Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Projects On-The-Go: Keywords

I'm giving keywords to all my digital photos, so that, for example, if I search for "Mum", all the pictures of my mother will be collected in one place. She's turning 80 in 6 years time, it'll be useful.

But "Mum" is easy, she comes under [PEOPLE] (you put square brackets around it so it appears at the top of the list). [PEOPLE] is one of the top-level keywords I use - it's like a heading for "Mum", "me", "Auntie Pat" and "Patrick".  Also I put in words that mean a person here - like "skipper" and "surfer" and "neighbour".

So currently I have eight of these top-level keywords, based on how I perceive the world, and what I take photos of. They are
  • AMENITY - started out as pictures of bubblers and picnic tables and bridges, because I like those sorts of things, but it's turned into anything made by humans that's useful and fixed in the landscape - parks, ferry wharf, fence, gate-post.
  • DETAIL - adjectives, like colour. Aspects of things, like exhibit, dead, funny. Other general descriptions of photos, like portrait, group, view, selfie, dud.
  • EVENTS/ACTIVITIES/TIMES - Birthday Party, Ted's 40th Birthday Weekend, picnic, swim, sunset, dusk, Christmas.
  • NATURE - names of birds (I'm a birdwatcher) and flowers; tree, branch, Lenny (my sister's greyhound)
  • PEOPLE - described above, but also including bits of people - finger, eyebrow, leg, hair - if that's what the photo's of.
  • PLACES/LANDSCAPES/BUILDINGS - actual addresses, places, countries, national parks, lighthouses, Sydney Opera Houses, motel, cabin; river, sand, cafe, camp-site.
  • OBJECTS - things like clothing, book, ukulele, armchair, hat, earring, coin, Lindt bunny -
  • TRANSPORT - boats, cars bicycles (I go on cycling trips, there are a *lot* of pictures of my best friend, the bicycle), buses, trains, ferries. I'm a sailor, so lots of boat pictures too.
Problems: 
So there's some things that overlap - is "road" an amenity or an aspect of landscape? What if it's this picture:
I can't not include "road", but it's not landscape, or amenity for that matter either. It just is. (The other keywords for this are "40, Heritage 18-footer Spectator Ferry Outing, Milson's Point, road, sign).

"Driftwood", "pine forest" - landscape or nature? "Tent" - object or amenity?

Then there's things I have no idea where to put. Graffiti? Hole? Rubbish? Rust? Gear? Why am I taking photos of rubbish anyway?! This is where I'm stuck, unless I give in and add a ninth top-level keyword: MISCELLANEOUS.

Coming up soon: Projects On-The-Go: Updating my cassette tape collection!

Blogpost labels: Tedium, obsessed, trapped, insanity, help.






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