Being “meta-ticulous” with metadata

No Estoy Aquí, Aged 17. Lyons, Colorado, 2013

I might be a bit more anal than most, so I’ll fess up to having a separate list (apart from Lightroom) of all of my so-named “best” images, a list in which I have recorded the critical metadata–date, location, image number, image title, tripod or hand-held, flash used or not, f-stop, shutter speed, ISO, focal length, lens used, etc. I seem to get about 500-600 images on this list by the end of each year, although maybe only 10-20 of them will ever be printed (the real keepers). The above tragic image made my 2013 list, for example.

I do need to be more selective, though, and really should only have, say, 100 or so on my annual “best” list (why did the above image make the list, for example?)…but that’s another topic for another rant.

Why record the metadata so “meta-ticulously”? Well, for me, it has helped me identify certain shooting patterns…

…which lenses I use most.

…percentage of images I make with a tripod as opposed to sans.

…when I am not using an appropriate f-stop (too big/too small for circumstances).

…when I make mistakes and, for example, shoot at ISO 1600 in broad daylight because I forgot to reset from the previous evening (Hmmm…why is that picture even on the list? Should it even be a “keeper”?)

…how often I shoot above base ISO (Me? Not very.)

…how often I use flash or fill flash (Again, not very).

…what types of images I tend to make…macro vs. wide landscapes vs. abstracts vs. street vs. portraits vs. wildlife, black and white vs. color, and so on.

…where I tend to shoot–indoors, outdoors, favorite locations, etc.

All of this will help you see more clearly what kind of a shooter you tend to be, where your pursuit of a personal style might be taking you, and whether or not you really need that new lens, tripod, camera body or other doodad you were contemplating purchasing. So, maybe being a bit anal has a pay off?