Suggestions on workflow and hardware setup please

[NDM]

Hi;

I’m not a professional, but enjoy taking photos, however, don’t enjoy the editing/filing due to some past hardware/software failures. My Apple Photos app corrupted a few years ago and gave me multiple copies, and (unrelated) now my Z8 RAW files can’t be seen in any Mac application (Finder, Preview, Photos), unless they first are imported into another app first (Lightroom). I need to not be 100% invested in the Apple world for my photos, but would like to have some end up there for family sharing etc.

SO…I’m looking for help/guidance as I can’t be pioneering this, but I’m trying to figure out a sensible workflow, given that I now have a Synology NAS and backup drives, but I haven’t set them up as I’m unsure of how to proceed. I should add that I have a MacBook at home but travel for a living and only travel with iPad.

I think I should copy photos from camera into a file folder arranged by date, that can be stored on the Synology drive so I can access remotely while traveling.
From there, when I have time, import to Lightroom, edit and cull.
Then export keepers to Photo app (that folder is stored on external HD) and perhaps Synology’s Photo app as well.

Any thoughts on this or suggestions to improve on the concept? I’m also interested in any step-by-step guidance that might help as I grasp the concepts, but am hesitant to commit for fear of repeating past outcomes with having multiple copies.

Thanks,

 

[John Navitsky]

i guess it will somewhat depend on your expectations about what you have with you when you travel.

because you travel so much, you might find lightroom (not lightroom classic) using the adobe cloud as a possible solution if you don’t have too many photos.

that would keep things synced between your laptop and desktop

 

[JP Onstwedder]

Storing images on the NAS works fine, but is fairly slow for editing. I.e., if you use a program like Lightroom or Capture One or Photolab, and store the RAW images on the NAS, retrieving each image will take noticeably longer than if those files are on the local computer. Not a big deal unless you're the impatient type, or edit a lot of images quickly.

What I do is the following:
0 - copy from a card reader or camera
1 - an external hard drive connected to my computer holds the RAW images
2 - each day any new images are copied to my Synology NAS using Synology Drive (backup task)
3 - when I export images after processing, they are stored on the external drive and immediately copied to the NAS (using a synchronisation task in Synology Drive). I do this so I can access these remotely the same day using the Drive app on phone and laptop

Setting up the NAS isn't too difficult but not trivial. Spacerex on YouTube is a good resource for all things NAS esp Synology; you can hire him for specific advice (I've done that and found it very helpful).

Editing remotely from the NAS is possible but slow depending on the internet connections of the remote laptop and the home-based NAS. I've done it, but only occasionally as it's far too slow for regular use.

If you want advice on managing backup and editing while on a trip, then copying when you get home, etc. send me a direct message and I'll send you you my workflow in more detail.

 

[MartyD]

Here are my thoughts.

I don't do much editing or even much culling while traveling, I just don't have or take the time. I also have found that I don't usually have a good enough internet connection to manage any remote files. I try to wait until I get home to do my culling, importing, and editing on my faster computer with large monitors. I usually take a laptop with me while traveling so I can backup the photos and view some photos on a larger screen just to check settings.

I shoot family, wildlife, and a lot of sports images and I treat the images much differently. I might shoot 10,000+ images in a weekend of sports events so I copy those onto a temp drive and cull pretty heavily before moving them onto a storage drive. I then will cull again when finished with the editing and keep only a small percentage of the images long term. I use pretty much the same process with my wildlife images but I don't cull so heavily and I might retain images longer just in case I want to try to save some images. I don't cull my family images as much and they stay on my storage drives pretty much permanently.

I prefer copying my culled images onto my storage drives into my own folder structure. They tend to be more descriptive categories instead of date categories. My wildlife photos might be something like Yellowstone June 2023. My sports images are all under a Sports folder and organized by years. My family photos are all in a Family folder and categorized by event type and year. This makes it easier to define backup strategies for each category.

I import all of my images into Lightroom Classic for editing and they all get assigned to a collection. The collections have a naming structure very much like my folder structure. The images will always be part of my LrC catalog but they may move storage locations over time. For example all of my images start on a fast internal SSD drive for easier editing. My sports photos will be on a fast drive for a day or two before getting edited and moved to a large storage drive until end of season. At the end of season the entire years files get moved onto an archival drive. My wildlife and family photos start the same way but usually never get moved to an archival drive. I can still edit the images in LrC as long as I move the files correctly when moving them to a new drive.

It is important to realize that you have to manage storage and backup drive space. Your backup drives can get a lot of extra files if you move files to your storage drives prior to any culling. The files get removed from your storage drives when culled but if they are already backed up, they will remain on your backup drive until the retention time is passed. I find the same thing happens if you reorganize your storage drives a lot, the same image can end up being backed up multiple times in multiple locations.

 

[NDM]

Thanks for the informative replies! I’m likely backwards from most in that I have MORE time on the road than at home, so would prefer the ability to edit/cull on the road, but thanks for pointing out the slower internet speed issue.
Seems it’s a very personalized process, but it also involves some technical know-how and discipline to keep things in order. Time to make some decisions! Cheers.

 

[NDM]

Storing images on the NAS works fine, but is fairly slow for editing. I.e., if you use a program like Lightroom or Capture One or Photolab, and store the RAW images on the NAS, retrieving each image will take noticeably longer than if those files are on the local computer. Not a big deal unless you're the impatient type, or edit a lot of images quickly.

What I do is the following:
0 - copy from a card reader or camera
1 - an external hard drive connected to my computer holds the RAW images
2 - each day any new images are copied to my Synology NAS using Synology Drive (backup task)
3 - when I export images after processing, they are stored on the external drive and immediately copied to the NAS (using a synchronisation task in Synology Drive). I do this so I can access these remotely the same day using the Drive app on phone and laptop

Setting up the NAS isn't too difficult but not trivial. Spacerex on YouTube is a good resource for all things NAS esp Synology; you can hire him for specific advice (I've done that and found it very helpful).

Editing remotely from the NAS is possible but slow depending on the internet connections of the remote laptop and the home-based NAS. I've done it, but only occasionally as it's far too slow for regular use.

If you want advice on managing backup and editing while on a trip, then copying when you get home, etc. send me a direct message and I'll send you you my workflow in more detail.

Hi JP;

I tried sending you a PM, but I haven’t posted enough on this site to qualify for the privilege of sending PMs. Perhaps you can send me the details? Thanks!