How do you handle a / edit / select from a mass of images

[DerekW]

Digital introduced the salmon eggs problem ie you take lots of images in a session.
Now with the OMD EM1 Mkii the problems has been magnified any times because of the rapid fire and Pro method of taking pictures.

What tools / techniques do you use to select the almost identical pictures from one another.

I use RAW and the time to build an image in Lightroom can be quite a drag especially if I have work through many hundreds of very similar images.

Any suggestions please.

[pault]

Re: How do you handle a / edit / select from a mass of images

I use "Fast Raw Viewer" program

[Bengeo]

Re: How do you handle a / edit / select from a mass of images

Have a look at:

http://www.fastpictureviewer.com/

It has many great features. I also use it with a voice control program and it will display the images for x seconds (I use 3) and then move to the next image. I decide if I want to keep an image and just say copy and the jpg + raw are copied to another folder. You may prefer to use the keyboard.

and

http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm

One of its features is to allow you to select up to 4 images and then compare them. Default is 100% view but you can change that as you view the images.

Both great programs that have been around for a long time and are well supported and cost between free and cheap!

[DerekW]

Re: How do you handle a / edit / select from a mass of images

Thanks for your suggestions, Fast Raw Viewer is the only candidate so for me as I use a Mac.

[Bengeo]

Re: How do you handle a / edit / select from a mass of images

.... as I use a Mac.

Sorry to hear that .....

Great machines, but you do miss out on some good utility programs made for the bigger Windows market.

[Olybirder]

Re: How do you handle a / edit / select from a mass of images

I suppose you have tried Preview, which is preinstalled on the Mac? I have just tried opening a folder of ORF files on my hard drive. They open as thumbnails on the left hand side of the window. I can then scroll through them and they open instantly in the main window. I can delete the complete no hopers from there.

It might not be what you are looking for but as it is free and already installed it could be worth a try.

Edit. I have just noticed that the folder which I chose comprises jpegs from my Mk II. I tried another folder of raw files and it still works but is slower than with the jpegs.

Ron

[Ricoh]

Re: How do you handle a / edit / select from a mass of images

The solution surely is to take less photographs. Pretend you have a roll of 36 and that's your lot. Since I started shooting alalogue, I find I'm taking far less even when using a digital camera, and I never ever have it set to continuous. If I miss the shot, tough.

[DerekW]

Re: How do you handle a / edit / select from a mass of images

Taking less is the correct answer - until you start playing with Pro mode that takes 16 pictures before the one you thought you were taking or with rapid fire with birds in flight.

It was DRMARK's comment in another thread where he commented on taking 3000 odd pictures during a visit to a Raptor Centre with his camera club colleagues that prompted me to ask the question as it reminded me of the occasions when I get over entusiastic with the shutter release.

[wornish]

Re: How do you handle a / edit / select from a mass of images

Sorry to hear that .....

Great machines, but you do miss out on some good utility programs made for the bigger Windows market.

What programs are you referring to ?

[drmarkf]

Re: How do you handle a / edit / select from a mass of images

Taking less is the correct answer - until you start playing with Pro mode that takes 16 pictures before the one you thought you were taking or with rapid fire with birds in flight.

It was DRMARK's comment in another thread where he commented on taking 3000 odd pictures during a visit to a Raptor Centre with his camera club colleagues that prompted me to ask the question as it reminded me of the occasions when I get over entusiastic with the shutter release.

Yes, that was a special case since I'd gone out with the intention of giving myself and the focusing system a full workout!

I'm glad to say I got a decent proportion in focus when my panning had given the camera a chance by holding the focus points on the airborne projectile. Interestingly I seemed to get a higher proportion in focus with the 300 than the 40-150: I'm not sure whether that's down to perhaps a more highly-developed lens focus system, better stabilisation, or the fact that I've recently been using the 300 a lot for bird photography. Probably a mix of all 3.

Whizzing through lots of images full-screen in FastStone becomes second nature, really. I review them as jpgs only (setting it to load the raws slows things down enormously) so I'm only screening for focus, framing and gross exposure, plus getting rid of obvious duplicates (lots in this case).

[Bengeo]

Re: How do you handle a / edit / select from a mass of images

What programs are you referring to ?

Programs like these I mentioned a few messages up in this thread:
http://www.fastpictureviewer.com/
http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm

But there are many more such as Exiftool etc. that need Windows.

[Jim Ford]

Re: How do you handle a / edit / select from a mass of images

I use "Fast Raw Viewer" program

Only available for the 'Fischer Price' operating system!

;^)

Jim

[DerekW]

Re: How do you handle a / edit / select from a mass of images

Not much talk of the Fisher Price system in some very long threads in the Off Topic area.

[sapper]

Re: How do you handle a / edit / select from a mass of images

Sorry to hear that .....

Cheeky

[Tordan58]

Re: How do you handle a / edit / select from a mass of images

Hi,

Waiting for LR to render a photo in full resolution takes time. If you come home with many photos from a session, say an airshow, this process can be painfully slow.

The method I use and that saves a lot of time to cherry pick the best photos is described below. I use Windows, same method should work for Mac as well.

1. Import and export to both high and low resolution JPG, have LR store them in separate output folders.
2. Browse and quick review the low res JPG using the "Photo Viewer", delete the non-wanted while browsing/quick reviewing.
3. Delete the matching RAWs and high res JPG as you will not need them any longer.
4. Open all sequences, similar shots of same subject in your favorite photo editing tool (now is when you will make use of the high res JPG). "Stack" all the windows. This way you can easily pair-wise compare the photos. As you do so, close the windows displaying photos that lose in the pair-wise comparison, until you have only one left (or possibly a few which you may want to keep).
6. Make a note of remaining file name/s and delete all RAWs except this one/s. Easiest is to un-select from the multiple selection that was dragged and dropped in the photo editing application.
7. After all photos have been evaluated, synchronize the folder in LR to remove the photos that have no file, delete all the JPGs, and proceed with final processing.

May sound complicated but it is not, you quickly get used to it. The more RAWs to evaluate, the more time you save.