If my brain is organized..the rest will follow

This past weekend was a busy weekend for me. My friend Cherilyn (also a contributor on this blog) let me help her with a wedding she was photographing this weekend. Being a new photographer I was excited for the exposure plus the challenge. I have photographed a wedding before but it was my daughters wedding and Cherilyn helped me with that too but it doesn't count.

We spent two days taking pictures. I tried to delete the ones I didn't like as I was taking them or when I had time but when I got home I soon found out I didn't do so well in that area. I tend to over shoot a pose or take several shots of the same thing to make sure I get the shot I am intending to get. I guess mostly because I don't have enough confidence to make sure I get it the first time. Mostly nerves. When I get home and put the SD card in my computer I find that I have taken over 700 pictures. I am overwhelmed and not sure where to begin. Cherilyn must have sensed my anxiety from afar, because she sent me an email explaining how she organizes photos she needs to edit.

I am very thankful for this, but I also believe it will help anyone that needs to organize photos they need to edit, or post, or have printed. I have found that it works for all sorts of photos and have implemented them in all pictures I need to do stuff with. I realize it's basic and most people already may do this, but just in case, here it goes.

I make folders on my desktop and label them. For instance in the wedding category, there are before, posed, during, rehearsal, after. For my sister, I just label it with her name. For senior pictures, I also label by name. For pictures I take, I usually just put them under a folder with my name, but if there are several different categories, then it could be like Easter, Christmas, Birthday, etc. you get the idea. Then I move the photos to their respective folders. This way, I don't have to be looking at all of them and think OH MY! Then I choose the pictures I want to start with first. Since I tend to overshoot most of the time, I look at each one either by thumbnail or individually and start deleting the ones I don't like, or ones where their eyes may be closed or someone isn't looking. After that is done, then I edit, or for those that don't do editing, upload to Facebook to a specific album or upload to the website I use to print.

I hope this helps you all when you feel overwhelmed with pictures. If you are like me, sometimes you wait until your camera or SD card is full before you decide to upload. Good Luck in all of your photo ventures.