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Looking for suggestion on how to organize a chest of photos, slides , negatives spanning 30 years



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 27th 06, 04:31 PM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm
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Default Looking for suggestion on how to organize a chest of photos, slides , negatives spanning 30 years

Hello all

I have a project to try and organize a chest of photos, negatives and slides
that I have accumulated over that last 30 years.
Currently I have a large chest that holds all the materials. There are
mainly 35MM colour negatives and prints. The negatives and prints are mainly
in the photo shops packing envelopes. Some of the choice photo prints have
been put into albums
I also have some 35 mm slides,black and white 35MM negatives and prints , I
also dabbled in the APS system for a short time and have about a dozen or so
packets. And a few dozen large 120 type negatives from my parents from the
1940's era.

My original thoughts are to get a few surplus filing cabinets to hold the
materials in manila folders but it sounds like that may not be a good idea
as most articles I've read some articles that suggest 3 ring binders and
special acid free materials.
I've also been looking for some sort of computer database software to index
everything and only found reference to one specific program for this purpose
called Camera Collector but it sounds like it may be more oriented towards
camera hardware not prints and negatives.

Any suggestions on a numbering scheme. Do I worry about filing things
chronologically. I'm thinking that a good index would make this unnecessary.
Any suggestions from some one who have been down this road would be
appreciated.


Articles I've been researching on this subject
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/04/04jan12b.cfm Organizing Photos and
Negatives
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQueri...q-locale=en_US
Kodak suggestions
http://home.att.net/~jeffrey.d.mathi.../notebooks.htm numbering scheme

Brian


  #2  
Old March 27th 06, 05:08 PM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Looking for suggestion on how to organize a chest of photos, slides , negatives spanning 30 years

brian wrote:
Hello all

I have a project to try and organize a chest of photos, negatives and slides
that I have accumulated over that last 30 years.
Currently I have a large chest that holds all the materials. There are
mainly 35MM colour negatives and prints. The negatives and prints are mainly
in the photo shops packing envelopes. Some of the choice photo prints have
been put into albums
I also have some 35 mm slides,black and white 35MM negatives and prints , I
also dabbled in the APS system for a short time and have about a dozen or so
packets. And a few dozen large 120 type negatives from my parents from the
1940's era.

My original thoughts are to get a few surplus filing cabinets to hold the
materials in manila folders but it sounds like that may not be a good idea
as most articles I've read some articles that suggest 3 ring binders and
special acid free materials.
I've also been looking for some sort of computer database software to index
everything and only found reference to one specific program for this purpose
called Camera Collector but it sounds like it may be more oriented towards
camera hardware not prints and negatives.

Any suggestions on a numbering scheme. Do I worry about filing things
chronologically. I'm thinking that a good index would make this unnecessary.
Any suggestions from some one who have been down this road would be
appreciated.


I am assuming that you goal is to have a system where you can with out
too much effort find any given photo.

What I find is that one set of negatives and the prints that go along
with them have some common element, the same vacation, wedding family
get together etc. I find that if I see just one of the photos from
this group I will pretty much know what is in the rest of the group.
Also if there is one particular photo I am looking for seeing one photo
from the group will be enough to tell if it is in that group or not.

So what I have done it to make what I call key photos, the photo that
is more representative of the group is scanned and named with it group
number. Sometimes for a set of negatives it might take two key photos.
These scans should be fairly low in resolution, I use 1280 x 1024, this
speeds up browsing through them later. If you put all your key photos
into one directory you will not have on photo for every 24-36 photos to
scan through, depending on the size roll of film you shoot. So lets
say you have 400 rolls of film, this would be 400 keep photos to look
through, a good browser like ACDC makes this very fast, I can view
about 4 photographs a second.

Note this key photos do not have to be very high quality and scanning a
print on a flat bed scanner would work well. I scan all the negatives
on the roll so when I want to find a given photo I can go right to the
photo on the computer, if I wish.

The photos and negatives then simply have to be organized in such a way
that you can find the given group, this can be as simple as by number.

I so the same thing with my digital photo but here I pick out a key
photo from everyday, some days require 2 or 3 photos depending on what
all I was photographing that day.

Note the key photos could also be printed out as thumbnails so if
someone wanted to search using paper instead of the computer they
could.

I find looking for photos in this way to be far faster then reading
descriptions on what the photos are of.

This may not work for everyone but this is what I find works well for
me.

Scott

  #3  
Old March 27th 06, 09:28 PM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Looking for suggestion on how to organize a chest of photos, slides , negatives spanning 30 years

Scott W wrote:
brian wrote:
Hello all

I have a project to try and organize a chest of photos, negatives
and slides that I have accumulated over that last 30 years.
Currently I have a large chest that holds all the materials.


snip serious query and useful response


This may not work for everyone but this is what I find works well
for
me.

Scott


Whichever kind of scheme you settle on, keep this in mind: your
negatives, prints, and slides are treasures of great value. Once
scanned, archived, and data files stored in more than one copy, more
than one place, you are protected against loss to some degree.

The originals can be protected, also, but it is a bit more difficult.
You mention acid-free materials. Good. But that is not all. Unless you
have a fireproof safe that will accommodate the bulk, or a vault
somewhere, I'd bet they will be gathered together in a home. Homes
burn down. Ask the victims of the Cedar Fire in Southern California.
Nearly 2,000 complete losses. What was the refrain? "We can replace
everything but our photographs".

So it's reasonable to think about portability if you live in a
wildfire area. I had my most valuable materials in a half-dozen
plastic storage bins of the $6-at-Costco variety, for convenience.
When the Cedar Fire came our direction we loaded them into the back of
the pickup, first. Then shut down the computers, packed the external
hard drives, data CD-ROMs and DVDs into another bin, and had all the
important stuff ready to roll, before thinking about food, clothing,
and other survival supplies. Fifteen minutes and we could have been on
the road with almost everything that was unrecoverable.

Standard filing cabinets would be too big and waste too much space to
accommodate the same amount of stuff.

The most _most_ valuable stuff is in a bin that is quickly accessible.
I could throw it out a window in seconds. Other stuff is deeper in the
stack or farther from the exits. We now have other bins of supplies at
the ready, and rotate the perishable contents every six months or so;
new into the bin, old to the table.

None of this may be important to you, now. I didn't think much about
it until the fire was headed at us and the air was so thick with smoke
the sun barely came through and breathing was painful.
http://www.fototime.com/46CCBF5D4BE8575/orig.jpg

I am hopeful that I'll never have to take advantage of the preparation
we've done since, and that no one else will suffer serious losses, but
there is always the chance.

--
Frank ess

  #4  
Old March 27th 06, 09:39 PM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Looking for suggestion on how to organize a chest of photos, slides , negatives spanning 30 years


"Frank ess" wrote in message
...
Scott W wrote:
brian wrote:
Hello all

I have a project to try and organize a chest of photos, negatives
and slides that I have accumulated over that last 30 years.
Currently I have a large chest that holds all the materials.


snip serious query and useful response


This may not work for everyone but this is what I find works well for
me.

Scott


Whichever kind of scheme you settle on, keep this in mind: your negatives,
prints, and slides are treasures of great value. Once scanned, archived,
and data files stored in more than one copy, more than one place, you are
protected against loss to some degree.

The originals can be protected, also, but it is a bit more difficult. You
mention acid-free materials. Good. But that is not all. Unless you have a
fireproof safe that will accommodate the bulk, or a vault somewhere, I'd
bet they will be gathered together in a home. Homes burn down. Ask the
victims of the Cedar Fire in Southern California. Nearly 2,000 complete
losses. What was the refrain? "We can replace everything but our
photographs".

So it's reasonable to think about portability if you live in a wildfire
area. I had my most valuable materials in a half-dozen plastic storage
bins of the $6-at-Costco variety, for convenience. When the Cedar Fire
came our direction we loaded them into the back of the pickup, first. Then
shut down the computers, packed the external hard drives, data CD-ROMs and
DVDs into another bin, and had all the important stuff ready to roll,
before thinking about food, clothing, and other survival supplies. Fifteen
minutes and we could have been on the road with almost everything that was
unrecoverable.

Standard filing cabinets would be too big and waste too much space to
accommodate the same amount of stuff.

The most _most_ valuable stuff is in a bin that is quickly accessible. I
could throw it out a window in seconds. Other stuff is deeper in the stack
or farther from the exits. We now have other bins of supplies at the
ready, and rotate the perishable contents every six months or so; new into
the bin, old to the table.

None of this may be important to you, now. I didn't think much about it
until the fire was headed at us and the air was so thick with smoke the
sun barely came through and breathing was painful.
http://www.fototime.com/46CCBF5D4BE8575/orig.jpg

I am hopeful that I'll never have to take advantage of the preparation
we've done since, and that no one else will suffer serious losses, but
there is always the chance.

--
Frank ess


Incredible story! Glad to hear that your forethought and preparations paid
off.


  #5  
Old March 27th 06, 11:24 PM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Looking for suggestion on how to organize a chest of photos, slides , negatives spanning 30 years


"brian" wrote in message
...
Hello all

I have a project to try and organize a chest of photos, negatives and
slides that I have accumulated over that last 30 years.
Currently I have a large chest that holds all the materials. There are
mainly 35MM colour negatives and prints. The negatives and prints are
mainly in the photo shops packing envelopes. Some of the choice photo
prints have been put into albums
I also have some 35 mm slides,black and white 35MM negatives and prints ,
I also dabbled in the APS system for a short time and have about a dozen
or so packets. And a few dozen large 120 type negatives from my parents
from the 1940's era.

My original thoughts are to get a few surplus filing cabinets to hold the
materials in manila folders but it sounds like that may not be a good idea
as most articles I've read some articles that suggest 3 ring binders and
special acid free materials.
I've also been looking for some sort of computer database software to
index everything and only found reference to one specific program for this
purpose called Camera Collector but it sounds like it may be more oriented
towards camera hardware not prints and negatives.

Any suggestions on a numbering scheme. Do I worry about filing things
chronologically. I'm thinking that a good index would make this
unnecessary. Any suggestions from some one who have been down this road
would be appreciated.


In my experience, the best way to organize and store things is to put them
anywhere you want that is convenient, and do all your organizing on your
computer.....I use "excel", (a spreadsheet program", and just number the
slides/photos in any order you please. (I number them as I get them from the
processing lab.) Then, on the spreadsheet, I have a column for their number,
one for their content, one for the date they were taken, and one for their
location. Most of the small stuff I have is in small plastic boxes with blue
snap-on lids that I buy at Wall-Mart for about $2.00 each. These are
numbered with big glue-backed labels, so I can see them on a shelf from
across the room. Then, I have other stuff in the larger boxes, and even my
really big stuff in the big blue-lidded plastic bins that are about 2 feet,
x 16 inches, x about 12 inches high. All are labeled, and stored in gorilla
racks, or bookcases somewhere that is heated and dry throughout the winter.
(Don't put your good stuff, like photos in a garage or storage space without
heat....It will be ruined) But the chief thing about my method is that the
actual stuff can be anywhere, and mixed together.....For example, In one
large box I have a pair of binoculars, some down mittens, a basketball, a
pair of boots, and some other stuff.....I could even put some photographs in
this box, if I needed to) Then on the excel program, if I look up
"binoculars" it will tell me they are in large bin #6, located in the
upstairs front bedroom. I go there, see bin #6, Pull it off the shelf, and
put it on the bed, open it up, and take out the binoculars, and use
them......I leave the bin on the bed, opened up, until I am done with the
binoculars, and then put them away as a last act before returning bin #6 to
its normal place on the shelf. Since I have started using this system, I
haven't lost anything.....It has taken me over 50 years of losing my stuff,
and having to buy duplicates in order to learn how to do this, so the price
of this information is invaluable. - It can be used for anything, no matter
how small or large......I also have a column in the Excel program for
approximate value of the items for insurance purposes, and for my wife to
use when she has that huge garage sale after I am gone.....:^)


  #6  
Old March 27th 06, 11:54 PM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Looking for suggestion on how to organize a chest of photos, slides , negatives spanning 30 years

In article , brian
wrote:

My original thoughts are to get a few surplus filing cabinets to hold the
materials in manila folders but it sounds like that may not be a good idea
as most articles I've read some articles that suggest 3 ring binders and
special acid free materials.


My vote would be for a filing cabinet, as it provides easier access to
the materials.

Three-ring binders can be a problem. If you store the binder upright
(the spine vertical), the pages slump after awhile, giving the
negatives and prints a more or less permanent curl. If you use
three-ring binders, store them so that the spine is on top, so that the
pages hand straight down from the rings.

Whatever you choose, be very careful that the negatives and prints do
not curl. Many places sell plastic sheets that hang from a rod, a la
suspension files. Make sure the seller claims fume-free, archival
plastics.

I've also been looking for some sort of computer database software to index
everything and only found reference to one specific program for this purpose
called Camera Collector but it sounds like it may be more oriented towards
camera hardware not prints and negatives.


I rolled my own database with a database program. See below.


Any suggestions on a numbering scheme. Do I worry about filing things
chronologically. I'm thinking that a good index would make this unnecessary.
Any suggestions from some one who have been down this road would be
appreciated.


These are questions you have to answer. You may decide to find your
photos by date, but others may be interested in topic. If you set up
your own database, you can have it both ways. I do suggest assigning an
individual number to each piece (negative, print, transparency). I
think a searchable database would be easier for you and others to use
than shoehorning stuff into a spreadsheet, but if that's what floats
your boat, go with a spreadsheet. Databases are made for searching;
spreadsheets are made for adding and substracting.

I urge you to put something together, though. Your photos have archival
uses which you've never considered. They show the history of
automobiles, of costumes and jewelry, of architecture, and much more
than just people you may have been related to.

--
Phil Stripling | email to the replyto address is presumed
The Civilized Explorer | spam and read later. email from this URL
http://www.cieux.com/ | http://www.civex.com/ is read daily.
  #7  
Old March 28th 06, 09:43 PM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Looking for suggestion on how to organize a chest of photos, slides , negatives spanning 30 years

Thanks everyone who replied your answers were very thoughtfull and helpfull.

Brian


  #8  
Old March 29th 06, 02:29 AM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Looking for suggestion on how to organize a chest of photos, slides , negatives spanning 30 years

"William Graham" wrote in message
...
[SNIP]

In my experience, the best way to organize and store things is to put them
anywhere you want that is convenient, and do all your organizing on your
computer.....I use "excel", (a spreadsheet program", and just number the
slides/photos in any order you please. (I number them as I get them from

the
processing lab.) Then, on the spreadsheet, I have a column for their

number,
one for their content, one for the date they were taken, and one for their
location. Most of the small stuff I have is in small plastic boxes with

blue
snap-on lids that I buy at Wall-Mart for about $2.00 each. These are
numbered with big glue-backed labels, so I can see them on a shelf from
across the room. Then, I have other stuff in the larger boxes, and even my
really big stuff in the big blue-lidded plastic bins that are about 2

feet,
x 16 inches, x about 12 inches high. All are labeled, and stored in

gorilla
racks, or bookcases somewhere that is heated and dry throughout the

winter.
(Don't put your good stuff, like photos in a garage or storage space

without
heat....It will be ruined) But the chief thing about my method is that the
actual stuff can be anywhere, and mixed together.....For example, In one
large box I have a pair of binoculars, some down mittens, a basketball, a
pair of boots, and some other stuff.....I could even put some photographs

in
this box, if I needed to)



Am I the only person who's wondering what 'cranky old' (his words) William
ever does with a basket-ball?

;-)


Peter


  #9  
Old March 29th 06, 02:35 AM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Looking for suggestion on how to organize a chest of photos, slides , negatives spanning 30 years

"Frank ess" wrote in message
...
Scott W wrote:
brian wrote:
Hello all

I have a project to try and organize a chest of photos, negatives
and slides that I have accumulated over that last 30 years.
Currently I have a large chest that holds all the materials.


snip serious query and useful response


This may not work for everyone but this is what I find works well
for
me.

Scott


Whichever kind of scheme you settle on, keep this in mind: your
negatives, prints, and slides are treasures of great value. Once
scanned, archived, and data files stored in more than one copy, more
than one place, you are protected against loss to some degree.

The originals can be protected, also, but it is a bit more difficult.
You mention acid-free materials. Good. But that is not all. Unless you
have a fireproof safe that will accommodate the bulk, or a vault
somewhere, I'd bet they will be gathered together in a home. Homes
burn down. Ask the victims of the Cedar Fire in Southern California.
Nearly 2,000 complete losses. What was the refrain? "We can replace
everything but our photographs".


[Good stuff SNIPPED]

It's not just a fireproof safe, if you don't want to go with Frank's
approach and rely on getting stuff to safety, but leave it where it is and
have the safe protect it.

Ordinary fireproof safes are made to protect paper: they will keep it below
the temperature at which it catches fire or chars beyond readability.
Unfortunately, negatives and slides are ruined at well below that
temperature, and so are most computer data media. So for your negatives
you'd need the same sort of data safe as for computer media. These are much
more expensive than orinary firesafes, and the ratio of internal space to
external volume is much worse.

Frank's approach has many attractions...



Peter


  #10  
Old March 29th 06, 05:33 AM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Looking for suggestion on how to organize a chest of photos, slides , negatives spanning 30 years


"Bandicoot" wrote in message

Am I the only person who's wondering what 'cranky old' (his words) William
ever does with a basket-ball?

;-)


The same thing I do with about 90% of the junk I own....Keep it so that
after I die, my wife can have the largest garage sale ever to be seen in the
7 Western states........


 




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