How do you keep technical notes in the field?

[GeoBonsai]

Okay, pretend I'm in the field making photos:

I use a polarizer for a couple of shots. Once the image files are loaded onto my computer, how in the world will I know what frames those were?

I'm making a series of shots for a panorama, but how do I keep track of the first/last images?

I apply a neutral-density filter and take a bunch of shots, but how do I keep track of which frames had the filter applied?



Any ideas of an easy way to keep technical notes in the field?

[Loose Canon]

Now that's funny Geri!

When you start a particular series in the field, just put your hand in front of the lens and take a shot of that! At the end of the series rinse and repeat! Load the series! You are in the field. Use your imagination!

[Manfred M]

Geri - I don't keep field notes. Too much bother.

Okay, pretend I'm in the field making photos:

I use a polarizer for a couple of shots. Once the image files are loaded onto my computer, how in the world will I know what frames those were?

I can tell by looking at the shot; either the sky is darker than one taken without a polarizer or by looking at the grass and leaves, which are darker without any (or very limited) spectral highlights. This is made really easy if some done without a polarizer are part of the set of images.

I'm making a series of shots for a panorama, but how do I keep track of the first/last images?

Before I take a pano, I take a picture of one finger, telling me that this is the beginning of a sequence for a pano. At the end I take a picture of two fingers, indicating the end of the series.

I apply a neutral-density filter and take a bunch of shots, but how do I keep track of which frames had the filter applied?

Again, visually obvious as I use a ND or GND for specific impact.

For ND, the water will seem to be more silky or the DoF is very shallow compared to what one would normally get or when I use flash, the background is a couple of stops underexposed as to the main subject.

When I shoot GND, the sky is darker than would be expected for the lighting conditions.

Again these really pop out if I have taken shots without using a ND or GND filter (there often are, when I shoot).

The answers are all in the frame; all you have to do is look at the frames. After all, you are using these techniques to create a particular effect or look. It is pretty obvious if you are looking for these visual clues.

[Shadowman]

If you have a smartphone you could record the info.

[TonyW]

Now that's funny Geri!

When you start a particular series in the field, just put your hand in front of the lens and take a shot of that! At the end of the series rinse and repeat! Load the series! You are in the field. Use your imagination!

I thought of that answer as well but I have a project in mind where i need to keep more notes. In particular, I want to photograph the distant hills from a high point and record the direction the camera is pointing for each picture. It would not be too difficult to have a pencil and paper handy to note the direction but there must be a smarter way of doing it. I could write the notes on a slate and photograph that but that method is a bit crude too.

[Polar01]

Similar to the others for pans, difference I point in the direction of the sweep of the camera and at end I point in the direction of where I started. Tells me everything between the points is what I need to create the final image.
As for the other two well for me, who cares, as long as the images look good.

Cheers: Allan

[loosecanon]

Canon GPS records the direction the camera is facing - but I think lightroom does not show this.

I carry a small digital voice recorder with me, stereo makes a lot of difference. Can record my self for notes, or guide giving discription etc. For paper notes a waterproof notepad (came outdoor shops) is useful + pencil of better "space pen" which writes on everything.

[GeoBonsai]

TonyW: You sense my problem! When I look at my images on my computer, I just simply can't tell what technique/filter was use or not used!

So far, I really like the "one-finger shot/two-finger shot" method a lot. Also like the idea of taking a snap of a note pad with details before and after, but keep thinking there's got to be a better way!

[mrinmoyvk]

Why not record a small video on your camera it self either before or after taking series of pictures?
Just talk to the camera what you want to note down. That way you are more than safe of not losing notes as I guess you would be taking care of data on MMC more than anything else you carry.

Just make sure that video quality is minimum to save space for you photos.

[Stagecoach]

I have used the finger method for panos but otherwise rely upon recognising filter use when viewed later.

If I wanted to record data I would want to go for the voice recording method otherwise using a notebook would be yet another operation where I would have to put my glasses on and off again. Something that is becoming a right PITA.

Ah, I need to know the image reference No

[Mike Buckley]

All Nikon cameras for years have had an Image Comment text field that allows the user to input any text. The length of my current camera's text field is 36 characters. Perhaps your camera has a similar function.

Having said that, it would be far faster for me to write a note on a piece of paper and photograph the note.

[Manfred M]

TonyW: You sense my problem! When I look at my images on my computer, I just simply can't tell what technique/filter was use or not used!

So far, I really like the "one-finger shot/two-finger shot" method a lot. Also like the idea of taking a snap of a note pad with details before and after, but keep thinking there's got to be a better way!

If you can't tell which images have been shot with the different filters, I would question why you are bothering to use them. The reason that we use these filters is to affect the recorded image, so I always make my calls on the image based on what I see, rather than what I might have written down (easy enough to make mistakes in transcription; are you going to trust your notes?). If you can't tell the difference in the final image viewed on your computer, how are you going to decide which image is a "keeper"???


The only time I take notes is in studio work, where I sketch my setup, in case I want to reproduce it later on. I do so very rarely, as I'd have to be trying something unusual, like gelling the lights and wanting to remember which gels I was using.

[george013]

Canon GPS records the direction the camera is facing - but I think lightroom does not show this.

I carry a small digital voice recorder with me, stereo makes a lot of difference. Can record my self for notes, or guide giving discription etc. For paper notes a waterproof notepad (came outdoor shops) is useful + pencil of better "space pen" which writes on everything.

A bit off topic. But how do they do that?

For pano's I used the hands-photo at the beginning. The end should be obvious.

George

[Mike Buckley]

If you can't tell the difference in the final image viewed on your computer, how are you going to decide which image is a "keeper"???

That depends on the image. Considering my photo of Gershwin's piano as an example, it would be impossible to tell only from the image or its metadata whether I used a polarizer.

The more important issue for me is that knowing whether I used a polarizer is not actionable information; having that information is interesting at most and certainly not helpful.

The only time I take notes is in studio work, where I sketch my setup, in case I want to reproduce it later on.

I take notes during studio work only when I am planning to make a composite from perhaps 4 or more images. Even then, the notes are usually less about reviewing the images during post-processing and more about making sure that I remember to capture all of the necessary images required to make the composite.

As for perhaps wanting to reproduce a setup, I religiously use my cataloging software to add notes about that to the metadata once the image has been completely post-processed.

[Donald]

I'm afraid I'm not answering the question that's been asked (Hey ho, so what's new for an online forum!), which was 'What's the best way to do it?' My comment addresses the question, 'Why do it?'

I'm sure there are those who will have very sound reasons for needing to have all that stuff recorded. I think there is also an argument for doing it when you are learning what these sort of tools can do and how you can get the best out of them. I used to think it was essential that I did so.

Then I asked 'Why?'. All that matters is what the finished article looks like up on the wall, on the screen or in a book. The tools and used to get to that point don't really matter at all.

[george013]

I'm afraid I'm not answering the question that's been asked (Hey ho, so what's new for an online forum!), which was 'What's the best way to do it?' My comment addresses the question, 'Why do it?'

I'm sure there are those who will have very sound reasons for needing to have all that stuff recorded. I think there is also an argument for doing it when you are learning what these sort of tools can do and how you can get the best out of them. I used to think it was essential that I did so.

Then I asked 'Why?'. All that matters is what the finished article looks like up on the wall, on the screen or in a book. The tools and used to get to that point don't really matter at all.

If you want to be able to repeat that good looking image on the wall, yous must know how you made it.
George

[Mike Buckley]

If you want to be able to repeat that good looking image on the wall, yous must know how you made it.

I disagree. That information can always come from my understanding of how to make a photo, not necessarily how I made a previous photo. Even when recording intricate information about how I made a studio shot, I do so not because that's the only way I can reproduce similar results in the future; I do so because having the detailed information may be a time-saver when setting up the future shot.

[Donald]

If you want to be able to repeat that good looking image on the wall, yous must know how you made it.

I suppose that's about how you approach the process of image making. To me each image is a unique piece of work and I would never want to work to a formulaic recipe.

What I do need to know (and that comes from practice, practice and more practice) is what the things are I need to do, tools I need to use to capture a photograph that will lead to me being able to create the image that I see in my head when I press the shutter. But I would never want to embrace any thinking along the lines of, 'I want to do the same thing as I did last Friday'. That, I feel, would completely close down the sense of 'the moment' and engagement with whatever it is I am looking at through the viewfinder, or on the back screen.

[Black Pearl]

If you want to be able to repeat that good looking image on the wall, yous must know how you made it.
George

And to have the good looking shot on your wall you must have known how to take it so you will know how to do it again.

Having it on a bit of paper, a note book or on your phone would only work if you could (while standing about to take a photograph) recall that you once used a certain combination of settings (which would imply you knew what they were) and could then recall when you took them (unlikely) and then be actually able to find those scribbles (even more unlikely) then recall what the conditions were when you wrote them down (we're into the realms of fantasy now) then transpose them to suit the conditions in front of you....which at the end of the day would mean you were actually just about to create new settings to suit what is in front of you to get a shot that you want.

[ashcroft]

I think one of the problems with doing this is if you try to recreate something you did before, you are in danger of blocking off the discovery (perhaps accidental) of something new. I've taken notes recently for a few shots I have done for my photography talks, but I only did that because people want to know how I did them and it's embarrassing if I don't know.