Two shooters - file sequencing by time

I have just started using a second photographer at my weddings this weekend.

What I am trying to figure out is how to sequence our separate files by time so

that my assistant's pictures are all in proper sequence with mine. I have

Lightroom, Nikon View 6, and Adobe Photoshop 7.0. Can I do that with any of

those programs? I am downloading the pictures to a file on my desktop, removing

unwanted photos and renaming in Nikon View and then loading them into Lightroom.

Please let me know is there is an easy way to file sequence by time!

 

I have realized that I am unable to rename my raw files once they are in

Lightroom which is something I don't like because I like to eliminate photos and

renumber them so there are no "missing" pictures. I like my raw and jpegs to

have the same numbers for quick reference. I do all this in Nikon View, is there

something I am missing in Lightroom?

Yes, you can rename them in light room. In library select all photos. Then go to Library>rename photo's (F2). Click on "edit" in the drop down menue. There you can pick how you want them renamed. I pick "sequence 001" for jobs that have between 100-999 images.

 

Here is how you would sync the cameras and rename them. Set your camera and your assistants camera to the same time right before the wedding. Then in the Library look underneath the images where it says "sort". There is a drop down menue there. Pick "capture time". This sorts it by the time the image was taken, regardless of the file name. Now select all and batch rename as I mentioned earlier.

Errr.. Bridge or Lightroom. Sort by Capture Time, and then rename.

Thanks so much! I knew I had to be missing something.

I understand that the clocks on some cameras are not all that good. They loose or gain over time so two cameras might not be synced. Here is what I do when I take 2 bodies. In XP, My Computer, I right click once on the camera then Properties. Set the as the computer time. Do this for both and they should both be synced.

 

Errol

katie - just so you know, you should synchronize the cameras time so that they all have the same time. I shoot w/ two 20D cameras all the time, and I always do a sync to make sure they are the same down to a second. from week to week, they always seem to show the same time, but never hurts to do it again :-)

I do the same. Before leaving for the wedding we sync all the cameras to the computer time.

Upon returning, we then dump all cards into one file, open it in in Bridge (or Lightroom) and

select "time created".

 

Be sure to do that first thing.

 

And it is true that not all cameras seem to hold their time as well as others.

If you have two shooters, it's very possible that both of their computers have different times. I suggest the night before the shoot having your second shooter go to: www.time.gov and you doing the same. That way the times will be the same.

 

Other than that, I agree with everything said above about Lightroom.

Breezebrowser Pro has special functions for adjusting time from different cameras. The procedure is very simple:

 

1. Either before or after the wedding, shoot a picture of an analog clock with a sweep second hand with both cameras.

 

2. Figure out the time difference between the two cameras based on the difference in the time stamps.

 

3. Globally adjust the timestamps on either of the cameras pictures with a single "select", followed by a click.

 

Another good reference point for synchronizing files down to the second is the kiss. ;) Presumably both shooters get the kiss, which gives you a common reference.

 

That's a rough summary. Breezebrowser actually has a more advanced technique where you can highlight all the pictures, and change them all based on the timestamp of one picture.

 

Breezebrowser also works very well for generating HTML galleries.

 

Later,

 

Paulsky

I assume you have Nikon cameras. I know the D200 allows you to change the three letter prefix. Instead of DCSxxxx you can change it to ABC, DEF, etc....

 

I use my initial. Problem fixed!

We find using an archiving software such as Backupandburn is convenient because it orders the files using the time stamp of the cameras. It also does not alter the original file number/name, which is good for photographers who take orders using the file names. Using this method requires no additional steps since you will be archiving the images anyway. Just remember to syncronize the time settings of both cameras.