Category: General

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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

Sept 17 2024 Moon Rise Meetup

Posted on by jrwilkinson

September 17th will be a full supermoon rising right after sunset. Weather-permitting, hopefully we’ll have a clear view of Univ of San Diego’s Immaculata Church Dome & Steeple . A photo taken by Stephen Bay posted on Instagram is our inspiration.

We are hoping to capture similar images from Ski Beach or Fiesta Island on Mission Bay. According to the Photographer’s Ephemeris, Ski Beach on Mission Bay San Diego should be the right angle to photograph the moon rising over USD. Moonrise is 6:51pm; sunset is 6:51pm so the light conditions could be optimal.
Mission Bay Park on Fiesta Island could be a better location depending on weather and lens focal range.
I will arrive early, if possible, to scout the view and can update participants on which spot is more favorable. There should be plenty of space for everyone to setup their tripods. I hope to see you on Sept 17th.

17 July 2024 Theme: Food & Color

Posted on by jrwilkinson

July’s themes were Food and Color (or colorful food). Participants shared a wide variety of subjects because a color theme can be virtually any color subject. We chose a broad theme this month because the last few months have been pretty specific, appealing to members who enjoy post-processing.

Barbara

Food-French Bakery
Food-Dessert
Food&Color-Seattle Eats
Dessert
Food&Color-Old Town Food Cart
Color-Old Town Banner
Color-Blue Dragonfly

Cathy

Gary

Heather

Jim

White Clover Focus Stack
Bucanner Lagoon Reflection
Nara Mochi Maker
Nara Mochi Maker
Eggs & Things Pancake Stack
Eggs & Things Pancake Stack
Pancake Painting

John

Sharon

Photography Processing Software

Posted on by jrwilkinson

Many photographers use Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop to process their photos. But since they changed to a subscription model, many of us would prefer software you buy once & own. Adobe’s $9.99/month Photography subscription is what I currently use. But with their recent change in ‘terms of service‘, I’m considering alternatives. I already own some other programs that I often use for specific tasks, like film simulations or black & white processing. But Lightroom & Photoshop are what I am most familiar with.

A list of all Adobe alternatives was compiled & posted on X (Twitter) here by xdaniel. I’ve outlined links below for some Photoshop & Lightroom alternatives I am familiar with.
Some can do most, if not all, of what the Adobe programs do. Some of the free versions look and act a lot like the Adobe programs with similar tools. Others may have a bit of a learning curve because they use different terminology and controls. Fortunately, there are plenty of YouTube tutorials to teach you how to edit photos using these alternatives. Plus if you haven’t used Photoshop or Lightroom, than learning the different tools aren’t an issue.
The listed Adobe alternatives are not limited to Windows PCs. There are universal versions that will work on Windows, Mac, iPad. Most buy-once MacOS apps are available through the App store. Here are the lists of Adobe alternatives, some free, some buy-once:

Photoshop alternatives

  • Free
    • Photopea – free online Photoshop alternative which can connect to Google Drive, OneDrive, & others
    • Gimp – GNU Image Manipulation Program is a free, open-source cross-platform image editor available for Linux, macOS, Windows. It’s a long-running Photoshop alternative with similar capabilities but ‘clunky’ interface.
    • Krita or Inkscape – open-source painting programs that can work on photos and create Photoshop PSD files with layers.
    • Paint.net – (Windows only) once mainly a free Windows Paint alternative, it now has some good photo editing tools.
    • PhotoscapeX – free or $40 Pro Version with extra features. Free version does most basic edits.
    • Apple Photos or Windows Photos – both these free OS programs have some great tools to improve photos.
  • Buy once
    • Affinity Photo – currently $35 for Mac or Windows, $9.29 for iPad or $82 for all three platforms. Really popular Mac/iPad photo processing app and there’s a Windows version.
    • Topaz PhotoAI – Topazlabs merged their separate programs: Topaz DenoiseAI, Topaz SharpenAI, & Topaz GigapixelAI into one program – Topaz PhotoAI. PhotoAI is simpler to use but I miss the flexibility of the individual apps. Edit your photos with single-click simplicity or user-controlled slider bars.
    • Pixelmator Pro – for MacOS only, $50, 7-day free trial

Refer to this icon key to identify the cost of the alternatives >>>
Like Adobe, many have started offering subscriptions for their premium features. But some offer Lifetime subscriptions for a higher one-time price, something Adobe doesn’t.

In my opinion, Affinity Photo is probably the best low cost Photoshop alternative for Windows, MacOS, or iPad, currently 50% off $35 (June 30 2024) for Windows, MacOS; $9.29 for iPad.
But the free & trial options are always worth checking out.

Lightroom Alternatives

  • Free
    • Darktable – powerful, full-feature free alternative to Lightroom but with a learning curve
    • RawTherapee – another cross-platform (Windows, Mac) powerful, full-feature free alternative but with a learning curve
    • DigiKam – strong photo organizer features, similar to Adobe Bridge, with photo editing features & social media tools
    • Lightzone – free Lightroom alternative, now hosted on GitHub after lightzoneproject.org website was retired.
  • Buy once
    • Capture One – a fully capable Lightroom alternative favored by many photographers. A bit expensive ($300 lifetime) unless on Black Friday sale. They also have various subscriptions.
    • ON1 – another popular Lightroom alternative with buy-once and subscription options. On sale today for $50 (June 30 2024 buy-once or wait till Black Friday).
    • DXO Photolab – my favorite Lightroom alternative with excellent Lens correction database, currently on sale 20% off (I bought mine last Black Friday).
    • Luminar Neo – easy to use with single click improvements, but also with user controls if you want to make your own adjustments. It has both subscription or buy-once options.

YouTube video describing all Adobe alternatives based on xdaniels X post

There are a tons of iPhone/Android phone and tablet apps that both take & edit photos.
Some favorites are:

  • Snapseed – a long-time iPhone/iPad/Android app that’s free and edits photos with east to use tools.
  • Adobe Photoshop Express – Adobe offers this for free but you do need a free Adobe account. This is a universal app available for all platforms. Some premium features are behind a pay-wall.
  • Google Photos (Google Drive) – free Google universal app that has the ‘magic eraser’ & other photo editing tools. Download/upload, organize, share, edit your photos. Of course, it requires a Google (ie gmail) account.
  • Too many others to list – many social media apps also will edit images before posting. Also cell phone video apps.
  • VLC Media Player to grab still frames from videos.

Don’t ignore free software from your camera manufacturer. They are optimized specifically for your camera’s raw photographs and features. Some are very useable offering photo importing, organizing & basic editing. Some are primarily designed just to transfer images from your camera to computer. All except Nikon, require your camera’s serial number to download their software or firmware.

  • Nikon offers NX Studio free for Windows or MacOS, which imports images from Nikon cameras to your computer and has basic photo editing features.
  • Canon offers Digital Photo Professional 4.18.10 for Windows, a free image importing and processing program. They also offer a MacOS version
  • Sony offers Imaging Edge Desktop and PlayMemories Home for Sony cameras. Imaging Edge Desktop can be used for editing raw images; PhotoMemories is mainly for importing and organizing your Sony camera photos. Sadly, Sony used to offer Capture One Express. Their free version of Capture One for only Sony cameras. Capture One is a full featured Lightroom replacement.
  • Fujifilm offers their free FUJIFILM X RAW STUDIO which imports their raw image from Fujifilm cameras. It has very basic editing and export capabilities.
  • Olympus/OM Systems offers OM Workspace for Windows or MacOS
  • Panasonic offers a basic photo import & editing program PHOTOfunSTUDIO for Windows or MacOS

28 Oct 2023 Meetup: Coronado Moonrise Photo Shoot

Posted on by jrwilkinson

Several photographers from the UCSD Photography Interest Group met-up at Bayview Park to photograph the full moon rising over San Diego. The weather cooperated and it was a fairly clear evening and sunset. Some atmospheric haze was visible in the distance but overall the San Diego Skyline was clear. The moon rose towards the south bay so its position was not ideal for a shot of the taller buildings. It rose over Petco Park and the San Diego Convention Center.
Ideal photographic conditions of blue hour and the moon only lasted ~15mins. It will be interesting to see the variety of photos taken. There’s only so much you can do but post-processing can make a difference.

Jerry – Here are some images Jerry took

Jim – Here are some of the best images Jim shared

Cathy