Filing System/Photo Management Suggestions?

[dballance]

So how does one file photos and get back to them easily these days? I started out just creating folders by broad subjects like Family, Landscapes and so on an then folders by date under those. It just takes forever to find a photo though.

I see stuff on the web about Lightroom and other software. Anyone have experience and suggestions they'd like to share. Inexpensive and simple is good. I guess at a minimum I should be able to tag people, places and keywords for search.

On Edit: I'm primarily a MAC user.

[ManiacJoe]

1. Digital Asset Management.

This is the primary purpose of Lightroom. Lightroom just happens to also have a great editor built in.

Another option for DAM is ACDSee Pro. While I have both products, I don't use the management features of either.

[justiceischeap]

2. I just watched a video recently on managing digital files

I shoot RAW, so the files I'm most interested in keeping don't have "names."

What the video suggested is storing your RAWs on a hard drive or cloud storage and then uploading hi-res JPGs with the same names to a private Flickr account. You can then search the images on Flickr to find the correct RAW file, plus you have a hi-res JPG handy should you need it. With them giving away a free TB recently, this may be the way to go.

I have a NAS system that I back-up my photos to, so that's what I use.

[RC]

3. I just file by Date.

I have over 121 gig of pictures, spanning over 10 years and I don't usually have a problem finding what I am looking for.
My smugmug site has those pictures I deem look worthy for some reason or another and each one has the date it was taken, which helps in the search sometimes.
I find Photo Management software a bit too much of a hassle, because you have to categorize each and every picture. And later when you think you filed it under ... but didn't? Or just plain spaced out and misfiled it?
No thanks, too much work. I like my date system, where each day's worth of pictures is in a different folder, filed under the camera I used to take them with.

[Cassandra]

4. I have Lightroom

You must tag but you can batch tag an entire card as it is imported to the program. My default sort is by date but you can choose something else. Then you can ask for tags or 4 or 5 star images. Only time it doesn't work is when I've neglected to tag.

[dballance]

5. Thanks for the Suggestions.

I already have Aperture. I can use it to tag faces and with categories and keywords. It pretty much does everything LightRoom does now that I compare the features.

Glad to know my date filing system wasn't that dumb or unusual. I do generally know with relative certainty when I took a photo. Major events, like my niece's wedding, I put in a project/folder named for the event. That just seems to make sense to me. It's the general walking around and taking random shots stuff I need to tag better as I import them.