Organizing your Negs/Trans

[Muggs]

Hello All,

How do you organize your negs/trans?
I'm not talking about what you put them in, but how do you mark them.
As an example: put a label on the back of the sleeve and label it "07-001-V".
In the above example the 07 is obviously the year, the 001 is the first of that year, and maybe add the V (for Velvia) or some other film indicator.

Right now I'm using the old "Rock in stream, early morning, Hickory Run SP", but as you can imagine I have quite a few of those.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Muggs

[davidb]

I do a very simple 07-023-7.

This means 2007 - roll #23 - neg #7

Nice and simple and easy to find.

[Ron Marshall]

I use date, geographic location, brief description. Sometimes it is difficult to keep the description brief.

[Arne Croell]

Similar, but with the 1st 2 digits for the format, as they are filed by format:

4507023 would be the 23rd 4x5 neg of this year. For roll film , I'd add the frame counter, e.g. 6707023-8 for the 8th frame on a 6x7 cm roll.

[Oren Grad]

For sheet film negatives, on the sleeve itself I use a prefix indicating camera/format, then append the year and sequence number. Example: P810/06.12 would be 12th negative made with Phillips 8x10 in 2006. I have a log book with very brief notes for each sequence number identifying date, location/subject, film and lens used, and exposure.

[Ralph Barker]

I organize by location or subject, giving it an abbreviated form which goes on the top of each negative sheet, along with the date and sheet/roll sequence number or alpha designator. That info is also the basis of any scan file name, along with the frame or sheet number. For example, and image from Death Valley in February of 2003 might become DV0203-A3 to designate the 3rd of 4 4x5 negs in sheet A, while DV0203-B and DV0203-C would designate 8x10 negs, and DV0203-14-23 would designate the 23rd frame from roll 14 of that project. That way, I can quickly locate the file folder and the negative from the scan file name, knowing the location, date, format size and frame.

[ageorge]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5......6943, 6944, 6945....


Exposure and development notes are keep in a separate small notebook with the same reference number. The scans have the same reference number in the name of the file. With the one number I can reference all data about a given negative. Plus it is a constant reminder of how many negatives I have worked. When I get to 10000 I'll know that I have arrived:)

[roteague]

I use XXXYYYYY where XX is the country or state code, and YYYYY is the image number. For example, AU1000 is image #1000 from Australia. I don't record dates, camera, film, etc. in this system, because that is what databases are for.

I don't use a numbering system at all for images from my digital camera, since I only use a digital camera for personal, throw-away images.

[John Bartley]

I keep a logbook. Each entry in the book is dated. Each entry has all the details from weather to film and camera to lens,tripod and exposure. Each logbook entry and exposure is numbered. The negatives go into archival negative storage sleeves and each sleeve is numbered to match the negative and the logbook. The negatives themselves have nothing on them. I only ever take one negative out of its sleeve at a time.

cheers

[Diane Maher]

I have mine sorted by format and with the LF ones I have entries made in a notebook and reference the holder number and the date shot. Smaller formats have information written on the part of the neg page made for it. Usually there's a number that the developing lab associated with the negatives and I just use that and a description of the event. Ones that I developed get a date and event.

[Muggs]

Hello All,
Thank you all for helping me think through this. I really like the idea of a simple numbering system with a log book to hold as much information about the photograph as I would like.

Again, many thanks!

Muggs

[David_Senesac]

Since this is a large format forum I'll restrict my input to just my 4x5 transparencies. I store that film in PrintFile 45-4B hanging file polyethylene sheets. From many years with 35mm and 6x7, I learned a simple coding mechanism that groups slides by date, trip, and storage position are all I needed. Anything beyond that can easily be added on a spread sheet that references the slide number. Again, the key thing for the film identification is to know what trip a slide was from, and its position in a storage system for easy retrieval. Anything more just causes overhead and complication.

In my system, each group of files from given field work has a three part alpha-numeric code separated by delimiters. Two digits for the year, a dash, one or two alpha digits for the trip code, one or two digits for the hanging file sheet number, a dash, and a one digit number for the left to right, top to bottom position on that sheet, either 1, 2, 3, or 4. Thus an image might be coded 05-G4-2 meaning year 2005 trip G, the seventh field trip of the year, hanging file sheet 4, position 2 that is upper right.

Thus the code does not have a full date but then that isn't necessary. Elsewhere I have a spreadsheet that shows more complete information for trip G in 2005 with the exact dates, a field trip name, where I visited, with whom, camp locations, etc. In another spreadsheet I list just exceptional images referenced with the above code, providing more detailed information like date, time, location, lens used, orientation, cropping suggestions, subject category, whether it has been drum scanned or printed, and more. I use dashes as delimiters, so the id is visually easy to interpret. The delimiters also allow more easily written programs or scripts to parse the fields, though I could certainly still write one without delimiters. Finding the slide physically is easy because I just need to look in the hanging file box for 2005 that has field trips sequentially filed.

One might think that there would be some reason for actually marking on the film edge itself. Why bother? If a 4x5 transparency needs to go out for some purpose like a drum scan, it is logged on the spreadsheet. There are never so many out of their sheets that I'll ever have a problem trying to figure out where they need to return to. Obviously there is going to be a sheet with a missing slide. That's one useful thing about putting slides in sheets as the other slides on the same sheet provide ready information about what I was doing sequentially that need not be explained. Once so filed while a trip is still fresh in my mind, they also are unlikely to ever be misplaced or sequentially mixed up like readily occurs with loose stacked slides in sleeves. ...David

[Robert Hughes]

I keep a 3-ring binder with negatives in their plastic sleeves, with their associated contact sheets containing the date, camera, exposure & development data. No arcane numbering for me, as I'd probably just lose the key.

[Vaughn]

LF negs are kept in paper 4-fold envelopes. I write all the data on the envelopes (in pencil -- date, exposure, film, lens, range of light, development data, a short description which includes place taken, and the date and process used to print it -- which can be used to cross-reference to my printing data). These envelopes are kept in storage boxes -- vertical -- by subject/place...and within the boxes by date.

Field notes are made in Rite-in-the-Rain notebooks and I can cross reference by date if I need to.

Vaughn

[Muggs]

Rite-in-the-Rain notebooks. Kewl! Thanks.

Muggs

[Vaughn]

Rite-in-the-Rain notebooks. Kewl! Thanks.

Muggs

Yeah, the nice bright yellow color makes them harder to lose -- I also have a red cable release for the same reason!

Vaughn

[Muggs]

I tie a flouresent orange plastic strip to my cable releases for that reason. Taught to me by a nature photog.

Muggs