organizing negatives??

I am wondering how some of you organize your photos/negatives? Do ou do it by events, by camera, by date???

I have been doing it by camera and then by the event or subject but n ow I am questioning my method. I am beginning to think organizing by subject/event may be better and then sub group by camera.

For me, 3 ring binders, ordered by date. At the top of each printfile negative page, I write the date, event or subject/location information. Contact prints also get punched and go into the binder next to each page of negatives. Favorite photos from each page get marked on the contact print and I sometimes write contrast preferences on the contact print as well if finding the desired contrast isn't too obvious.

I use plastic pages that hold several strips of film. These are stored by increasing dates in looseleaf binders along with a contact sheet if one was made. To each is affixed a label with the film and developer info, location of the major subject and a date code. A label will look like this.

651024A (Oct 24,1965, A,B. etc if more than one roll shot)
Tri-X EI= 400 HC-110 1:49 nn.n min @ 21
Old house, Siloam Springs, Ark

I use plastic pages, organized by roll/date. The key difference in my approach from others I've seen is that I also label each sleeve with a unique identifier: Rxxxxx, where the x's are incremented by one. My first roll (in modern times) was R00001, the second, R00002, etc. I do this because I work with scans almost exclusively. When I import the scans into Aperture, I tag them with the roll number (along with all the other tags I want). Later I'm looking for a particular photo I look for it in Aperture. Once I've found it, I have the roll number tag, and can go straight to the sleeve. Think of it as the Dewey Decimal System for negatives .

for roll film they end up in print file pages ...
i have 3 ring binders.
i used to be a stickler and jot down a note or two about the roll
never any developing info, never any contact sheets just a note ( diner, cobbler &C )
when i shot newspaper work i would sometimes write the assignment down ( same deal single words: chief, mill owner &C )
i just have stacks of un noted, un organized film in print file pages now .. not too organized the last 5 or 6 years.

for sheet film, similar films get stored together in glassine
i have archival shoe boxes they all go in too.
notes ( soft trees, portraits of kids, central square )
are put on the glassine sometimes across the body of it, sometimes on the top where it opens ( in pencil )
i also have thumb tabbed archival envelopes sometimes put contact prints, and negatives in.
it is easier to read the pencil on the envelopes than the glassine.
it is kind of funny that you asked this question. last week i sorted all the 4x5 sheets i could find.
they were stacked in empty film boxes the past 6 or 7 years.
i found 2 of the films i was looking for, i only have 2 left to find !

i haven't figured out what to do with my 5x7 film, or paper negatives...

I transfer the poorer quality ones to glass, label them cryptically, store them in an old wooden box, and leave them out on the lawn during garage sales.

FYI (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

My negatives are arranged autobiographically.

Chronologically:

1. Year
2. Month
3. Roll # for above month
4. Negative #

Example: 2010-07-016_13 = Year 2010, Month July, Roll 16, Frame 13.

I also record film, developer, dev time, location, etc and make that info searchable using a spread sheet.

I too use 3 ring binders and write on the binder the subject, camera, film chemistry etc. My real question is once you have taken a photo and file the negative away, how do you find it again. I can't remember that on a given date I took a photo of my grandson. I can remember that I took the shot some time in the past but not the date specifically so I coould locate the negative by date...

I make contact sheets of most of my negative sleeves, which make them easier to find.
If I make a print, I make a print record, which I keep with my proof, and it states which negative it is, according to my numbering sequence above.
I sometimes also proof negatives on my scanner, saving them as digital files, and it's easy to flick through them and find the picture in questions, and then go find the negative, because those file names are the same as the negatives.

- Thomas

stradibarrius said:

I too use 3 ring binders and write on the binder the subject, camera, film chemistry etc. My real question is once you have taken a photo and file the negative away, how do you find it again. I can't remember that on a given date I took a photo of my grandson. I can remember that I took the shot some time in the past but not the date specifically so I coould locate the negative by date...

Click to expand...

This topic gets hashed around fairly frequently.
It's a subject that greets everyone as they accumulate negatives.
Everyone has a "favorite way" some are almost fanatical about it.

Looking for a simple, manual system?
Or are you a "neat desk type", with every variable dutifully recorded?
Using a pad of paper and a notebook?
Or a computer and relational database?

How does your brain work?
15 years from now, when looking for a negative will you think in time and sequence?
If then: file by date.
But beware... notations on the negatives and proof sheets will consist of a cryptic, meaningless jumble of numbers and letters.

If, 15 years from now, will your brain think by subject matter?
If so, file by topic.
But you'll need to establish a topical method of notation and filing system.
It takes a bit of thought ahead of time, but as the years march by everything is accessible.
Even if your computer crashes you can still find something. Easily,

Here are some other thoughts on the subject...

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Have fun.
Reinhold

www.classicBWphoto.com

Posted wirelessly..

Generally chronologically by exposure date. Plastic sheets in binders. I ascribe, once again, to the hither-and-yon theory of storage with negs as well as gear. Anything else would be too much like work.

This is an area where computers certainly can be your friend.

The most important advice though is that it is better to start your system early, and then keep it up as you go, because if you have a backlog, you probably won't catch up.

Some may remember the relatively recent and relatively heated thread on using scanning to make quasi-contact sheets. If you have that ability, and lots of computer storage space, you can combine them with computer records to create a really robust system.

When you set up a system, it is important to differentiate between your storage system, and your system for locating particular negatives or slides. Your storage system should optimize safety of storage and accessibility. Your system for recording and locating information and negatives should optimize flexibility and ease of use.

As an example, there is no practical reason to store negatives separately based on developer used, but there may be good practical reasons to make it easy to sort your information in ways that make it easy to locate negatives according to the developer used (thinking of issues like negatives for alternative processes).

I find labelling and storing rolls or negatives by date, roll number and negative number to be a useful system, but if you are going to use a computer for sorting, you want to record that information in a numeric format that is easy to work with. As an example, if you shoot 3 rolls of 120 today, you might want to assign the 2nd roll with the following roll number:

2010-07-28-002

Note that I use numbering that goes year, month, day - that is the easiest to sort. Also, make sure that any field in your format has enough space available. You wouldn't want the roll number field to be just one digit if there is any chance that you might shoot 10 or more rolls in a particular day.

The 4th negative on that roll could be designated as:

2010-07-28-002-04

If you shoot multiple formats, you might want to set up a system that allows using the alternate numbering available on the films - e.g. 04A on 35mm, or 49 on the other edge of 120 or 220 films.

For sheet film, you may want to invest in a technical pen to number the edge of negatives.

You can then cross-reference that roll or negative oriented system with further information concerning subject, clients (if you have them) printing details, etc., etc.

I give each negative/roll a unique chronological number, then I file them by model name (or subject/place) in boxes.

Around 1975 (or so), I recognized the need to set up a filing system that would serve me the rest of my life, regardless of how many negatives I would eventually accumulate.

My negative archive was growing faster than I could keep it in order, things were getting out of hand.

Browsing through a mish-mash of negatives and proof sheets led me to conceive a system of cataloging and filing that has served me well. Here's the system and a few photos 35 years later...

I catalog and file by topic.
I use an alpha-numeric catalog system.
The 4-letter alpha component identifies the topic.
The numeric component identifies the sequential negative number.
Example: ACAQ 427 is negative #427 in a category of Antique Airplanes.
The catalog number along with the date and camera info is written on each negative.
The negatives are filed in individual sleeves in a file drawer, along with a proof.
A second proof is filed sequentially with all other ACAQ proofs in a Pendaflex file drawer.

As you can see, I use a FileMaker Pro database to assign negative numbers and record the data.
It's a lot easier than that old manual typewriter back in '75.
I have about 250 topic categories, ranging from ANDO (Animals, Domestic) to WYGE (Wyoming, General).
If I'm just browsing, looking for something different to print, I thumb thru some proof sheets.
Just looking, and reminiscing...

The photos show my roll film (35 mm, 6x6, 6x7, 6x12, 6x15, & 6x17) and 4x5 negative filing drawers.
I use standard Pendaflex hanging files for the proof sheets. I mount the proofs onto archival card stock.
I could just as easily use plastic file pages, but mixing proof sizes complicates things.

I'm not suggesting that you use my system, but there might be one or two ideas that may be of use to you.
I'd be the last one to brag that my way is the best way.
It's a lot of work, but I'm proud of my legacy that will be passed on after my last negative is taken...

Reinhold

www.classicBWphoto.com

I also use three ring binders with print-file sleeves for each roll, inserted chronologically. I put contact sheets in a print sleeve as well and file that with the negatives. I give each developed roll a number using a code that is easy for me to remember. The number is the year and month of development, plus a unique number for each roll. So the first roll developed in July 2010 will have a number like 2010:7.1, the second roll will be 2010:7.2, and so on. I write that number in my developing notebook, too, so I know how each roll was developed. It's harder to explain than to do. But since the number is on the print-file sleeve, and on the contact sheet, and in the developing notebook, and then in my printing notebook, it's impossible for me to lose track.

-Laura

ROL said:

I transfer the poorer quality ones to glass, label them cryptically, store them in an old wooden box, and leave them out on the lawn during garage sales.

FYI (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Click to expand...

stradibarrius said:

I too use 3 ring binders and write on the binder the subject, camera, film chemistry etc. My real question is once you have taken a photo and file the negative away, how do you find it again. I can't remember that on a given date I took a photo of my grandson. I can remember that I took the shot some time in the past but not the date specifically so I coould locate the negative by date...

Click to expand...

You need an index, which is basically what I'm creating when I scan and tag my photos (see above post). If you aren't scanning, and thus can't use photo management software to tag images, you'll have to build your own indexing system, in a spreadsheet or text document or in a notebook. It really only makes sense to do it electronically, though, so I wouldn't recommend the notebook .

Give each page in your notebook a unique number. Then, in your electronic document, type in the unique number and next to that a set of "descriptors" or "tags":

P0012 grandson mark birthday trip party family
...
P0018 mark portrait family school

You'll have to do a lot of typing to start. But once you have the index, you'll just need to add to it over time. When you want to find pictures of "mark", do a search for the word "mark" in your index. Every match of the search will give you a page that you tagged for him, and will lead you to a page with at least one photo of or about "mark" (otherwise you wouldn't have tagged it).

You could extend this by including the estimated date for the page, which would clue you in a bit more regarding the context for the photo.

Of course, dedicated software (rather than a text file or spreadsheet) would make this all a lot simpler, and would work down to the image level, which is why I scan and use Aperture. In Aperture, I can build a "query" that would let me find photos with tags "mark portrait" in the year 2010, for example. But, some folks don't want to make and manage scans, which I can totally understand.

Good luck!

JBrunner said:

My negatives are arranged autobiographically.

Click to expand...

No doubt, that is my favorite answer ever.