What Do I Do With My Photos?

Once you take it, what do you do?

When your hobby is wildlife photography and you routinely post photos of Facebook, you inevitably get questions about what you do with them. 

The first question is always, "Do you sell your photos?"  

The answer to this one is no. If someone wanted to buy some, I would. But, wildlife photography is a very popular pastime. There are tons and tons of photographers and most are better than me with better equipment. There really isn’t a market for my stuff. If you want to make me an offer, fine! But the time and effort to market would have a losing ROI. 

So, what do I do with all my photos? 

That, I have made into a sometimes-fulltime job for myself. So, let me explain.

Get ‘Em Ready

First, as soon as I can after I have taken photos, I process them. Often, I start this on my laptop while I am traveling. Sometimes, I have to force myself to put them away and go to sleep.

It's fun to review your day 

"Processing" means converting them from RAW to JPG, fixing exposure, cloning out smudges and things I don’t want in the photo (including people, cars or even branches in front of the subject) ...

There were 13 buses in this photo

... adjusting shadows, contrast and color and removing excess grain (AKA “noise).” 

My computer no longer has the strength to view more than a few RAW files at once

This involves scrutinizing all the photos and, often, discarding a large number of them for a variety of reasons: out of focus, too dark or too light (and not really fixable) or too much like other photos (since I have high-speed continuous shoot, it’s not unusual to get multiple photos that look exactly the same).

Posting

Then, I select which photographs I want to post on Facebook, sometimes making composites (several photos arranged together as one image) if putting the photos together tells a better story. 

The series tells the story

I have a few fans

If I have lots of photos (and I often do), I stage them in folders and post each group of photos as a Facebook album over consecutive days. 

It can sometimes take weeks to get through one trip (sometimes longer than the trip)!

I used to do multiple albums in one day, but was told that that was a bit overwhelming. Now, I never post more than one album a day. I don’t want to overwhelm the fans! 

In the process of selecting, edition, group and posting, I determine if any of the photos are extraordinary enough for to do anything additional with them. 

There are lots of categories for this.

eBird Posting

When I am birding, I like to include photos in my eBird submissions. One reason is that, occasionally, eBird will notify me that I have made an ID error (I have actually gained Lifers this way. So, once I process, I can create an eBird checklist with photos.

A partial checklist

Family Calendar

One consideration is whether I will put a copy of the photo in my folder of pictures to consider for next year’s family calendar.

A fun, but work-intensive project

We create a calendar each year featuring photos that Scott, Caty, (sometimes) Becca and I have taken since the last calendar.

I do the initial photo selection, convert all the photos from an RGB to a CMYK color profile (required by the printer), decide on a theme for each month, design the page and create a composite photo to fit the calendar specs (this can be one photo or multiple photos). The family helps select which of multiple designs we will use (and sometimes suggests combinations that I haven’t considered) and I use a local designer to create the calendar pages, set the captions and manage the printing.

Lots of selection and design here

The calendar is our Christmas gift to family and close friends.

For us, it’s a BIG thing!

I find that putting good shots in a separate folder as I go makes the ultimate selection so much easier. Throughout the year, I’ll review and delete pictures that haven’t held up. But having them there helps me get started. Caty does the same. We are working on Scott.

“Best of” Albums

I then determine if any photos qualify for files I keep (on my computer and on Facebook) of the “single” BEST picture of every animal, bird, fish and bug I have photographed. There are currently 13 separate categories: 

Animals & Bugs Central America, South America, Caribbean …

I have 120 photos in this album, so it can absorb more from my upcoming Ecuador trip

Animals Africa ...

There are 70 entries here: all from ONE trip

Birds & Animals Europe …

Polar Bears aren't usually associated with Europe, but Svalbard is part of Norway!

Birds & Animals Oceana …

Small album; I didn't bird or have good cameras when I went Australia and New Zealand

Birds Africa …

We saw 122 species in one trip

Birds Central America, Caribbean …

So of the prettiest birds are here

Birds South America …

Birds South America is empty now, but I am going to Ecuador next week and am hoping for some significant numbers. I didn’t bird while I was in Peru, so I am sure I missed some chances for birds there (I did capture a few animals, but not enough for a separate album).

Birds US, Canada …

The most photos, by far, with 535

Bugs and Snails US, Canada …

A great deal of variety here

Land Animals US, Canada … 

Lots of species and subspecies

Raptors US, Canada ...

This is a favorite album

Water and Sea Creatures US, Canada …

This is habitat- vs. species-based: marine mammals, fish, crustaceans and so forth

Water Birds, Shore Birds, Cranes, Storks and Geese US, Canada …

Because there are so many, water birds are separate

The photos I include are my “single” best example of each separate species or subspecies I have photographed. I use “single” lightly, because I have separate photos for males and females if I know what sex they are (by either behavior or appearance) ...

Male Moose have antlers; females do not

... and babies, juveniles and different age groups ...

Bald Eagles have five different stages, so I can have one entry for each

For birds, I have separate entries for perching and flying  ...

So, even more Bald Eagles! But, can you ever get enough?

... and, where appropriate, for breeding and non-breeding plumage ...

Non-breeding and breeding plumage for an American Goldfinch

Sometimes I add specialized behavior, as well, such as feeding a chick, fighting or courtship behaviors ...

Dancing is special behavior

So, it is possible to have multiple photos of one animal; but I won’t have more than one entry for the same thing. Granted, sometimes that one entry is a composite with several photos, but it is still just one. 

Sometimes you need more photos!

Plus, the critter can repeat if it has geographic diversity (if I have photographed the species in multiple places).

Bat Falcon in Central America and in the U.S.

Right now, I have Hawai’i in the US, Canada albums, but U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean categories. Maybe Hawai’i should be in Oceana, but I like keeping the 50 states together.

 

Where does this 'I'iwi belong?

The categories change as my files increase; when an album reaches about 500 or if there is an obvious way to break it down, I usually split it. The exception is Birds US, Canada (from which Raptors and Sea Birds have already been split out); I have just one official album, which is split into two parts (A-M and N-Z) on Facebook.

Painted Bunting from the M-Z group

Animal of the Day

The photos that go into the "Best of" albums are then used for my “Animal of the Day” posting on Facebook. Every day, I change out my cover photo with one of the “Best of” photos. 

Every single day!

Priority is those I have never featured. If I run out of those, I then feature an update (a newer, better photo that has replaced a photo of a subject I already posted). I have list of all the photos that I haven’t yet featured including new photos, better photos/replacements and poor photos that I won’t feature unless I use up all the photos in the first two categories. That isn’t likely to happen because, for example, right now I have two months scheduled, 81 photos waiting to be scheduled, 278 better photos of animals I already posted and 131 substandard photos.

Organization is important

I try to match photos with specific days: an animal looking goofy on April Fool’s Day, a scary animal on Halloween, a Squirrel on “National Squirrel Day,” an Owl on Super Bowl Sunday (AKA Superb Owl Sunday) and so forth.

Lots of options for Superb Owl Sunday

If I miss a day by mistake or because of lack of Internet, I reschedule. I try very hard not to miss one.

The variety is uplifting

Desktop Photos

I select photos from time-to-time to add to my computer desktop photos. 

I currently have more than 1,000 of my favorite photos to use as my screen background and screen savers. 

They cycle through when I am working, changing every minute.

They give me great joy to see – and take up a lot of my computer storage. 

“My Favorite Photos”

Many of the photos I have put in my desktop pix, except those that are selected as “Best of” photos, also go into one of seven different “My Favorite Photos” Facebook folders: Landscapes …

Roosevelt Lake, Apache Trail, Arizona

Bugs and Plants …

White-tailed Bumblebee, Ísafjörður, Iceland

Birds …

Acorn Woodpecker, Madera Canyon, Arizona

Culture …

Atomonium, Brussels, Belgium

Animals …

Arctic Fox, Svalbard, Norway

Sky and Sun …

Total Eclipse, Driggs, Idaho, 2017

Raptors ...

Hovering Osprey, Gulf Shores, Alabama

These albums, which are private, really exist just so I can pull up good shots to show other people on my phone. Because, no, I do not store photos on my phone or in the Cloud (more on that in a moment).

My Office Walls

I also have framed prints of many favorite photos covering almost every square inch of my office walls. Like my desktop pix, they give me great joy as I work away at my computer. 

Some say overkill; I don't

Unlike all my computer files, it is more effort to keep the wall pix up to date. You have to select, print, frame and find a place to put it (whether a new frame or replacing something that’s been up for awhile). I’m a couple of trips behind right now. The thought of re-arranging frames is daunting – and would require me to repaint the walls. 

What you are reading now

Blogging

Of course, dear reader, I also use my photos (plus photos from traveling companions and the Internet) to illustrate my blogs. I mean, a picture is worth 1,000 words. Because of the blog format, I usually crop differently and do lots of additional composites.

Having photos makes telling my travel story so much easier. But, I often forget to take pictures of people (I hate being intrusive) or of the less savory parts of the trip. I mean, if I am going to tell you Cairo has piles of garbage everywhere, I should show you the garbage!

I often talk about food when traveling. Luckily, Scott is great at photographing yummy meals.

Keeping Track

So, how do I manage all this? 

As I said, I don’t store my photos on my phone or in the Cloud. Rather, I file in folders split by year and then split by decade. I keep the JPGs together and the corresponding RAW files separately. I keep up to six months on my computer, after which I download to a hard drive. I then back-up the hard drives and keep one copy at home and one copy in my safe deposit box.

I don't want to lose my photos

Complicated. 

But, I seldom lose photos. I did lose all my Congaree National Park photos; I think I overwrote them with an album of Alex and Lindsay Rowe's wedding. But, that's rare.

I have duplicates and composites in my "Best of" and Desktop Pix folders, as well. I always keep originals where they belong by location and date.

Some locations are easy to recall; some are not

This is a lot of work, but it makes the photos more meaningful to me, it keeps the places and things I’ve seen in my head and it give an inveterate organizer/box-checker a good outlet.

Lots of great memories

So, aren’t you sorry you asked?

Are you?