, more stable company. That took up quite a bit of time in 2018, so finalising the blogs from the 2016 trip was not high on my priority list.
Because of all of this, it really hid one of the reasons for frustration: organisation. I had travelled to New Zealand in 2015 and didn’t do much with the photos beyond use them as stock photos in the older posts I brought over from Blogger.
It was about two weeks after uploading the last post regarding the 2016 trip that I uploaded a post on the 2015 trip. A month later (May 2019) uploading the post from the Melbourne trip in 2017. I did write a post reflecting on what would help me to be better organised during travel in the future. Some of this came from the trip to New Zealand in February 2019. There were two posts in relation to the NZ trip, and they were completed four and seven months after the trip. Not great, but better than 3-4 years.
What is the holdup? Some of it is procrastination – I’ll write about that in another blog – and some of it is not having a system in place that helps. It seems as I get older that my mind doesn’t hold too many things at the same time. I would guess that it never did. It is just that things were simpler before. When I travelled in Africa (1989-1990) I took photos on film and then stored it in a bag until I returned to the UK and had them developed. I kept a diary as it gave me something to do while eating meals. That system was simple. In the five months I was in Africa, I used 19 rolls of film – qpproximately 630 photos. FIVE MONTHS.
I took 1185 photos in FIVE DAYS in the Flinders Ranges. That is a recipe for overwhelm.
In early this year, while working on the Flinders Ranges photos and blog, I decided that it was time to develop a system of handling photos. I’m grateful I kept a journal while I was there, so I had something to refer back to when I began writing the blog.
Let me cover the blog first: I admire a friend who travels with her husband regularly. She has a blog she keeps that in the past she would do on her laptop. However more recently she writes it on her phone. She is a retired teacher, so doesn’t have to draft and rewrite as much as I do. It still takes time to write and select photos, but she has a process and the interest so while she is a way, the blogs are written and posted, there is a link added on Facebook, so often by the time she returns I know most of the stories of her travels before we catch up.
Writing the blog can take me many, many hours over a few days. Once I have completed the first draft, leave it for a day or two then return to it fresh. Second draft is moving stuff around, third draft is trimming which may require leaving it for a few days so I have fresh eyes so it flows better. Once I can read through and only stop a couple of times for minor edits, I figure I’m as close as I’m going to get.
From here I create a new file (I draft in Word) and add the photos (including file name) where they should be. This is new for me but helped get the final step of posting the Flinders Ranges blog. This is an opportunity to try different photos and find a balance.
[As an aside, I started this series of blogs early 2024 before abandoning it. It is now October and I’m finally returning to do the final edits and locate photos to include. Leaving the draft for ‘a day or two’, could be months!]
The system for sorting photos is a work in progress. Step one is to determine what the file and folder names will be. The Flinders trip had a mish mash of names. I want something consistent and when I back the files up, I can easily locate them at a later date. Just leaving the file names as what they come out of the camera as is not descriptive enough to help guide me. This is where I remembered the system Peter McKinnon described so developed my version of it.
Using a spreadsheet template, I list all the photos. At this point if there are photos that require merging (panoramas) then do this and perhaps some minor colour correction. I then make a note of the location and a brief description of the contents. This can serve as the caption for the photo if it is used in Google Photos.
There were a couple of photos that didn’t turn out as I had hoped so, If I had listed and tracked all photos during the Flinders trip, it would have been easier to locate them to try a fresh edit. It was more an after thought when I located, colour corrected and included these photos.
The plan is each time I get some down time, download photos, add them to the spreadsheet and do a first cut – removing the photos that don’t seem to be the best view or too dark/light etc. Pick one or two photos that are the best of the bunch, and a couple that were a challenge and if on a tour with a guide, ask for feedback on how to improve. When downloading the next session of photos, do the same for those, and return to the previous sessions and do a second and third cut, each time reducing the photos to those to be used.
From the beginning, I’m noting which photos I think require colour correction. Once I get to the third cut, it is time to edit. Given how dirty the sensor is on the camera, retouching is also required (I did get it cleaned in 2021 but when you change lenses, they can easily get dirty). In the situation like with Adventure Art Photography tours, by the last evening of the tour, for example on day four, I should have at least 8 photos that are potential candidates for ‘show and tell’. I don’t need to stress trying to work out what photos to use. I’ve also been able to work with the photography guides for feedback and guidance. While in the Flinders Ranges I didn’t know what was not working – I didn’t know what to ask for.
My plan for organising may sound over the top, but for me 1,185 photos is a recipe for overwhelm. Doing all the thinking before the trip so organising is set and I just have to follow the plan, frees my thought processes up to make decisions on which photos are the best.
Back when I had a film camera, taking photos and getting them developed was a lot of leg work but really was easier to do. Digital photos are a whole other ball game.
See next blog for part 4.
