Specific workflow question

[magicbutton]

I am trying to solidify what my workflow will look like when I'm in the field, specifically, how best to copy images taken during the day and then copied with PM at the end of the day with an IPTC stationary pad applied to those images.

Issues arise when, for instance, when the days photo intake covers a fairly wide geographic area and I need to preserve and reflect that in the images and their corresponding IPTC stationary.  My first approach to this was to simply look at the the source images with PM on the compact flash card, select a subset of images and then apply the appropriate stationary.  Repeat until all images have been tagged with some IPTC data.  I then could 'ingest' the whole card without applying a new stationary.   

This works, but is tedious when large amounts of either raw data or the sheer number of geographic localities are the norm.

Is there a better way to do this that I'm too blind to see?  One of my reasons for using PM at all was to get rid of the tediousness of the nightly photo download. Using PM is still better than manually copying EVERYTHING, but I feel like I'm over complicating things.

Any input appreciated.

[Kirk Baker]

I am trying to solidify what my workflow will look like when I'm in the field, specifically, how best to copy images taken during the day and then copied with PM at the end of the day with an IPTC stationary pad applied to those images.

Issues arise when, for instance, when the days photo intake covers a fairly wide geographic area and I need to preserve and reflect that in the images and their corresponding IPTC stationary.  My first approach to this was to simply look at the the source images with PM on the compact flash card, select a subset of images and then apply the appropriate stationary.  Repeat until all images have been tagged with some IPTC data.  I then could 'ingest' the whole card without applying a new stationary.

It is really not a good idea to work on the card.  Ingest them first with an IPTC Stationery Pad that just has the basics in it, i.e. just the things that you know are common among all photographs.  And we recommend using the Secondary destination so that you have a backup.

Putting the following in the Copyright field is very helpful:

© {year4} <enter your name/company name here>

This works, but is tedious when large amounts of either raw data or the sheer number of geographic localities are the norm.

Is there a better way to do this that I'm too blind to see?  One of my reasons for using PM at all was to get rid of the tediousness of the nightly photo download. Using PM is still better than manually copying EVERYTHING, but I feel like I'm over complicating things.

After you Ingest with a basic IPTC Stationery Pad applied, look through your photos with the Preview window and identify those that are in common.  Use Color Classes to group photos with common information together.  There are eight Color Classes (and None) that you can use to temporarily categorize your images.  Then once categorized, Sort by Color Class.  Then Select by Color Class (1-8) and create a more specific IPTC Stationery Pad and apply to the selection.

That should help get large groups of them set with far less generic information.  Then use the IPTC Info dialog to add very specific captions, and remember that there is a new feature called Code Replacement that can help you enter very specific captions quickly.  See the manual for more details.

Knowing what kind of photography you do may help myself or others on the forums help you even better.

HTH,

-Kirk

[magicbutton]

Those are good points, I appreciate those.  Most of my photography consists of landscape/cityscape with some wildlife stuff thrown in.  The labeling issue really only becomes cronic when I'm in rural towns, especially overseas, when you can easly visit 10 in a day and they being to all look alike (if the point of the photo isn't meant to distingush the town in some way) if you aren't careful with your notes. 

If I don't handle the IPTC pad THAT NIGHT, it'll be nightmarish later on.

[Kirk Baker]

Those are good points, I appreciate those.  Most of my photography consists of landscape/cityscape with some wildlife stuff thrown in.  The labeling issue really only becomes cronic when I'm in rural towns, especially overseas, when you can easly visit 10 in a day and they being to all look alike (if the point of the photo isn't meant to distingush the town in some way) if you aren't careful with your notes. 

If I don't handle the IPTC pad THAT NIGHT, it'll be nightmarish later on.

If you'll have your laptop with you while you are on the road, then you can use Incremental Ingest and download only the new photos.

Then you can process as you go.

-Kirk