How are you all keeping track of your frames?

[Dwig]

When I shot film my method was:

• each roll goes into a PrintFile page
• each roll is numbered with the date (yyyymmdd) and then a 2 digit number for the roll number for that day.
• a proof sheet was made for each roll and notes were listed on the back of the proofsheet.
• PrintFile page and proofsheet then went into a ring binder.

Individual images were identified by roll number and frame number (yyyymmdd-nn) when needed. Sheet film was numbered the same way but hand written directly on the film edges. I always processed film promptly (read: withing a week or two) so there was never a big backlog to deal with.

 

[seanjw]

As a film comes out of the camera (or is exposed when shooting sheet film), it gets recorded in a little Luechttrum book with a sequential number. That number gets written on the cassette or the roll or on the film holder. The notebook also records camera, lens, iso, and location.

When I run films the number gets transferred to the film as it hangs to dry, then to the print file page as films are sleeved. It is simple enough to keep track of which film is which in the developing tank. The number on the print file page is quite legible on my proof sheets.

When I make work prints I note the date and the roll number.frame number on the back in pencil. I can then look up in the darkroom diary, by date, what developer and paper I used that day. These notes go back years. To 1986 actually. The three years of negatives I have from before this were retroactively numbered when I started this method, but there is no darkroom diary before '86. None of the papers I used then are still made anyhow, and I've long since left Dekol behind. I just sleeved up films numbered 7203 and 7204 today. After I proof them they'll go in a 1" Staples Better Binder, 50 Print File pages per book. If I print the first frame from roll 7203 it is noted as 7203.1

Color negative film is treated in a similar fashion, with the prefix C before the number. Those are a separate series, with proof sheets and paged films stored in a clear archival sleeve, and in boxes. Scans are done by the lab, when I transfer them to the hard drive I give the folder for that roll the number from the notebook. I don't re-number the individual scans. I think I'm at about C1200 something now.

Slides get a sequential number, stamped on the mount, and any scan is treated as the color neg scans. Slides get numbered year.#, so 95.0001 or 16.0001, etc. I rarely shoot slides anymore, but when I did stock shooting this was invaluable in knowing what originals were where and in keeping track of similars. I kept roll numbers on the stock slides when shooting and processing, but once they returned from the lab they were edited and numbered anew. This was a time saving thing as my numbering stamp was cumbersome to adjust. There was a carefully curated database of keywords, locations, etc that allowed me to find things, when the software was no longer compatible I printed it out, but it is likely useless, as are the bulk of the slides anymore.

Other than the slides, less time consuming that it might seem, and with a print in hand I can put my fingers on a negative within a few minutes, whether it was shot in 1986 or last year.

Digital files are another matter. I number each card as I do my films, with the prefix D, but do not have proof sheets of it all, have many gaps in key wording, and now at folder D1286 getting my cursor on a DNG can be very frustrating.

This seems super practical, thanks for describing it!

 

[seanjw]

I create folders per year (2016), in it per month(201609). In the month folder per day (20160914). I start a new Lightroom catalog every month.

Do you find that lightroom works well enough for this? Do you create albums for each roll? I have lightroom and use it for all of my digital stuff but I have never used it for my film.

 

[johannielscom]

Do you find that lightroom works well enough for this? Do you create albums for each roll? I have lightroom and use it for all of my digital stuff but I have never used it for my film.

Works like a charm. I use it for anything except dust busting on scans, for which I open the file in Photoshop (from Lightroom).

I move every Lightroom monthly database to the NAS as well (for safety, the NAS has RAID). When I need to access it, I move it back to the local drive, since Lightroom cannot access databases on networked drives.

When I edit files on multiple locations, I move the database and the originals to a Dropbox folder, so I can download them to any local machine and upload them again once I'm done. That way I'm always working in the same database and with the same original files, either at home (Mac Mini) or in the office (Macbook).

 

[sepiareverb]

This seems super practical, thanks for describing it!

Thank you. I've shared this method with students for years, but when one has only shot thirty rolls of film it always seems like overkill. It took me a few hours to go back through the three or four binders of negatives I'd made after leaving school when I started this method, and it is such second nature now that it is just a part of the process of un-loading a camera. Bonus from reading most folks systems is that the numbers are smaller than year,month,day,frame.

Thanks for starting the thread! I'm investigating key wording and my digital organization anew.

 

[willie_901]

MY negatives and positive original media are stored in loose-leaf notebooks using negative/slide holder sleeves. I label them according to development data (which was usually close to when the roll left the camera) and roll number. I also record the camera I used. For convenience sake I also write the film info on the sleeves.

After they are scanned, I use use a very similar labeling system in my LR Library Folder organization (~/year/roll_number). I do all editing (i.e. image selection in LR).

During my film years I scanned some of those rolls. Over time my scanning hardware, software and technique improved. Others were decent scans made by the development labs.

So, I always rescan frames I plan to print or display in completed projects or series. The final scans and various rendered digital versions are grouped into LR Library stacks along with all the original media scans described above.

Since I have Amazon Prime, all of these negative/positive JPEGs (lab scans). lossless DNGs (converted from my original TIFF scans) are backed up to Amazon Pictures. I have identical back ups on external drives at home.

 

[lamefrog]

Do you find that lightroom works well enough for this? Do you create albums for each roll? I have lightroom and use it for all of my digital stuff but I have never used it for my film.

This is how I use LR for film (I'm on a Mac):

- Each roll gets a sequential #

- I scan a each roll into its final destination on the disk system. Ea roll in its own folder (ex ~/Pictures/Library/Film/1231/ for roll #1231)

- I run a script that renames all the files sequentially , and prepends the roll #

1231-01.tif
1231-02.tif
etc..

- I update the metadata before import. For ex on my last roll :

exiftool -Model='LeicaM4' -FocalLength='35mm' -Lens='Summaron35mmF2.8' -Make='Leica M4' -overwrite_original -m *.tif

exiftool -AllDates='2016:09:06 16:00:00' -overwrite_original -m *.tif

I'm very loose on the dates . I just want the photos to be roughly sequential and close enough to the shoot date

- Using LR Import , I add the images to the LR catalog (using Add). Because ea roll is a folder in the file system it appears as a folder in LR and I don't have to create a collection for ea roll.

Btw I use an old version of LR (LR4) because I happen to own it. It provides a good way to organize and search thru past images. It s also useful for contrast adjustment and exporting to jpeg. Otherwise its overkill for my needs.

 

[lamefrog]

Hello everyone!


I decided to assign each roll of film a numeric id and take note of what each roll's broad subject is as well as (roughly) when it was taken. So far this is working out for me, but I am all ears for additional information that I *should* be keeping track of!

I use a Google spreadsheet .

Ea roll gets a sequential # and gets a row in the spreadsheet . Sorted in reverse so that latest rolls are at the top for faster reference.

here's a row :

1231 | FP4 | 125 | M2 | 08-23 midtown | 2016-08-24 RODINAL 1:50 13:00 8+2/60s | 2016-08-24 | 10:38 at 22C

So for ea roll I track :

roll # | Film used | Exposed at ISO | Camera used | rough shoot dat/location info | dev date , developer used , dev dilution, dev time , agitation | scan date | NOTES

in notes I add anything else pertinant . for ex in this case I note that I modified the dev time to adjust to the 22C bath temperature.

Also ea row is color coded :

yellow - roll in progress (camera is loaded)
green - roll waiting to be processed
orange - roll being processed
white - processed, done

i often have several cameras loaded at any time so a quick look at the spreadsheet can tell me which cameras are loaded with what film (yellow) and how many rolls are waiting to be processed (green) . I mark the rows as orange during processing so that they stand out and I can reference them during development and scanning.

I use another spreadsheet to track darkroom prints.

 

[johannielscom]

Interesting that people keep track of camera and lens used. My system doesn't record that and I fail to see how it's of any importance unless you're studying? Are you guys really coming to any conclusions based on that info?


Same time, my digital cameras have file names or file formats that identify their brand. For a brief period I had two Nikon DSLRs and you can set a 3-digit camera name in the menu, I had JN7 for a D700 and JN6 for a D600.

My film cameras are only a few and I can pretty conclusively tell them apart from the film format. I've been thinking about filing little notches in the film gate like the old press photographers used to do but then again, I wouldn't conclude anything from which camera or lens I used...
😀

 

[Steve Bellayr]

For film each roll of film is given a number. For example Leica will get a number starting with L-1001, and Nikon N N-1001. Your could if you wish at the year behind the number. Each camera gets it's own separate document in the computer with a hard copy kept in the file with the negatives. The contact sheet and negatives are given the same number on top. In the document I describe all pertinent information, including camera & lens, persons, places and dates.
Unlike many people I do not develope or print my own negatives/photos (Those days are long gone.) I have books with all the photos 4x6s. Each set is entered with the appropriate number and next each photo is name, date, location and any other pertinent information.
The benefit to me with this method is that I can locate any negative using the 4x6s. When I want to blow up a photo I can easily attach the photo to the negative with any instructions on cropping.
If when the negatives are developed I want a cd I do that but only low resolution. I do not need a high resolution cd for a large print as I have the negative.
At this junction I imagine if I went to using a digital camera, which I do have, I would label each set with a D number, i.e. D1001-2016. Then I would create a document listing all the D numbers. Separation would be more difficult because the card hold many more images. But, if you separate your images into groups it would not matter so long as there is a thorough describing for each number.

I will agree up front that the film section is a costly system.

 

[MikeMGB]

Interesting that people keep track of camera and lens used. My system doesn't record that and I fail to see how it's of any importance unless you're studying? Are you guys really coming to any conclusions based on that info?

It's not that important, but I use multiple cameras and lenses and just like to be able to identify which one I used for a particular image.

 

[sepiareverb]

Interesting that people keep track of camera and lens used. My system doesn't record that and I fail to see how it's of any importance unless you're studying? Are you guys really coming to any conclusions based on that info?

Saves me hassles in tracking down what camera/lens may need adjustment. I ran one roll recently and found there was a hair in the gate of the camera. Book told me which one and I cleaned it right up. Likewise, my most used MP needed a shutter brake adjustment about a year ago. Saw that from the proof sheets, and knew immediately which body it was.

 

[Dwig]

Saves me hassles in tracking down what camera/lens may need adjustment. I ran one roll recently and found there was a hair in the gate of the camera. Book told me which one and I cleaned it right up. Likewise, my most used MP needed a shutter brake adjustment about a year ago. Saw that from the proof sheets, and knew immediately which body it was.

+1

I never found much value in the lens and body info other than this one issue.

I always notched the film gate on my bodies and the flap on my sheet film holders so that there was a permanent visible indicator on each image. I could always tell which body or film holder produced a particular image. However, I did have to rely on my notes and/or memory to sort out which lens was used.

 

[ckuwajima]

This is how I use LR for film (I'm on a Mac):

- Each roll gets a sequential #

- I scan a each roll into its final destination on the disk system. Ea roll in its own folder (ex ~/Pictures/Library/Film/1231/ for roll #1231)

- I run a script that renames all the files sequentially , and prepends the roll #

1231-01.tif
1231-02.tif
etc..

- I update the metadata before import. For ex on my last roll :

exiftool -Model='LeicaM4' -FocalLength='35mm' -Lens='Summaron35mmF2.8' -Make='Leica M4' -overwrite_original -m *.tif

exiftool -AllDates='2016:09:06 16:00:00' -overwrite_original -m *.tif

I'm very loose on the dates . I just want the photos to be roughly sequential and close enough to the shoot date

- Using LR Import , I add the images to the LR catalog (using Add). Because ea roll is a folder in the file system it appears as a folder in LR and I don't have to create a collection for ea roll.

Btw I use an old version of LR (LR4) because I happen to own it. It provides a good way to organize and search thru past images. It s also useful for contrast adjustment and exporting to jpeg. Otherwise its overkill for my needs.

I am used to tag and geolocate all my digital photos in LR. It makes very easy to locate make, date, location, theme, etc.

As for analog, I continue doing so. As I import the images to Lightroom, I tag each roll with film model, camera, lens and an asset registration number which I assign to each film roll. And always insert geolocation info using the LR Map module.