Do you keep a photo log/diary/journal??

[Al Kaplan]

I also have a habit of keeping all of my little pocket size appointment books/day planners going back for years. They often have info like names, phone numbers, and addresses, or other notes. Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to the wall when I say this, but you never know when some person or event might become famous or newsworthy. It might not matter so much if it was shot with the 105mm Vivitar or the 90mm Elmarit but a bit of journalism's "five W's" is always useful: Who, What, Where, When, and Why.

http://thepriceofsilver.blogspot.com

 

[chris000]

I keep a diary. It records where I have been, what I have seen, what I have shot (with a camera! 😀) who I have met and any interesting things that I might want to remember. So I regard it as a diary not as a log.

It does not record shutter speed, aperture, film type, etc., etc. - I regard that as a bit pointless because, as Roger says above:

" ... how often are you going to encounter exactly the same subject, in exactly the same lighting, using exactly the same equipment?"

 

[Bob Michaels]

I keep copious notes in pocket size spiral notebooks but they include no data about exposure or equipment used.

My notes do include detailed information about subject and location. I try to record subject name if appropriate, pertinent information about them and anything significant about what is going on.

I hope that my photos create an interest in what the photo is all about and no interest in f-stops, lenses, or film used. When someone reacts to my photos by commenting in terms of technical qualities, I know I have failed in my basic objective.

 

[Chris101]

I have dozens of notebooks. All my experimental stuff in them, as well as theoretical ideas and math. Some of it is photo exposure data, when using a new film, or one I haven't used in a while. Especially for a test roll, say when making copies, or shooting under very unusual lighting, like lasers or IR/UV.

I also put topics, people, places, dates - and developing information on my negative sleeves. In the past I had kept notes on filtration, exposure and developing trix, hie and other films. These days I mostly wing it, with some +/- as needed.

My notes are intended only for my short term use - after a few years I can't tell what most of the hen scratches mean.

 

[JPSuisse]

All of the pictures I took at a young age (starting around 11 years old) didn't get logged of course. When I restarted with photography about 3 years ago, I began logging the following information:

Exposure time, F-Number, Time, Date, Place, Camera Type, Camera Serial Number, Lens Type, Lens Serial Number, Place, qualitative judgement about the lighting, i.e. high or low contrast, developer used, scanner, scanner serial number, film, film batch number

In practice, I never get all the information, but it's not nearly as hard to do as it sounds. Very often I take a group of shots and they all have the same settings. Once you start doing this, it just kind of flows. After I shoot, I rip the page out of the book, attach it to the contact sheet and put that right by the negatives in the year book for the respective year.

Soon, I will start evaluating the information and judging the pictures, but I haven't gotten that far yet! If this doesn't yield worth-while learnings, I'll just quit... 🙂

JP