How to track/number event photos?

[dan magnus]

I am shooting a company holiday party in a few weeks (for 800

employees & gutests) and will be doing some formal,

location "studio" shots and some "party pic" shots. My question is

regarding the 'formal' shots.

 

I have two photogenic strobes with umbrellas and will have a

backdrop (color undecided..thinking light grey). I will be shooting

with a 20D and either my 17-40f4 L or 70-200f4 L, depending on how

much room I have. I am posting the photos to a website for all

orders.

 

Here's my question: is there a recommended way to track which frame

belongs to which person so that the photo can be easily found on the

website? If so, how? I believe sales would be better if potential

buyers can easily find their photo, as opposed to searching all 600+

for just theirs. Or should I not even worry? Thanks in advance for

your help! Dan

[jeffrey_borts1]

Dan,

I don't know if you have a laptop available but the software with your 20D should let you shoot straight into a laptop. We prefer this since it quickly gives us a preview and protects the capture. Note the image number and write it on the back of a card with a pre-printed link to the site. This would only really work with your formals Im guessing that's what your trying to track. We usually have a table set up with all the necessities. Im guessing whatever software to create your html will generate file names along with the image on the index pages for the site. Photoshop can do web gallery providing this kind of feature. Good luck and be sure to give it a dry run.

Jeffrey

Denash Photography

[Ed_Ingold]

It's hard to keep track of rolls and exposure numbers with film. You need to number the rolls sequentially (or use a date/time code). Your lab needs to keep track, or you need to process them yourself. Etc...

 

With digital, program the camera to maintain the sequence between cards. If you need pictures for a news release, you must take names and correlate them to the frame number. You don't need to document every frame, just one with a given group is sufficient. At very least, the frame numbers make it easy to keep a time sequence. If you have images printed commercially from a CD, some processors will print the file number on the back of the print.

 

For some events, it is enough to make 2 or 3 copies of each print, and let the customer hand them out. Presumably the customer knows the names of the principals, or the principals can come and pick out the ones they want to have. Make your money from the job, not from subsequent sales.

 

For weddings, present the (edited) images in an album, and let the customer order reprints from the numbered prints and/or a list.

 

For other events, like an horse show or sporting events, be more selective and post no more than 50 images (25 is better, 600 is rediculous). In similar events, you make money from reprints, and may have to pay a fee or share your earnings with the sponsor.

[dan magnus]

Does anyone have any thoughts on giving the frame number on a business card or handout perferable/easier than trying to capture the names of the people in each frame?

 

I recently saw an event website where everyone in each picture was named, first and last, which obviously takes a lot of work. Unfortunately, there was no "search" feature on this website if someone wanted to look for only their own photo. In this case, numbers might work better, as you can see when browsing photos how far from your photo number you are. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to help people find their photos, unless you don't think it's that important.

[EricM]

Are you using PSCS? Then it's easy. Batch rename them in the file browser with the last name as the file name and under 'sort' you have many choices on how the folder is organized. Then when you upload them they will be in alphabetical order for all viewers.