Adobe Lightroom - What works for you?

Just got Lightroom which I'm about to use a 1TB external drive for my .JPG & .RAW files..

How have you guys got your library setup? What settings are best to import my files?

What works for you?

I have a business folder as the main folder on my working external drive. From there I have my various catergories that I shoot. In each of those folders is a folder with the Month_Year and inside those are my clients folder by Lastname_date(1-31) and in that folder is a 1_Lastname_Day_Raw, 2_Lastname_day_LR_Done (this is my jpeg folder that I would continue editing in PS if I needed to), 3_Lastname_Day_Order, and if it is a session that can possibly have facebook sized images I do a 4_Lastname_day_FB folder.

This may seem complicated but once you start using any system it becomes second nature. It also makes it very easy to locate things when using the month_year and lastname_day system.

As far as import settings I use the standard settings unless it is something that I know I want to run a specific preset on all the images then I apply that to all imported photo's.

I hope this helps a little bit.

I just restructured how I manage my photos. I keep all my images/LR catalogs on an external (duplicated on another identical drive) drive. For the connection, I use FW800 drives. The catalogs are separated by year and then inside each is a folder for the different events which are then broken down by each team.

ex. 2010-2011 Cheer Events>Buffalo's Big Bash>Outstanding All Star Cheer

So far this works for me even though some events will have well over 25K images. For these larger events, I only shoot in JPEG (Large). For events like T&I picture days, I shoot Raw.

I use LR3 to export smaller images for display on the website and for watermarking/facebook posting. I keep the small images on my HDD incase a parent wants to see them and I don't have my wireless card handy.

This works for me because parents will say "Can I see/order a pic from XXX event?" Its easy for me to go right to the team from that event and find the photo they want....

primarily i have one folder, Photography ..

in the main folder I keep year folders - photo_2010, photo_2009, photo_2008 and my newest folder - photo_2011

in the year folders i have 2 folders - time & money .. the time folder is family, as in family time - also, not to be confused with the 'Home' folder .. and the money folder because - these folders make money ..

so, in the money folder i have a work folder and a krow folder .. work folder has all my 'day' job, office pictures .. the krow folder is my freelance folder .. the money folder is also where i keep my references folder ..

so, inside each of the 2 folders, work & krow, i keep 2 more folders:

1 - event folder - whether it was a party, a grand opening, a concert, or race .. if it was a group, gathering or function it goes here in its assigned folder -> Photography/photo_2010/krow/naomi_derek_wedding/ ...

2 - portrait folder - model, head shots, still life, etc. ... if it was an object of focus it goes here in its assigned folder -> Photography/photo_2010/work/studentcards_grade10/ ...

then inside these 2 folders i have 3 or 4 folders more .. original, selection, retouch and web .. original has originals .. selection has originals i've selected from the originals folder .. retouch has retouches of the selection .. and web, has web formatted jpegs of the retouches .. not every client wants web images so, its not always apart of it ..

then i have the 3rd folder - the, reference folder - probably, the most important folder to keep .. in lightroom i'll periodically go through all the pictures unflagged and flag and export, for example - any picture with a nice landscape .. or busy crowd .. or well-made building, etc. ... So, i'll have folders that read - nature, people, architecture, etc. ... these images i may use for upcoming projects or not. but its good habit to have them around and ready to go ..

and thats that for the money folder ..

in my time folder there are 2 folders - martin & family

the martin folder holds one folder for each of our immediate family and follows the original, selection, retouch, web system. plus, i have an all folder for group shots and pairings usually just containing complete jpegs.

in the family folder, is a moms family and a dads family - which includes extended family jpgs, like - aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmas, etc... no other folders in these ones .. just selection, retouch, and web.

after every year .. i trash ALL pics that are NOT in retouch folders ..

at one time i was sitting there with over 40,000 pictures .. never again .. just keep the ones you retouched

stay organized ..