So... how do you organize your online photos?

[Flipped Gazelle]

Do you have your photos organized by category/sub-category (e.g., animals/mammals/birds, landscapes/autumn/trees), by date taken, by location...

I've always struggled with this.

 

[corkyg]

I put only a limited number of photos on line - and they are as part of a responsibility I have for an organization.

I archive my photos on 3 external HDDs - they go back over 10 years, and are organized by subject/event. And if the event is perennial, the year is added, and there are sub folders for each day.

 

[randomlinh]

online: I make a set for every "event" on flickr. It's the best way to do it on there. I will also create collections for each set to try and group similar things together, but I rely more on search (I add IPTC keywords to all my pictures before uploading).

I will be moving it all to smugmug though, more privacy controls. I've found my friends and family don't really use RSS feeds, so it's just easier this way, ha. I will be doing pretty much the same thing though, broad categories like family, friends, travel, etc, etc.

On the home system, I let lightroom put it into year/day-month/filename. and I do categories in the same manner as above.

 

[ZetaEpyon]

The only photos I really have on smugmug are from travel, so it's pretty easy to simply arrange them by trip.

If I ever get around to shooting more generally, I'll have to figure something out I guess, eh?

 

[ajwray]

flickr here for our trips but sometimes it is a real pain uploading ......when I do put them on flickr much like above i create a set for every "event".

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Here's my main problem with my online photo organization: I have this OCD-ish tendency to micro-organize. Most of my photos are of local wildlife. So I have multiple pics of, say, 40 different birds. I also have pics of said birds in sun, rain, snow (a few). I have BIF shots. I have pics that are truly "in the wild", and shots taken by birdfeeders. It's probably overdone. :disgust: I have pics of other animals, some landscapes, etc.

Is it more enjoyable/interesting to browse through a gallery with a mix of photos, or have them nicely categorized so a person can look through "small local birds", "squirrels", etc.?

Personally, I think I more prefer looking through galleries that have a mix, but I see most folks have stricter organization.

*Sigh*

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: Flipped Gazelle
Here's my main problem with my online photo organization: I have this OCD-ish tendency to micro-organize. Most of my photos are of local wildlife. So I have multiple pics of, say, 40 different birds. I also have pics of said birds in sun, rain, snow (a few). I have BIF shots. I have pics that are truly "in the wild", and shots taken by birdfeeders. It's probably overdone. :disgust: I have pics of other animals, some landscapes, etc.

Is it more enjoyable/interesting to browse through a gallery with a mix of photos, or have them nicely categorized so a person can look through "small local birds", "squirrels", etc.?

Personally, I think I more prefer looking through galleries that have a mix, but I see most folks have stricter organization.

*Sigh*

it depends on what your goal is. if you want to appeal to a broader audience, I would say go for variety. but in the end, do what is easier for you, cause I know I used to micro manage my pictures, and still do to an extent given very few people would bother to tag/keyword their IPTC data... but google has made me in a "just search for it" person, heh.

but I still do it by event because it's what I remember the most. It makes it easier for me to go back to in the future.