Browsing, Organizing, Posting

I finally took some time last night and added a few pictures to the photography website.  They can be found in the "Landscapes" gallery here.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the appearance of my website.  There are a few little things I still want to do with it, but my biggest priority is to get some more photos added.  I've realized that it's going to take me a lot longer than I first anticipated to go through all my photos to find those that I feel are worthy enough to display.  My current library is sitting at about 23,000 photos, of which probably 90% of those have been shot in the last 4 years.  I know that number is a far cry from what some professional photographers' libraries probably look like, but I'm assuming they have a lot more time than I do to go through photos.  It's their job!

It's a daunting task, but exciting at the same time.  It's giving me a chance to look at my photos more closely than ever before and I'm finding new favorites and some old favorites that don't seem as good anymore.  It's strange how your tastes can change and the more I take photos (and the better my "eye" becomes) it's interesting to look back to see how I've progressed.

Up to this point, I haven't been one to sit in front of my computer for hours on end using Photoshop or some other photo editing software to make my photos "better."  I really strive to get the photo as close to what I want as I'm taking it so that I don't have to spend a lot of time editing later.  I don't know about other photographers, but I'd rather be out taking photos than sitting in front of a computer any day!  But, I also know that the digital darkroom has it's place and it's an area where I would like to gain some more knowledge.  So, I'm also using my time going back through photos to mess around a little bit with editing.  Right now I'm using GIMP (I love opensource!), iPhoto, and LightZone (cool program!).  I've thought about purchasing Photoshop in the past, but I can't get past the price tag.  I've also given serious consideration to Aperture 3, especially after reading several good reviews.

My last goal in going through my photos is to better organize them so I can find a specific photo easier.  My current system isn't much of a system at all.  It's basically using iPhoto to import and organize everything.  I'm planning on abandoning any software's default organization scheme to create my own folder system.  Hopefully, it works!  My plan is to also incorporate a similar organization scheme into my website because that's one thing about my site that I don't really care for.  In my haste to get photos up for display, I didn't really give myself much time to consider how I wanted my photos organized.  So, that may be a change that people see in the future.