9 replies to this topic

[Tony892]

I am a mac guy and for the past few years have ben using iphoto to store my photos. I also have a flicker account, but tend to post photo's there. As I get more and more into photography I hear people recomend using RAW photos. Can anyone, who is a mac user, share or recomend how they store their images?

[Afterimage]

Not a MAC user but I'd seriously consider getting a massive external drive. 3 or 4TB. As you shoot and post process you 20MB RAW files + the finished work will begin to gobble up enormous space. 

[Merco_61]

If you use a stationary mac get a large external drive, preferably with internal mirroring to store your raw files. If you use a MBP get a 2.5" external, so that you don't need mains current for it.

If you like iPhoto, you might like Aperture, but organize your files manually in an order where you can find them and reference, rather than import them into Aperture. That makes it easier if you find that you need another solution some day. The advantage of using Aperture lies in the integration with finder/spotlight.

Lightroom is another solution that has the advantage of always just referencing the files instead of storing them inside the software itself.

Another nice thing about using Lightroom is that it is easy to store the database with the files on the external drive and use on any computer with the correct version of Lightroom installed. If you format the drive in FAT32 you can even use macos or windows based machines without trouble.

 

If you use a NAS disk for backups, Time machine won't backup external drives, but that can be solved by creating a partition on the NAS and have Aperture or Lightroom save a copy of the raw files there on import.

 

Keeping a backup off-site is a good idea, I rotate three disks between being the work disk, the daily on-site backup disk and the weekly off-site disk.

[Tony892]

If you use a stationary mac get a large external drive, preferably with internal mirroring to store your raw files. If you use a MBP get a 2.5" external, so that you don't need mains current for it.
If you like iPhoto, you might like Aperture, but organize your files manually in an order where you can find them and reference, rather than import them into Aperture. That makes it easier if you find that you need another solution some day. The advantage of using Aperture lies in the integration with finder/spotlight.
Lightroom is another solution that has the advantage of always just referencing the files instead of storing them inside the software itself.
Another nice thing about using Lightroom is that it is easy to store the database with the files on the external drive and use on any computer with the correct version of Lightroom installed. If you format the drive in FAT32 you can even use macos or windows based machines without trouble.
 
If you use a NAS disk for backups, Time machine won't backup external drives, but that can be solved by creating a partition on the NAS and have Aperture or Lightroom save a copy of the raw files there on import.
 
Keeping a backup off-site is a good idea, I rotate three disks between being the work disk, the daily on-site backup disk and the weekly off-site disk.

Thanks to advice already received on this site, which your comments echo, I have purchased Lightroom but have yet to transfer my photos across from IPhoto or started using it to save images taken recently. Aperture sounds interesting, but I think I will stick with what I have got now.

[nbanjogal]

Tony, a year ago I made the exact switch you are about to make--I had been using iPhoto for storage and finally got Lightroom figured out. I was so comfortable with iPhoto that it took a while to make the change all the way--I used both for a bit until I got used to Lightroom (yeah, that was awkward).

 

As Merco pointed out, with Lightroom you're dealing with a cataloguing system, not storage. Your photos are stored on your hard drive, but Lightroom keeps track of them and any edits you make on them. And here I go again referring to lynda.com (sorry), but the very first thing discussed in the Lightroom course was cataloging and best practices, so it was very helpful in that respect.

 

Also, I shoot RAW, store those files on my hard drive, and edit and keep them catalogued in Lightroom. Simple.

[Merco_61]

Tony, a year ago I made the exact switch you are about to make--I had been using iPhoto for storage and finally got Lightroom figured out. I was so comfortable with iPhoto that it took a while to make the change all the way--I used both for a bit until I got used to Lightroom (yeah, that was awkward).

 

As Merco pointed out, with Lightroom you're dealing with a cataloguing system, not storage. Your photos are stored on your hard drive, but Lightroom keeps track of them and any edits you make on them. And here I go again referring to lynda.com (sorry), but the very first thing discussed in the Lightroom course was cataloging and best practices, so it was very helpful in that respect.

 

Also, I shoot RAW, store those files on my hard drive, and edit and keep them catalogued in Lightroom. Simple.

If you learn better from a book than video tutorials Peter Krogh is releasing a new book on the 25th this month Organizing Your Photos with Lightroom 5 - The DAM Book. It seems to be a rework of the DAM book as it applies to Lightroom 5.

It is unfortunately quite easy to make a mess of things in Lightroom or any other DAM solution if you don't plan a strategy for your keywording, so a Lynda course or a good book can be quite valuable. As has been said so often of libraries dealing with dead trees, a library is only as good as it's catalogue. The same goes for Lightroom. Files you can't find are unfortunately useless.

[nbanjogal]

Yes! I've had Peter Krogh recommended to me before for DAM. Thanks for the reminder and for the news of his latest book. I'll add it to my growing wish list.

[Tony892]

Tony, a year ago I made the exact switch you are about to make--I had been using iPhoto for storage and finally got Lightroom figured out. I was so comfortable with iPhoto that it took a while to make the change all the way--I used both for a bit until I got used to Lightroom (yeah, that was awkward).
 
As Merco pointed out, with Lightroom you're dealing with a cataloguing system, not storage. Your photos are stored on your hard drive, but Lightroom keeps track of them and any edits you make on them. And here I go again referring to lynda.com (sorry), but the very first thing discussed in the Lightroom course was cataloging and best practices, so it was very helpful in that respect.
 
Also, I shoot RAW, store those files on my hard drive, and edit and keep them catalogued in Lightroom. Simple.

Guess you can understand why I am taking my time switching across, since you have gone through the same experience. You do not need to apologise about the benefits of lynda.com, I can see it is a very good resource. I now understand the message about Lightroom using a cataloging system. Like you, I want to start shooting RAW, but think it will be a step at a time. I am hoping that the D7100 will give me the ability to shoot RAW and Jpeg at the same time. Not sure of the proces you used when storing your photos on iPhoto, but I take my memory card from camera fit into a gadget then plug into USB slot. Memories used to show on iPhoto and then I would download. Chosing the delete option the end which cleared my card. However, since loading the software that came with the 7100 - ViewNX 2, it now comes up when I insert the SD card. You mention that you physically store on the hard drive and then use Lightroom to keep track and make any edits on them. But it is the actual process of how you put them on the hard drive that interests me at this moment, as opposed to the system you used with iPhoto. Sorry, I have gone around the houses with this one and you along with the rest of the forum must be dozing over your keboards :-)

[Merco_61]

Tony, I have put up a blog post just now that I hope may be of help in explaining how I do things, from ingestion to output.

/Peter

[Tony892]

Tony, I have put up a blog post just now that I hope may be of help in explaining how I do things, from ingestion to output.
/Peter

Thanks Peter, very helpful and clears things up.