Sorting for the Professional photographer
Sorting can look a little different if you’re a professional photographer. It may be best to sort photos by day and then event if there are multiple events in a day (such as for track and field, weightlifting, powerlifting or CrossFit). Depending on how you are delivering your images you may need to break up sorting even further into specific groups (by age, gender, etc). This will all be based upon the specification of the media requests in your contract.. and please tell me you have a contract. :) If the host of the event wants photos placed in certain online folder sequences you’ll put appropriate photos in those. Some events may be divided by photographer as well.
If it’s more up to you, you’re free to upload edited images into folders as you best see fit. I’ve done it both ways. It’s helpful to know way ahead of time how the event or competition wants your photos delivered. This is a good question to ask during a media meeting prior to the event's first day.
Organization is so important when we are dealing with the volume of digital images that we are during a sporting event or competition. Staying on top of where images are and who photographed them is paramount for archiving images and being able to get them out to social media and to the athletes, when applicable.
File sequencing
If there are multiple photographers shooting an event, it’s helpful to have every shooter change the generic "DSC "(which stands for Digital Still Camera) information in their camera instead to their initials. This way if there are issues down the road (missing files, misplaced files, etc) it is easier to search for an image. It also helps identify if someone is having issues with their camera settings, etc.
What would you like to know more about when it comes to photo editing?
Send me a comment through my website, or email wendynielsenphoto@gmail.com !
