Landscape, Nature And Travel Photography

Almost 5 years ago I wrote an article on the pros and cons of using RAW versus JPEG and why I was shooting in RAW (see RAW vs JPEG: Is Shooting RAW Format For Me?). These days the argument of using RAW versus JPEG is well… not an argument at all. Most photographers realize that shooting in RAW provides a great number of benefits and many if not all the reasons to avoid using RAW have been nullified thanks to a variety of technical innovations including larger capacity compact flash drives & hard drives, maturation of RAW converters, development of photo specific editing/management software and faster more powerful computers. Now the question that faces photographers is should I convert my RAW files to DNG? Read more…

The 28th episode of EXIF and Beyond has been released (duration 1 hour 9  min.)

David Riecks a professional photographer and metadata expert is well known for his Controlled Vocabulary keyword database, has played an active role in developing industry metadata standards, and was a founding member of the Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidelines coalition (UPDIG) and serves as the Chief Technical Advisor to the Picture Licensing Universal System coalition (PLUS). In this episode of EXIF and Beyond David discusses all things metadata: basic information, tips, resources, trends & predictions and licensing standards.

Related Discussion Material

• PhotoMetaData.org
• Controlled Vocabulary

Related Posts

• EXIF and Beyond: Lawrence Lessig Interview
• EXIF and Beyond: Jeff Sedlik Interview Part I and II
• 5 Reasons Why MetaData Should be Part of Your Workflow

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Technorati Tags: photography, podcast, David Riecks, metadata, technolgoy, photo, EXIF and Beyond

After attending the getMETAsmart event in San Francisco last week I became curious how photographers who read my blog and/or follow me on Twitter use it. To be honest I’d be even more curious how photo buyers or stock agents actually use metadata on a daily basis, but that will have to wait for another post. Metadata as many of you know is often discussed but rarely so in the context of how real people use it. While hearing about best practices is helpful everyone has a slightly different take on the subject and many address metadata differently in their workflow. Let’s first address the “why”. Why should metadata play a role in your workflow? To answer that I’ve combined my understanding of metadata with feedback received from my Twitter followers. Read on to learn more.
Read more…

Last night the getMETAsmart seminar was held here in San Francisco and I was really impressed with it. I know what you’re thinking a seminar on metadata sounds like a real snoozefest, but the information shared by the likes of David Riecks, David Sanger and Grover Sanschagrin was incredibly informative. If you’re unfamiliar with metadata or unsure how to use it efficiently then this event is one you should definitely attend. While I consider myself to be knowledgeable of metadata application & best practices I learned quite a bit making the event extremely worthwhile.

Check www.photometadata.org for locations and dates of this event in your area. If these seminars are not happening in your area then bookmark this site and reference it often. There is a lot of great information on it and much more will be added through out the year such as tutorials. Best of all they are FREE.

What was covered in the event?

I’m glad you asked. The event started out with an intro to metadata by David Riecks.  Grover Sanschagrin gave a great presentation on metadata & search engine optimization (SEO). David Riecks then powered through two other sections on the inner workings of metadata and more advanced discussions around workflow and software. Rounding out the event was a panel discussion with photographers talking about real world use of metadata and the value it provides to their business. The panel fielded numerous questions from the audience making for a very interactive exchange of information.

Wondering what value metadata provides? Check out this great example of why metadata is crticially important to photographers on Gary Crabbe’s blog.

Start here:
OMG – I’m one of the mediocre Travel & Leisure photogs

How it concluded:
Wrapping up the Mediocre fiasco & how to do it right

Technorati Tags: metadata, SAA, Stock Artists Alliance, getMETAsmart, David Riecks, David Sanger, Grover Sanschagrin, photography