How do you guys do it? (photo storing)

[wheelhot]

Hi,
Well as you all know I recently got myself a DSLR and now I face a new problem, how do you guys store your photos? The image size produce by DSLR is much bigger then PnS. A JPEG image average size is around 2-4mb while a RAW is around 10mb. So how do you guys store your photos? And since I got my photos in iPhoto library and I think some in Aperture library (how to check?), how do I transfer all of it while retaining all changes (metadata, edits and etc).

I recently got a end year camp and Im the photographer there. Each day I took around 200-400 shots (today is day 3, there is like 4 more days, so do the math and you guys will know how much GB of images I will have at the end of day, I will delete some of them but not that much to reduce the total image size), and I can see my hard disk space eating up so what are my choices and how do I transfer em?

Also damn RAW just kills ya space, but the image quality produce by RAW is fantastic, help!!!!!.

 

[mabcan]

External Disks

Hi,
Well as you all know I recently got myself a DSLR and now I face a new problem, how do you guys store your photos? The image size produce by DSLR is much bigger then PnS. A JPEG image average size is around 2-4mb while a RAW is around 10mb. So how do you guys store your photos? And since I got my photos in iPhoto library and I think some in Aperture library (how to check?), how do I transfer all of it while retaining all changes (metadata, edits and etc).

I recently got a end year camp and Im the photographer there. Each day I took around 200-400 shots (today is day 3, there is like 4 more days, so do the math and you guys will know how much GB of images I will have at the end of day, I will delete some of them but not that much to reduce the total image size), and I can see my hard disk space eating up so what are my choices and how do I transfer em?

Also damn RAW just kills ya space, but the image quality produce by RAW is fantastic, help!!!!!.

How about getting a 1TB external disk. It saves you a lot of space in your computer and is always there when you'll need it.

 

[wheelhot]

Hmm, okay if I were to get another external disk, (damn, 1 TB, I wonder how much it will cost in Malaysia), should I get a desktop HDD or mobile HDD (is there even a mobile 1TB HDD?) And how do I transfer my photos from my notebook to the external hard disk? Currently Im using iPhoto to keep all my photos (all photos is imported into iPhoto) and when I open Aperture there is the iPhoto original stuff at the bottom of each pic (So I assume this means all my picture is referenced from iPhoto and Aperture is actually making versions of it?).

Also for those Aperture users, what happen if I didn't bring my HDD along with me? Can I still view those photos that I keep in the external disk?

Also beside external disk, what other option do I have? I heard some of you guys burn it to the CD?

 

[bertpalmer]

I use lightroom to store my photos - very nice. I have Aperture too but haven't got around to trying it out yet.

I have two 1TB drives in one external enclosure. They are in a RAID setup so if one disk fails I have a second copy.

 

[ChrisA]

Hi,
Well as you all know I recently got myself a DSLR and now I face a new problem, how do you guys store your photos? The image size produce by DSLR is much bigger then PnS. A JPEG image average size is around 2-4mb while a RAW is around 10mb. So how do you guys store your photos? And since I got my photos in iPhoto library and I think some in Aperture library (how to check?), how do I transfer all of it while retaining all changes (metadata, edits and etc).

I recently got a end year camp and Im the photographer there. Each day I took around 200-400 shots (today is day 3, there is like 4 more days, so do the math and you guys will know how much GB of images I will have at the end of day, I will delete some of them but not that much to reduce the total image size), and I can see my hard disk space eating up so what are my choices and how do I transfer em?

Also damn RAW just kills ya space, but the image quality produce by RAW is fantastic, help!!!!!.

If you are moving to Aperture, then notice that Aperture has an "Import from iPhoto" button. Moving the images with edits and meta data is easy.

What you need to do is buy a large external disk drive. get a 1TB drive and move the Aperure library there.

Them go buy more 1TB drives and use these are Aperture "Vaults". I'd say you'd want three of these. Use them in rotation keeping one off-site at some other location. Yes you do need redundant backup.

Another otion that I do is to let Time Machne backup everything and then use one less Vault. This I think is better because I always have an one to the hour backup plus I still have my off site backup (that is typically a week or so out of date and I have one other backup in a safe safe.

The problem is that you might fill the external drive. Well I've done that, then I buy a bigger drive. So far Seagate has kept ahead of my needs. But if 1TB was not large enough I'd have to look into getting RAID boxes

 

[compuwar]

Hmm, okay if I were to get another external disk, (damn, 1 TB, I wonder how much it will cost in Malaysia), should I get a desktop HDD or mobile HDD (is there even a mobile 1TB HDD?)

Mobiles go to 500G now, I use two on the road along with the older 320's I've migrated from as extra backups- then the cheaper desktop externals at home for longer-term backups and a server in another state for the offsite ones.

I don't delete from the cards until the files are on at least two, preferably three drives.

 

[wheelhot]

What you need to do is buy a large external disk drive. get a 1TB drive and move the Aperure library there.

Okay, so I just need to drag the Aperture Library icon located in the OSX user Pictures folder?

Okay, so no one answer my earlier question, what happen if you remove your external hard disk which contains all your photos, are you still able to view them? edit them?

 

[compuwar]

Okay, so no one answer my earlier question, what happen if you remove your external hard disk which contains all your photos, are you still able to view them? edit them?

No, when the pictures aren't attached, you can't do anything with them.

 

[ChrisA]

No, when the pictures aren't attached, you can't do anything with them.

Which Aperure That is only half true. You can still look at the preview images and you can edit meta data. But of course you can't edit the images if they are not there.

Aperture works well in the case where you have a notebook and a desktop computer. It is easy to split off a subset of the library to the note book and then bring the work back. But notice this means you have TWO libraries, one on each machine. Aperture was designed for this mode and the license even allows one copy of Aperture to be installed on a desktop and on a note book at the same time.

But it can be used the way you are looking for too. What you'd do is make TWO Aperture libraries. Keep one on the notebook's HD and one on an external drive. You would work just like the person who owns both a notebook and desktop except htat your notebook doubles as a desktop. Aperture has the concept of a "Project". You can export these and move them between computers. Projects a "self contained" and have all the meta data and edits bundled. So you'd move projects between your two Aperture libraries.

I would NOT recommend using non-managed or "referenced" files in Aperture. Well at least I'd not recommend doing so to some one who still is asking basic questions. Refferenced files are for people who know exactly how everything works, are very, vary carefule, never make mistakes and always have good backups. In other words "almost no one."

Using two Librararies allows you to also make use of Aperure's built-in back up system called "vaults".

 

[compuwar]

I would NOT recommend using non-managed or "referenced" files in Aperture. Well at least I'd not recommend doing so to some one who still is asking basic questions. Refferenced files are for people who know exactly how everything works, are very, vary carefule, never make mistakes and always have good backups. In other words "almost no one."

The counterpoint to this (because every decision has trade-offs) is that if your Aperture database gets corrupted "almost no one" will be able to recover your photos (so you *must* rely on your backups,) whereas if you're using referenced images any file recovery software or mechanism will work for every image that's not on a physically damaged part of the disk.

 

[66217]

I have all my photos in an external drive, referencing them from Aperture. First I import them to Aperture, and then, after editing, move the photos to my external drive.

It's really not that difficult nor risky. There is only one golden rule to follow: NEVER open the folder were your referenced photos are. NEVER. And obviously, be sure to backup that folder to other drives, since Aperture won't back-up photos which are referenced.

ChrisA, I remember many post were you enfatize to stay away from referenced images, but the truth is that I don't find it that risky. Any bad experiences you've had?

 

[ChrisA]

ChrisA, I remember many post were you enfatize to stay away from referenced images, but the truth is that I don't find it that risky. Any bad experiences you've had?

For you it's OK but if people come here and have to ask such basic questions, the fact that they are asking says they are not knowledgeable enough to safely work with referenced files. Just look at all the "Help I lost my files" threads and every one of them was due to referenced files.

It's kind of like if someone asks on a car forum "I want to rebuild the transmission on my Toyota but first I have question. How do I tell if my car has front or rear wheel drive?". When you hear that question you just have to say "Don't do it. Give the job to a pro." Yes I could say that the XML edit lists in the Aperture library contain absolute pathnames to the .NEF image files. but that would not help someone who's just getting started. Better to just say "Use managed files and back it up using Vault" It's hard to screw up if you do that

The counterpoint to this (because every decision has trade-offs) is that if your Aperture database gets corrupted "almost no one" will be able to recover your photos (so you *must* rely on your backups,) whereas if you're using referenced images any file recovery software or mechanism will work for every image that's not on a physically damaged part of the disk.

There is no magic inside an Aperture library. If you go inside and look it has a folders set up a lot like you'd expect with raw NEF files in the folders. The only difference between the library and a manual folder structure is that the library is a "bundle". That is Apple's term for a folder that is marked so that Finder will not open it without the right click content thing. So if you did have a disk failure that took out the database the recovery process would be the same on either case. The only difference is that flag that tells Finder not to open the top level folder and only Finder knows to look at that flag. Other software will ignore it.

It's a good exercise to actually pretend like Aperture is broken and verify that you can still get your files. I tried it. It's pretty trivial to do. (right click on the library and then go from there.) I actually tried this before I decided to use Aperture. There is a lot of clutter to sort through but you can get the files.

 

[wheelhot]

Aah okay, thanks for the tip guys. Really useful and inspiring.

Here is how I use my Aperture so far. I import everything to iPhoto (just open my EOS utility and let iPhoto use its own import feature rather then using the Canon transfer). The I create a project in Aperture and import all the photos into the selected project (store files:in the aperture library <- does this mean that it creates another copy of my master images or the master images is referenced from iPhoto?). So then I start doing my editing.

Hmm, okay I have another question, lets say I do all what you guys say, lets say I went to a holiday trip and I didn't bring my external hard disk which contains all my photos. I imported my photos into my notebook and how do I transfer all this vacation photos which is not stored into the external disk into the external disk when I'm back at home?

Sorry for a lot of the questions, I just want to be sure what I'm doing in the future

 

[66217]

Here is how I use my Aperture so far. I import everything to iPhoto (just open my EOS utility and let iPhoto use its own import feature rather then using the Canon transfer).

Why do you import to iPhoto? My recommendation is to only use Aperture. I'm not sure if you can be sharing photos between iPhoto and Aperture without creating duplicates, but the procedure you are making isn't very time-effective.

Hmm, okay I have another question, lets say I do all what you guys say, lets say I went to a holiday trip and I didn't bring my external hard disk which contains all my photos. I imported my photos into my notebook and how do I transfer all this vacation photos which is not stored into the external disk into the external disk when I'm back at home?

OK, first you need to use only Aperture. Then, in your trip you import the photos to your Aperture library, by this you have the photos stored in your internal drive. When you return home, you connect the external drive and select the projects in Aperture which you want to move to the external drive and select "Relocate Master for Project" by right clicking the project. And then you select the destinations of the photos.

By doing this, your photos would be stored in the external drive, but the previews and all the modifications remain within your Aperture library. So what you are really moving to the external drive is the unedited photo master. This also means that even if you don't have the external drive connected, you can still open Aperture and see your photos (the previews you create).

 

[wheelhot]

Hmm, so I need to import all my photos to Aperture. Okay.

So since I transfer all my photos to the external disk, it means that the previews in my Aperture library will be relatively small (In terms of megabytes-gigabytes)?

 

[66217]

Hmm, so I need to import all my photos to Aperture. Okay.

So since I transfer all my photos to the external disk, it means that the previews in my Aperture library will be relatively small (In terms of megabytes-gigabytes)?

Yep, the best would be to only use Aperture. Regarding previews, you can select the quality of previews in Aperture preferences, normally they won't occupy much space if you use a medium quality option. But they would probably go to gigabytes. I have around 10,000 photos and the previews take around 4GB. I have the quality at 8. But I'll have to check it, since right now I have some photos in my internal drive, and I'm not sure how to check the exact amount previews occupy.

 

[wheelhot]

Thats not bad at all, 10k photos and only 4GB. I guess previews (its size) are not affected whether the photo is taken either in RAW or JPEG?

My iPhoto library which consist of 3.5k photos (from my compact digicam, some RAW, DSLR JPEGs) weights at 10gb.

Anyway, the thing that I like about iPhoto is how clean and simple it looks, I also like the fact that its fast. I sometime surprise to see how Aperture performance sometime drops. Its so slow that using the loupe function really lags (any idea why Aperture performance is not consistent?).

And another thing I like about iPhoto is that you can zoom really deep into a picture without seeing the pixels obvious.

 

[termina3]

Anyway, the thing that I like about iPhoto is how clean and simple it looks, I also like the fact that its fast. I sometime surprise to see how Aperture performance sometime drops. Its so slow that using the loupe function really lags (any idea why Aperture performance is not consistent?).

And another thing I like about iPhoto is that you can zoom really deep into a picture without seeing the pixels obvious.

Your demands aren't consistent; if hardware can't keep up, of course performance lacks.

iPhoto isn't close to as powerful... hardware can catch up more easily. Just my musings, not the analysis of a pro.

Being able to "zoom really deep into a picture without seeing the pixels obvious" isn't a matter of the program as much the photo. Unless iPhoto is smoothing out pixels, or Aperture is louping from a preview (unlikely). You don't want either.

Also, to ChrisA, I find that referencing a large (>10K images @ ~10Mpix per image) library makes things run just a little faster. Seriously, I switched at about 20K and saw a significant performance jump.