Scottwdw
Member
Here's another topic many photographers dread. ; However, with today's workflow tools, this is really easy to do. ; I use Aperture so I know it best. I am assuming Lightroom also does this. ; There are other tools geared towards this work too.
Easiest way to add keywords is when you import or ingest (ie., bring the photos from your camera or memory cards onto your computer for processing) your photos. ; I add captions, keywords, copyright and location information. ; Here's an article on how it's done in Aperture: Always Add Keywords on Imports.
For me keywording is a two step process. The captions and keywords I add on import are general. ; Here's an example. ; After a whole day spent in the Magic Kingdom, the keyword list would be like this: travel, vacation, orlando, florida, walt disney world, magic kingdom. ; The caption is also very general. ; If you have a more specific subject, your keywords and captions can be such.
In the second step, I use Aperture's batch tool to append more specific keywords. ; Say I took 50 photos of Space Mountain in Tommorrowland. ; I would add the keywords tomorrowland, neon, ride, roller coaster, space mountain, thrill, white and so on. ; With the batch tool I can add those to all 50 photos at one time. ; Yes, this step takes time but saves a lot more time for me later when I need to see all my Space Mountain photos or if I want to find all my photos with neon lighting. ; I do the same for captions and this is when I really work on them.
Let me note here that before I do the second step, I have already gone through and rejected those photos that are out of focus, bad exposure, bad composition or are photos that don't make my standards, etc. ; So, that cuts down on the time it takes to do the second step.
I do the same for all my photos and my flickr photostream is one place that benefits. ; I only have to tweak a few things before uploading to flickr as the keywords are turned into tags and the captions are already there. ; I do need to add a title which is the Headline field in Aperture. ; Aperture already has the technical metadata. ; I use FlickrExport for Aperture (highly recommended) which lets me select flickr groups to add the photos to.
Hmmm...I think I just wrote up my photography post for my blog. ; ;D
Easiest way to add keywords is when you import or ingest (ie., bring the photos from your camera or memory cards onto your computer for processing) your photos. ; I add captions, keywords, copyright and location information. ; Here's an article on how it's done in Aperture: Always Add Keywords on Imports.
For me keywording is a two step process. The captions and keywords I add on import are general. ; Here's an example. ; After a whole day spent in the Magic Kingdom, the keyword list would be like this: travel, vacation, orlando, florida, walt disney world, magic kingdom. ; The caption is also very general. ; If you have a more specific subject, your keywords and captions can be such.
In the second step, I use Aperture's batch tool to append more specific keywords. ; Say I took 50 photos of Space Mountain in Tommorrowland. ; I would add the keywords tomorrowland, neon, ride, roller coaster, space mountain, thrill, white and so on. ; With the batch tool I can add those to all 50 photos at one time. ; Yes, this step takes time but saves a lot more time for me later when I need to see all my Space Mountain photos or if I want to find all my photos with neon lighting. ; I do the same for captions and this is when I really work on them.
Let me note here that before I do the second step, I have already gone through and rejected those photos that are out of focus, bad exposure, bad composition or are photos that don't make my standards, etc. ; So, that cuts down on the time it takes to do the second step.
I do the same for all my photos and my flickr photostream is one place that benefits. ; I only have to tweak a few things before uploading to flickr as the keywords are turned into tags and the captions are already there. ; I do need to add a title which is the Headline field in Aperture. ; Aperture already has the technical metadata. ; I use FlickrExport for Aperture (highly recommended) which lets me select flickr groups to add the photos to.
Hmmm...I think I just wrote up my photography post for my blog. ; ;D