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Organizing Photos

Posted on by jrwilkinson

As digital photographers, our photo collections can get out of hand. This page will discuss some ways of organizing your photos so you can back them up and find specific photos later on.
My iPhone, in particular, can have thousands of photos, screenshots, and videos. I have my iPhone photos automatically backup to my Google Drive. Plus iCloud Photos also keeps copies of these photos. These are a great backup for your photos, but if you want to free up space on your phone. You need to download them from iCloud so when you delete them from your phone. You will still have a copy.
From time to time, I tag my Google Drive photos and download them to my home computer. The hundreds of photos I tag are downloaded as a single zip file. When unzipped, they end up in a single directory and their names are non-descript.
So here are some of the ways to organize all these photos:

  • Apple Photos (free) – on MacOS & iOS, the Photos app can be used to organize your massive photo collection. Creating albums is the best way to organize large groups of photos. You can also setup Smart Albums, with criteria like “portraits” or “pets”, and Apple AI will auto-organize your photos.
    Apple laptops & iPhone are great at keeping all your photos safe. By backing all photos on your Mac, iPhone & iPad to iCloud automatically. This can be turned off or switched to Google Drive($). But unless you upgrade($) to more Apple storage, your large photo collection can max out the space. You can stop uploading to iCloud by setting your device to “not copy to the Photos library”. This will keep your photos from automatically going to iCloud.
    See next item if you want to move your Photos library from your main drive to an external drive.
  • Apple Photos (free) Part 2 – moving your Photos library to an external hard drive. Using Finder, under Favorites/Pictures find your Photos Library.photoslibrary file, then drag or copy it to your external drive. This can either become the primary location for your photos or act as a backup (second copy). I relabel the Photos Library.photoslibrary copy on the external drive something more descriptive, such as Photos2024 Library.photoslibrary. If you double-click this file or Option-Click the Photos app on the taskbar, you can select which .photoslibrary file you want to load. This will become your default Photos library until you select a different .photoslibrary or create a new one by option-clicking the Photos app.
  • Adobe Lightroom Classic (Windows or Mac, $12/mo 0r $120/yr) – I use Lightroom Classic to import, organize, and process my digital images. I dislike subscribing to software but what Lightroom offers plus the continual updates of new features, makes the small monthly fee tolerable.
    When importing a memory card or photos folder, Lightroom has options for adding keywords, copying the photos/videos to a specific folder, sorting by date, and creating or adding to a collection, avoiding duplicates. It’s a great tool for a serious photographer although there is a learning curve.
    A Lightroom catalog (how Lightroom organizes your photos) can organize photos/videos located in different locations. Plus you can have multiple (even duplicate) catalogs to organize photos by subject or a single huge catalog that contains all your photos. Apple Photos does not give you this option, other than to load .photoslibrary files from different location.
  • Adobe Photoshop w/ Adobe Bridge (Windows or Mac, $12/mo 0r $120/yr) – Adobe sells Lightroom & Photoshop separately but the bundled price is pretty much the same price. Adobe Bridge offers similar photo-navigation features as Lightroom Classic. So if you prefer Photoshop over Lightroom (I use both interactively), Bridge is useful to organize and navigate your photo library.
  • PhotoMove (Windows-only, free or $8 pro) – I use PhotoMove to organize all my iPhone photos and videos downloads. There are a couple Mac alternatives but they do not work as efficiently. So using PhotoMovePro ($8) on my Windows computer, I can organize all my iPhone photos into dated folders. Then I move these folders under the corresponding Lightroom folder then import them into Lightroom. Merging my iPhone photos with my mirrorless camera images. Since I often use a GoPro, iPhone, and mirrorless cameras when traveling. Photomove allows me to organize them into specific events. Lightroom could organize my iPhone downloads as well but having them pre-sorted before importing streamlines the process.
  • Photo Finder App – Queryable – ($5 MacOS, iPad & iPhone app) – this app does not organize your photos but is a great “fuzzy” search tool. Add a word or phrase to Queryable’s search field and it will display photos that match the word or phrase. It uses AI to search through all your photos and finds the matching photos. I’ve only used to a few times but it seems to do the job.

19 Mar 2025: Weather & Animals

Posted on by jrwilkinson

Our March 19th meeting had 5 participants. Some members who could not attend were traveling or under-the-weather. This month’s themes were: Weather – with all the rain and snow lately, we thought this might be a timely subject. Alternatively, Animals are always a fun subject and this included birds, insects, pets, and zoo animal photos. Off-theme – March 13-14 there was a full blood moon lunar eclipse. With the rainy weather, no meetup or travel was planned with the photography group. But a few individuals were able to photograph the eclipse through breaks in the clouds. Here are the photos shared this month:

Barbara

Cathy

Gary

Sharon

Jim

19 Feb 2025: Passion Project Cont’d/Minimalism

Posted on by jrwilkinson

The themes for February’s Photography Interest Group Zoom meeting were “Passion Project Cont’d” and “Minimalism”. Some participants last month did not get to present their passion project photos because they focused on their Favorites of 2024. We limit our photos to ~10 photos per participants so we have enough time during our meeting to discuss everyones images.
In addition to Passion Project Cont’d images, meeting attendees shared their Minimalistic or favorite non-theme images. Here are the images shared:

Barbara

Cathy

Gary

Mikky

Harold

Sharon

Jim

Meeting Minutes 2025

Posted on by jrwilkinson

  • Mar 19th Meeting Minutes: The Mar 19th meeting from 2-4:15pm had 5 participants via Zoom. This month’s themes were: “Weather”, & “Animals”.
    • 2:00-2:30pm: Before photo-sharing participants discussed their recent activities, events, and general goings-on. Jim talked about organizing our vast archives of photos using some photo-organizing software – Apple Photos, Windows PhotoMove app, and Adobe Lightroom. We also discussed some potential meetup ideas such as Carlsbad Flower Fields on Thursdays in early April. Also a trip to photograph Anza-Borrego wildflowers and possible Milky Way photo trip in late April during the new moon.
    • 2:30-4:05pm: participants shared their photos. Most participants shared Animal photos of birds, butterflies, and Bighorn sheep. Weather was the alternate theme and Gary shared some weather-themed photos. With the full blood moon lunar eclipse just occuring Mar 13th, Cathy and Jim shared there eclipse photos.
    • 4:05-4:15pm: discussion of various meetup ideas – Safari Park, Zoo, Carlsbad Flower Fields, Anza-Borrego, Little Italy for airplane landings.
    • Themes for April –
      • “Flowers“: With the rains in January and February, Spring’s arrival, Carlsbad Flower Fields opening – flowers are next months theme.
      • “Perspective: leading lines/layers/frame in frame”: Typical compositional styles applied to architectural, street/urban or landscapes photography.
      • Open Subject – any photos that you’ve taken recently are always welcome.
  • Feb 19th Meeting Minutes: The Feb 19th meeting from 2-4:15pm had 7 participants via Zoom. This month’s themes were: “Minimalism”, & “Passion Project(s) cont’d”.
    • 2:00-2:30pm: Before photo-sharing participants discussed their recent activities, events, and general goings-on. A preliminary spreadsheet planner for the group was presented by Jim. So the group discussed future themes and outings. The spreadsheet will be available on the website and as a Google Sheet live document. A Safari Park outing was planned for Feb 25th during their free senior admission month.
    • 2:30-4:05pm: participants shared their photos. Most participants shared their Passion Project photos not shared last month. Minimalism was the alternate theme and quite a few followed that theme.
    • 4:05-4:15pm: discussion of various meetup ideas – Safari Park, Zoo, birds in La Jolla Cove.
    • Themes for March –
      • “Weather“: With the rain in January and possible future storms, weather was one of March’s themes.
      • “Animals”: With Zoo or Safari Park meetups proposed, animal photos are the alternative theme for March.
      • Open Subject – any photos that you’ve taken recently are always welcome.
  • Jan 15th Meeting Minutes: The Jan 15th meeting from 2-4:15pm had 7 participants via Zoom. This month’s themes were: “Favorite Photos from 2024”, & “Passion Project(s)”. Cathy submitted photos but was unable to attend the meeting.
    • 2:00-2:15pm: Before photo-sharing participants discussed their recent activities, events, and general goings-on. Gary submitted a spreadsheet planner for the group to consider. Planning the monthly photographic themes for the year in advanced, as well as outings.
    • 2:15-4:05pm: participants shared their photos. Most participants shared their favorite photos from 2024 but a few shared Passion Project photos. Since some of us had 10 photos of favorites, the Passion Project theme will carry over into February.
    • 4:05-4:15pm: discussion of various meetup ideas – Safari Park, Zoo, birds in La Jolla Cove.
    • Themes for January –
      • “Passion Project“: Share photos that are your theme or style. If you enjoy mainly photographing landscapes or seascapes, travel, street. Compile several images of “your style/theme”.
      • “Minimalist: Share photos that follow a minimalist style with a majority of negative space, texture, pattern, or color.
      • Open Subject – any photos that you’ve taken recently are always welcome.

15 Jan 2025: Favs of 2024; Passion Project(s)

Posted on by jrwilkinson

This month’s photography themes were Favorites of 2024 and Passion Projects.Some participants shared their favorite images from previous meetings, some were re-processed images seen earlier, and some were new images. Either favorites taken during 2024 but not shown or Passion Project images that a photographer has compiled but not shared. Here are the images that were shared this meeting:

Barbara

Cathy

Gary

Harold

Heather

Jim

Mikky

Sharon

18 Dec 2024: Freezing/Blending Time; Flash/Artificial Light/Holiday

Posted on by jrwilkinson

December’s photo themes were “Freezing Time/Blending Time” so short exposure, like stooping a hummingbird’s wings, and long exposure, capturing movement. The theme was interpreted differently by some participants so the photos shared are eclectic. Flash & Artificial Light photos were of light installations and taken during some December festivities. Some photos from San Diego’s December Nights and Quail Garden Lightscapes were shared. Some members of the group were traveling and shared non-theme related photos, which are always welcome. Here are the photos (click the image for a better view):

Barbara

Cathy

Gary

Jerry

Harold

Jim

20 Nov 2024: Planes, Trains, Automobiles; Dia De Los Muertos

Posted on by jrwilkinson

This month’s Photography Interest Groups main themes were: “Planes, Trains, & Automobiles (+Boats)”, “Halloween/Dia De Los Muertos”, & “Fall Colors”. The “Fall Colors” theme was not represented because some of us went to the Nov 2nd San Diego Old Town Dia de Los Muertos celebration. It was a fun street photography outing and many photos this month were from that celebration. The candlelight parade was under-whelming but the afternoon festivities in Old Town presented a lot of photo opportunities. Other non-theme photos shared were of the mid-October Supermoon and Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS).
The “Planes, Trains, Automobiles, & Boats” themes were well represented with everyone sharing photos of vehicles or taken from vehicles .

Barbara

Cathy

Gary

Heather

Jerry

Jim

16 Oct 2024: Above/Below, Fall, Moonrise

Posted on by jrwilkinson

Participants of our Oct 16th photography interest group Zoom meeting shared a variety of images with most following one of this month’s themes. The Above/Below theme criteria was images captured at any viewpoint other than typical eye-level. Fall was a continuation of September’s autumn theme, fall colors or events. Moonrise photos were images captured at our September 17th moonrise meet-up on Mission Bay. Here are the photos shared:

Barbara

Cathy

Gary

Heather

Jim

Sharon

18 Sep 2024 Themes: Fall, AppArt, Artificial Light

Posted on by jrwilkinson

Our September 18th photography interest group meeting followed a September 17th moonrise outing. Although it was a little quick to post-process photos from that shoot. Some members had a few quickly edited images to share. Plus the discussion before photo-sharing was pretty much taken up by discussion on how to be successful at photographing the full-moon.
It is a little early for Fall photos but many of us have autumn images in our archives. Heather just got back from a 6wk roadtrip to Alaska so she saw the seasons already changing. She had recent Fall color photos to share.
Using iPhone apps to convert photos to paintings was a discussion last month. So this month, people were able to share images they generated using different phone apps: Brushstroke, BeCasso, WaterLogue, Reflect, and Snapseed are represented.
Artificial Light were photos taken under anything but sunlight/moonlight. I was hoping to take some night photos with neon but ended up sharing photos taken at TeamLabs Tokyo. An immersive art installation in Japan. Here are the photos shared:

Barbara

Falling Leaf
Winter surf
Dismount
Aerial Ballet

Cathy

Gary

Heather

Jim