Tips for documenting names of photo subjects

[chzuck]

Many times I have taken photos and then later when I download them I was sure of the subject.  Like if I took a photo of a piece of equipment or large engine I could not remember the name of the subject in the photo.  What is a good method to take notes or somehow be able to ID the subject later, other than a placard that is by the piece? 

[kvbarkley]

What camera do you have? some allow for audio notes.

If not, I would take a note pad, jot down what you want to remember and take a picture of it.

In a museum, I usually take a picture of any placard that might be there.

[chzuck]

T5i

[kvbarkley]

Actually, upon reflection, I don't think any Canon's allow for audio notes - certainly not rebels.

[kvbarkley]

My Kodak 1A actually has a door on the back which let you write notes directly onto the negative!

[chzuck]

That's pretty neat.  Just thought there may have been something I did not know about.

[Tintype_18]

I have a T7 and have used a notebook to record the photo number and brief description.

[chzuck]

OK, so what I need to do is display the photo # with the photo in the viewer.  Thanks.

[johnrmoyer]

I use the metadata tags "description" and "keywords". I use exiftool free software to add the information to to the photo.

For example:

exiftool -"description=Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) in Norman, Oklahoma, United States on March 30, 2024" IMG_9431c*.JPG
exiftool -sep ", " -"keywords=bird, phoebe, Eastern Phoebe, Sayornis phoebe, wildlife, nature photography, Oklahoma, nature, photography" IMG_9431c*.JPG
exiftool -Xmp:LocationShownProvinceState='Oklahoma' -Xmp:LocationShownCountryName='United States' -State='Oklahoma' -Xmp:LocationShownCity='Norman' -Country='United States' -City='Norman' 

https://exiftool.org/TagNames/MWG.html

https://exiftool.org/

https://web.archive.org/web/20120131102845/http://www.metadataworkinggroup.org/pdf/mwg_guidance.pdf

[kvbarkley]

This does not help while you are shooting.