Photography In The Field
<h3 class="heading-h6"><a name="THLToolboxhomegtImagesampImmersiveTechnologiesgtPhotographyintheField" class="anchorpoint"></a><a href="/tools/wiki/home.html">THL Toolbox</a> > <a href="/tools/wiki/Images%20%26%20Immersive%20Technologies.html">Images & Immersive Technologies</a> > Photography in the Field</h3><p class="paragraph">
</p><h3 class="heading-h1"><a name="PhotographyintheField" class="anchorpoint"></a>Photography in the Field</h3><p class="paragraph">This area of the toolbox is not yet developed. Topics to cover include:
</p><ul class="star"><li>Equipment needs</li>
<li>Offline Cataloging of Images in Media Pro</li>
<li>Camera manuals</li>
<li>Taking photographs</li>
<li>Processing in the field</li></ul><p class="paragraph">
</p><h3 class="heading-h2"><a name="EquipmentNeeds" class="anchorpoint"></a>Equipment Needs</h3><p class="paragraph">Equipment issues include: camera, storage cards, storage devices for emptying cards while traveling, tripods, and flashes.
</p><h3 class="heading-h3"><a name="DigitalCameras" class="anchorpoint"></a>Digital Cameras</h3><p class="paragraph">The main decision up front to make in terms of cameras is whether to use "consumer" or "prosumer" cameras. Standard consumer cameras are often small and light, which is ideal for travel and spontaneous photographer. The main drawbacks are that they don't allow interchangeable lens and their picture format is limited to the compressed JPEG format. The JPEG format involves compression so that the image size on the card is smaller, but also the quality of the image is less. For many purposes the image size is perfectly fine, but for publication purposes it may be insufficient.</p><p class="paragraph">"Prosumer" cameras will typically allow you to use a variety of camera lens to get close ups, wide angles, and telephoto views. In addition, they allow you to take photos in the RAW format, which is both uncompressed - and thus of higher image quality - and allows for easy post-processing of many aspects of the image.
</p><h3 class="heading-h3"><a name="MemoryCards" class="anchorpoint"></a>Memory Cards</h3><p class="paragraph">Either way, any camera is only useful to the degree that you have storage to save photos. All digital cameras save their photos on removable memory cards which can then be easily inserted into a computer for downloading of photos and reuse of the card for new photos. These memory cards come in different formats, which are generally also a different physical size. You must make sure to purchase the type of card used by your camera. In addition, the cards come in widely varying capacities in terms of how many images can be stored.</p><p class="paragraph">When traveling, it is best to buy high capacity cards and buy at least two, so that you can be downloading the contents of one and still be using your camera.
</p><h3 class="heading-h2"><a name="OfflineCatalogingofImagesinMediaPro" class="anchorpoint"></a>Offline Cataloging of Images in Media Pro</h3><p class="paragraph">
</p><h3 class="heading-h3"><a name="MediaProWorkflow" class="anchorpoint"></a>MediaPro Workflow</h3><p class="paragraph">
</p><h3 class="heading-h4"><a name="SetupofnewMediaProInstallation" class="anchorpoint"></a>Setup of new MediaPro Installation </h3><p class="paragraph">
(This procedure may be superseded by copying library settings from one computer to the next)</p><p class="paragraph">Make sure to go to 'show/hide fields' under Configure List (screen shot) and then select all available fields</p><p class="paragraph">Setup custom fields (Edit ---> Custom Fields…) with the following field names:</p><p class="paragraph">Private Note
Location Feature
Location Notes
Affiliation Organization
Affiliation Project
Affiliation Sponsor
Caption</p><p class="paragraph">Set the correct field names by going to MediaPro ---> Preferences ---> General and selecting "IPTC Core" under Field Names</p><p class="paragraph">Create a Version Folder (Optional, only useful if making edits to images)
Edit ---> Versions Folder…
Click the button to create a folder where MediaPro will save versioning information about changed files. This feature should only be used if you plan on editing files using MediaPro, otherwise it can eat up a lot of disk space needlessly.
</p><h3 class="heading-h4"><a name="GettingImagesintoMediaPro" class="anchorpoint"></a>Getting Images into MediaPro</h3><p class="paragraph">MediaPro is not like other Digital Asset Management (DAM) software like iPhoto and Lightroom that include more robust importing options for getting your images into the catalog. If you are not importing directly from a camera or external disk, you must first copy the files onto the disk you are using to house the MediaPro catalog images. This means that you must manually create the folders for the files to be imported and match it with the existing folder structure (NOTE: it is very important that you choose only one organizational structure for your folders and stick to it for all additions to the catalog, for example, you could have a top level set of folders for Year, then under that, folders for Month, then under that for a given photo shoot. Conversely, you could organize all of your folders by Year and then by photo shoot under each year. Choose what works best for you, but make sure to add new images in a consistent manner)
</p><h3 class="heading-h5"><a name="Importingfromflashcard" class="anchorpoint"></a>Importing from flash card</h3><p class="paragraph">
To import from a flash memory card, attach the card reader, insert the card and then select FIle--->Import Items--->From Camera
Click on the "Destination" to choose where the files will be downloaded
If you want the files to be automatically added into a folder by the date of the import, select "Place in… Today's folder otherwise they will be downloaded into the folder you choose in a 'temporary download' folder that will be deleted when the import has finished
You can choose at this point to add metadata to the files from a MediaPro metadata template by choosing the template from the "Annotate:" dropdown under the "options" tab
</p><h3 class="heading-h5"><a name="DownloadingampImportingfromCamera" class="anchorpoint"></a>Downloading & Importing from Camera</h3><p class="paragraph">
Same as Importing from a flash card above only you will be importing directly from the camera instead of the memory card
</p><h3 class="heading-h5"><a name="DownloadingampImportingfromadiskexternalHDDthumbdriveetc" class="anchorpoint"></a>Downloading & Importing from a disk (external HDD, thumb drive, etc.)</h3><p class="paragraph">
Plug in your external drive (a hard drive, thumb drive, etc.) then select File--->Import Items--->From Disk
Select the files you want to download and add to the library, then, as in Importing from Flash Card, select "Options" and then 'Place In' and choose between the download or Today's folder as above. The third option, "Original Folder Hierarchy", is only useful if you have already organized the images on the disk in the way you want them to appear in your MediaPro catalog image library folder (ex. if you created a set of nested folders on your drive like 2011/Shoot 1/Date one, etc. and you wanted to preserve this structure in your mediapro library)
</p><h3 class="heading-h5"><a name="ImportingfromDiskanexistingplaceonthecomputerharddrive" class="anchorpoint"></a>Importing from Disk (an existing place on the computer hard drive)</h3><p class="paragraph">
To Import, open the catalog in MediaPro, go to File--->Import Items--->From Files/Folders…</p><p class="paragraph">Then select the folders that are already on the hard drive. This will begin the import of the images into MediaPro (they will NOT be moved, but simply added to the catalog from the original location).
</p><h3 class="heading-h4"><a name="RenamingImagesafterimport" class="anchorpoint"></a>Renaming Images after import</h3><p class="paragraph">
Select all the files from the recent import
Go to Action ---> Batch Rename
The format should be:
Text: Shoot Name_ (e.g. Chungba Ritual)
Date: YYYY-MM-DD_
Number: 1</p><p class="paragraph">Renaming the files after import ensures that there will never be duplicate file names in the catalog.
</p><h3 class="heading-h4"><a name="EliminatingUselessImagesCulling" class="anchorpoint"></a>Eliminating Useless Images ('Culling')</h3><p class="paragraph">
If you have not already done so before the import, take this opportunity to go through the imported images and delete the 'useless' images. In general this means irrecoverably badly over or under exposed images, indecipherably blurry images, and useless compositions or accidental photographs with no subject. In the case of images to be uploaded to the MMS, all images that are not part of the archiving project should be removed in addition to the ones that match the description above.
</p><h3 class="heading-h4"><a name="CreatingaMetadatatemplateforagroupoffileswithsomesharedmetadataegcreatorlocationkeywordsetc" class="anchorpoint"></a>Creating a Metadata template for a group of files with some shared metadata (e.g. creator, location, keywords, etc.)</h3><p class="paragraph">
If you are importing a large number of files that should all have similar metadata, you can apply this metadata during the import, rather than after the import.</p><p class="paragraph">Before the import, click on the tiny pen icon in the Media info panel and select "Create Metadata Template". Then enter the metadata you want to have included in all of the images for your import (ex. Creator name, Categories, City, state, country info, etc.). Then save the template and give it a name that corresponds to the shoot or the type of metadata you want to impart through the template (ex. "Creator: John Doe" for a template that adds the name "John Doe" to all the imported image's creator field)</p><p class="paragraph">You can then select the saved template from the Options-->Annotate dropdown during import procedures as above.
</p><h3 class="heading-h4"><a name="TaggingofImagesinMediaPro" class="anchorpoint"></a>"Tagging" of Images in MediaPro</h3><p class="paragraph">
All images that are added to a MediaPro library need to be "tagged" with metadata that will allow them to be properly cataloged in the Media Management System (MMS) and correctly displayed on THL. We have developed a metadata field mapping guide ( <span class="nobr"><img src="/" alt="external link: " title="external link"/><a href="https://collab.itc.virginia.edu/access/content/group/c06fa8cf-c49c-4ebc-007f-482de5382105/Toolbox%20Attachments/Field%20Mapping%20Guide%20-%20MediaPro%20to%20MMS.pdf" target="rwikiexternal">available here</a></span>) that shows what fields in MediaPro should be used as corresponding fields in the MMS. The procedure outlined below should be followed for the correct "Tagging" of images in MediaPro.</p><ul class="star"><li>Once images have been added to the MediaPro catalog and culled, begin tagging the images with the appropriate metadata, which should be entered into the Annotations section of the MediaPro image viewer (see image here)</li>
<li>Create Titles for the images. The title should be short and as descriptive as possible ex: Boy in Rebgong at harvest festival</li>
<li>Enter a category for the image (or set of images selected) in the Categories section at the bottom of the annotations. The tags for this will come from kmaps and must be in this format: Lake {4523}; Park {58}, with the first part being a 'real language' title and the second bracketed number being the kmap category ID number from <span class="nobr"><img src="/" alt="external link: " title="external link"/><a href="http://tmb.thlib.org/" target="rwikiexternal">this list of kmaps</a></span>.</li>
<li>Add the name of the photographer in the Creator field</li>
<li>If there is a copyright holder for the image, enter that in the Copyright Notice field</li>
<li>Enter the location for the image(s) in the following format: Location [Real-language Place Dictionary name, followed by Place Dictionary numeric ID (<span class="nobr"><img src="/" alt="external link: " title="external link"/><a href="http://places.thlib.org/" target="rwikiexternal">foundhere</a></span>), could have multiple entries, semicolon delimited] ex: Gyelthang {F1115}; Yunnan {F430}</li>
<li>If applicable, enter the City, State/Province, and Country where the image was taken into the corresponding Annotation fields</li>
<li>If the image has embedded GPS data it should appear in the Latitude and Longitude fields, if not and you can provide from an external source, enter lat/long in these fields</li>
<li>Enter the name of the person who is writing the description of the image in the Description Writer field</li>
<li>If there is any information that would be useful about the shoot that should not be made public, enter it in the Private Note field</li>
<li>Enter any important features about the place where the image was taken and that does not correspond to a Kmap or place dictionary entry in the Location Feature field</li>
<li>Enter any additional notes about the location that do not correspond to a Kmap or place dictionary entry in the Location Notes field</li>
<li>If there is an organization affiliated with the image (such as an image of work being done by a particular NGO or service group), enter the name of the organization in the Affiliation Organization field</li>
<li>If the image relates to a particular project affiliated to an organization or individual, enter the official project name in Affiliation Project field</li>
<li>If the image is of a project sponsored by an affiliated particular individual, organization, or institution enter that name in the Affiliation Sponsor field</li>
<li>Enter into the Caption field a short caption of the subject of the photograph (ex: A fumigation ritual performed for world peace)</li>
<li>Enter important keywords for the image into the Keywords field. These keywords will be helpful in searching for images in the future and should not be the same as any other entries for kmaps or place dictionary items. Examples of useful keywords include general words such as "Yak", "Ritual", "work", etc.</li>
<li>The Subject Code field corresponds to the Topic Characteristic field in the MMS and should include kmap Catalog IDs, semicolon separated ex: Art {2562}; Metal Working {2576}</li>
<li>Enter a long-form description of the photograph in the Description field. This should be longer and more detailed than the caption and describe the image in the words of the photographer or someone familiar with the image scene. Don't forget to add the name of the description writer in the Description Writer field in Annotations.</li></ul><p class="paragraph">
</p><h3 class="heading-h6"><a name="ThingstoConsiderwhenTaggingImages" class="anchorpoint"></a>Things to Consider when Tagging Images</h3><p class="paragraph">
</p><ul class="star"><li>When entering metadata "tags" try to work with groups of images rather than enter the data individually for each images. For example, choose a group of images from a particular shoot that shares common characteristics such as location, photographer, photographic subject, etc. and select all the images in that shoot in MediaPro and add metadata to all the selected images. You can then go back to each image to add more individual "tags" such as Title or specific Kmap categories in addition to those shared by all images in the shoot.</li>
<li>Tags can be entered in English, Tibetan, and Chinese but should always be entered using a fully unicode compliant font. If you are entering in Tibetan and/or Chinese, make sure there is also an English transliteration for each using <span class="nobr"><img src="/" alt="external link: " title="external link"/><a href="http://www.thlib.org/reference/transliteration/#!essay=/thl/ewts" target="rwikiexternal">Extended Wylie</a></span> for Tibetan and Pinyin for Chinese (for example: བོད་ = Bod; 中国 = Zhōngguó)</li></ul><p class="paragraph">
</p><h3 class="heading-h6"><a name="ProvidedforunrestrictedusebythespanclassnobrimgsrcsakairwikitoolimagesicklearrowgifaltexternallinktitleexternallinkahrefhttpwwwthliborgtargetrwikiexternalTibetanandHimalayanLibraryaspan" class="anchorpoint"></a><em class="italic">Provided for unrestricted use by the <span class="nobr"><img src="/" alt="external link: " title="external link"/><a href="http://www.thlib.org" target="rwikiexternal">Tibetan and Himalayan Library</a></span></em></h3>