DAM!

One issue that has always plagued shooters, especially prolific ones, is how to organize the images that you shoot so that you can quickly find a specific photo you may be searching for. In some ways, the digital era has made this task even harder mostly due to the sheer volume of image files a photographer can produce over time.

For someone like myself, who produces both film negatives and digital files, it just gets worse. I think I've settled on a system that can work with  both formats, and allows me to continue to add to my growing archives. I don't have to scan everything I shoot on a given roll (although I usually do if only to have a 'proof print' as it's hard for me to evaluate a color negative otherwise), and importing what scans I do make into lightroom, where they can be tagged and rated accordingly allows them to sit side-by-side with my digital files in the same archive.

I've only adopted my current workflow within the past year so the big trick has been getting previous scans and files lined up to work properly within it (and I've been half-tempted just to throw out all older scans and start fresh, but as satisfying as that might be on some level, I know that's just creating a heck of a lot more work for me).

One of the best books I've read on the subject of 'Digital Assest Management' is The DAM Book, by Peter Krogh (okay, it's the only one that I've read, but I wouldn't be recommending it if I didn't like it). Well worth a read if you're a serious photographer that wants to keep a handle on his or her digital files.