Photo documentation

[bconley]

I need to take more job pictures, not just more, but more organized and systematic for job logs.
Does anybody have a system of taking job photos that is consitent and searchable?
Sample Folder structure, tags, descriptions etc.?

[Dusty]

Good question. I have made it habit to take before and after pics. Have my camera on me most of the time. Not too long ago I sorted all of them and printed a bunch out for a portfolio.

What else can you do besides being consistant? I have a jobs folder with sub folders for each property. You should be able to store all of your docs/pics within a specific folder. Although some software (ie. xactimate) may not allow you to do so.

[Winchester]

I've got a system that works for me so far because I'm too lazy to improve it.

Under projects folder I have the last name and street name, then the photos folders are organized under each one as existing, progress, & complete.

depending on the size of job I also do progress01, progress02, etc...

it would probably be better to organize folder by stages (i.e. demo, fdtn, framing, etc...), but I just have too much other stuff I'm concerned with than folder names. I usually just dump my camera pics into a folder and name it progress01, progress02, etc... each time I do that, without sorting, but at least they are in a somewhat chronological order.

[OGStilts]

I set up a file system similar to Ryan's but I've always found it hardest to keep up with the in progress files. This is what we started doing about 6 months ago and it's working pretty well.

Before the project starts (often when I am in the proposal/design phase) I get in there with my point and shoot camera to take the before pictures.

Progress photos are taken by my PM regularly on his phone and uploaded via the picassa app. He then organizes them by the job for me and I can at my leisure download them and put them in my progress folder on my computer. This is good for documentation purposes but definitely no good for any marketing purposes if you had that in mind. I need to get him a phone with a better camera on it.

After pictures are taken by me with my DSLR camera and filed into the after folder.

As long as I am breaking it down by job and into those 3 seperate folders I haven't really found a need for further tags or file names. I can usually find one I'm looking for if I get it broken down like that.

[Leo G]

Just rename the picture files to something that means something.

A file name oc DSC_124533.jpg will mean nothing when you are doing a search

Rename the file to Smith before kitchen 1.jpg and this is something you will be able to use the search function for.

Put each of the photos in their respective folders.

Mine are under C:/Camera/Clients/
http://fototime.com/F351C99F8FC1A82/orig.jpg

http://fototime.com/F351C99F8FC1A82/orig.jpg

[ChrWright]

Step one is just having the discipline to take the pics.

Step two is to file them immediately after you take them in a client named folder, under a sub-folder for the progress point:

/Clientname/Befores010111
/Clientname/PostDemo020111
/Clientname/Framing021511
/Clientname/FramingComplete022811
etc.

The naming conventions will change from project to project depending on size and how diligent you are at taking pics.

If you really want to get OCD you can batch process the file names while you're sorting them. I tend to try and keep it simple, as I know anything too complicated or time consuming won't likely get stuck to. Picture taking/filing is one of those tasks that easily falls to the bottom of the priority list when things get hectic.

If you're taking all of your pics with the same camera, the file names will usually order themselves to give you a close approximation of timeline. Over longer projects, when you're deleting pics from the camera after filing them that's not always the case but putting them in folders--even if just by name of project and date taken--will still give you enough to find things you need even years down the road.

[bconley]

Thanks everyone, I want to be sure I capture everything inside the walls and have record of it looking for a way to do it so I don't miss anything and I need to able to identify it when I see it, a bunch off studs with wire and pipes it all look the same.
I've been taking videos with my iPad and that works pretty well because I can narrate as I go.
I use web albums and picassa on the iPad so I always have them with me.
On the desk top I just put them in a jobs folder, job name, photos.

[bconley]

Another thing, almost have to force my self to take more shots, I will think I have, come back and have only about six shots

[RCP]

Do have a mac (in addition to the IPad)? I use IPhoto to make folders with albums, batch edit, add watermarks, then send to Picasa. I also make other folders/albums of certain types of work, doors, staining, faux.

[nEighter]

yes, yep, and uh-huh.

It gets dicey though. Do you want befores? Durings? Afters? Or is there a specific set of pics you need in a "special tag/title?" I take pics all the time with everything I do. Come on man.. you are supposed to be on the "upper" curve.. us lil folk supposed to look up to YOU! :D

I kid, but yes I take pics all the time, and when I am taking them I am thinking of any kind of content I am wanting them for, promotion, how-to, process pics.. you name it. Then I can categorize them how I see fit. If you have a simple "before, during, after".. alot of those pics can be used for say.. Kitchen, bathroom, living room.. then are you going to break those areas down?

It is what works for you, or what you want them for. I could categorize even the job I just got done with today in about 40 different ways. Just have to decide what you want to do with them.

Now this is coming from me.. so just pass RIGHT over it to the next poster :)

[RCP]

Another thing I do is create a page of thumbnails of before pics, put it in the job folder and have the guys use it as a reference for taking after pics to get the same view.