# IPTC Metadata workflow for a sports photographer



## oneshotBeary (May 19, 2014)

Hi, I'm trying to figure out what the best workflow for sports photography would be for me using Lightroom's Library module. 

Before a game i make a IPTC preset to apply which gives details of when and where the game is played and also the teams playing. However i also need to caption some of the photos individually as to which players are in each of them. Should i be doing this as the Import stage or is it possible to do after I've imported all the games photos? 

Just trying to figure out what the most efficient workflow is without having to use something like Photo-mechanic...  or as i sports photographer should i be using Photo-mechanic as well as Lightroom?

Thanks


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## clee01l (May 19, 2014)

I use a metadata preset on import to fill in as many data elements as are common to the images being imported.  This includes a partial caption.  Sometimes I'll include information that applies to most of the images in the import including a few images where it does not apply.  After Import, I will remove the incorrect metadata from the few images where it was misapplied on import and fill in additional data for individual or small groups of images.  I'm a lousy fat fingered typist and any time I can avoid manually keying in repetitive data, I'll take that short cut.


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## johnbeardy (May 19, 2014)

oneshotBeary said:


> or as i sports photographer should i be using Photo-mechanic as well as Lightroom?
> 
> Thanks



Quite a lot do so, and the main reasons is that PM is well-suited to culling the sheer volume of pictures sports photographers can shoot, and secondly because of the code replacement feature which allows you to set up lookup tables - you type a keyword combo PY012 and it completes the person's name, club etc. In your shoes, I would look around and see if someone would demo it for you.

John


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## grumply (May 31, 2014)

I use a preset for the basic information of the caption(date, venue, etc) but when it comes to inserting names I am stumped. I am going to try copying and pasting from Word, using auto correct to fill in the names that I set up before the game.

A question. Would a program like is found at http://www.jitbit.com/autotext/  work within Lightroom, when typing in a caption to an image ??


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## Roelof Moorlag (May 31, 2014)

Maybe anytag is?
http://www.johnrellis.com/lightroom/anytag.htm

I have not worked with it myself but i read about it
Roelof


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## grumply (Jun 9, 2014)

Well I bit the bullet and downloaded a 30 trial of Photo Mechanic.  

I covered 3 games over the weekend. By using Photo Mechanic and Lightroom in tandem, I REDUCED my processing time by somewhere between 50 and 75%. 
I improved the selection of photographs I submitted due to the speed of the selection/culling process. The accuracy (names and spelling) of my captions improved due to the use of code replacement.
I read somewhere that if you go into the photographers room and a NFL game and there are 40 photographers, 40 of them will be using Photo Mechanic. 

Watch a few Youtube videos on the subject.


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## Linwood Ferguson (Jun 9, 2014)

For those who need to cull fast but are not doing code replacement (and if you shoot Nikon), viewNX can do exactly the same for free -- it uses the built in preview so it is instant to display 100% zooms for culling, then I drag and drop into LR.  Nikon Transfer is also faster than Lightroom's ingestion, for reasons that baffle me.

But you are absolutely correct -- everyone doing it for deadline seems to be doing it with Photo Mechanic.  I mention the alternative for those who are cheap (as I am).


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## oneshotBeary (Jun 13, 2014)

grumply said:


> Well I bit the bullet and downloaded a 30 trial of Photo Mechanic.
> 
> I covered 3 games over the weekend. By using Photo Mechanic and Lightroom in tandem, I REDUCED my processing time by somewhere between 50 and 75%.
> I improved the selection of photographs I submitted due to the speed of the selection/culling process. The accuracy (names and spelling) of my captions improved due to the use of code replacement.
> ...



Thinking of investing in it alright.... will be photographing at the Lacrosse world championships & will need to be able to work quickly and efficiently. 

How did you find using it in conjunction with Lightroom? Did you import with PM, edit and delete.... then import to Lightroom with a preset, crop & straighten?


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## grumply (Jun 14, 2014)

Let me say first of all that do not proclaim to be an expert on this subject. I am 14 days into a 30 day trial. I am sure there are many more experienced Photo Mechanic users that could provide us both with a better insight.

That being said, let me pass on what I have learned so far. Firstly, preparation is VERY helpful. If you are able to create team sheets for code replacement before the actual event, this will help heaps when it comes time to process the images. Set up your stationary pad the night before the game and save it. 

Once I have taken them images I ingest them into PM including the stationary pad  I set up the night before. I then go through them and mark the images I want to have a further look at in LR. (Colour or stars whatever you prefer). I then filter them so that I can only see the selected images. I caption them using code replacement. 

My next step is to import all the images(selected and non selected) into Lightroom. (there is a reason that I do this that I won't go into now) I filter for the ones selected, crop,straighten and apply a basic preset (sharpening etc), export and upload tho the FTP site.

If anyone cares to comment, improve, modify my workflow, I am only to happy to listen. As I said at the beginning I have just started using this software and am still feeling my way a bit


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## johnbeardy (Jun 14, 2014)

From what you say, I think you're on the right track (particularly importing everything). 

Do you FTP from Lightroom? There is a sample plugin and it would save a bit of time over exporting images and then FTP .

John


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## oneshotBeary (Jun 14, 2014)

Thats sounds great. Thanks for the info. I'm gonna download the trial myself and go from there... i will use your workflow and let you know how i get on here. Appreciate the info. 

The only change i might make is when importing into Lightroom i may just import the selected photos during and right after games.... then later that evening/night i can import the rest.


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## johnbeardy (Jun 14, 2014)

Import the lot. It doesn't take long and prevents mistakes. Keeping control of hundreds of pictures is hard enough without having to remember stuff.


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## oneshotBeary (Jun 15, 2014)

a fair point! thanks John


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## phcorrigan (Jun 18, 2014)

*Photo Mechanic*



johnbeardy said:


> I would look around and see if someone would demo it for you.
> John



You can also download a 30-day demo version here: http://www.camerabits.com/try-photo-mechanic-for-free


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## johnbeardy (Jun 18, 2014)

Most software offers a trail. However, to appreciate this code replacement feature's value I recommend finding someone to show how he/she uses it in practice.


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## grumply (Jun 19, 2014)

johnbeardy said:


> Most software offers a trail. However, to appreciate this code replacement feature's value I recommend finding someone to show how he/she uses it in practice.



While John makes a valid point, in today's world, with You Tube etc, a demo is not essential.

The videos on You Tube show code replacement and the integration with Lightroom make then learning curve not as steep as it might otherwise be.


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## racehorsephotos (Jun 20, 2014)

Use PM mate

I do as my user name says horse racing, I can take between 500 to 2500 images at a single meeting, lightroom just cannot handle the metadata adding & importing like PM can. 
Its all about presets/templates/replacement codes.


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## oneshotBeary (Jul 5, 2014)

So i got around to downloading a copy of PM ..... however, it doesn't seem to read my D600 when attached to my laptop! So i need to buy a card reader?


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## johnbeardy (Jul 5, 2014)

Check how you've connected the camera.


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## grumply (Jul 6, 2014)

oneshotBeary said:


> So i got around to downloading a copy of PM ..... however, it doesn't seem to read my D600 when attached to my laptop! So i need to buy a card reader?



I have read somewhere (the Photo Mechanic Forum I think) that you cannot ingest (import) directly from a camera into Photo Mechanic. You must either use a card reader or download your images to your computer and then ingest from there.


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## Ian Consterdine (Jul 7, 2014)

I cover football (soccer), rugby, speedway and ice speedway. I have presets for all the different levels I cover, which are edited prior to an event. With Rugby and speedway I tend to download at the half way point, with Ice Speedway It's every four heats, and at soccer it's as an incident happens. Most of the presets have the captioning info ready and all I do is add the brief description and names. With sequences I sync the caption across the number of frames.
Photo Mechanic doesn't appear to allow for cropping/editing from my tests with it (although I may be wrong and never found those features) but with a number of plug ins I can get my pictures in captioned, edited and wired in Lightroom. 
It is a case of each to his own, but generally I have found Lightroom has sped up my workflow when working.


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## oneshotBeary (Jul 7, 2014)

grumply said:


> I have read somewhere (the Photo Mechanic Forum I think) that you cannot ingest (import) directly from a camera into Photo Mechanic. You must either use a card reader or download your images to your computer and then ingest from there.



Yes it looks it be this. Lightroom can read the camera but PM can't ...... will buy a card reader and go from there.


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## racehorsephotos (Jul 8, 2014)

Go and buy the Lexar work flow, works great with PM


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## oneshotBeary (Sep 13, 2014)

ok just an update here. PM is absolutely essential for me now. Just even for the import speed alone! It's great for adding IPTC, selecting the good and discarding the rubbish. Dunno how i went without it for so long


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## grumply (Sep 14, 2014)

I could not agree with you more !!!!!  Since establishing a workflow that is a combination of PM and Lightroom I have cut my processing time by 70%. It's great.

The only thing that worries my slightly is that possibly in my haste to find the "keepers", I miss a really great image.  Although I don't discard any images, I never really go back to check.


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## oneshotBeary (May 19, 2014)

Hi, I'm trying to figure out what the best workflow for sports photography would be for me using Lightroom's Library module. 

Before a game i make a IPTC preset to apply which gives details of when and where the game is played and also the teams playing. However i also need to caption some of the photos individually as to which players are in each of them. Should i be doing this as the Import stage or is it possible to do after I've imported all the games photos? 

Just trying to figure out what the most efficient workflow is without having to use something like Photo-mechanic...  or as i sports photographer should i be using Photo-mechanic as well as Lightroom?

Thanks


----------



## oneshotBeary (Sep 14, 2014)

grumply said:


> I could not agree with you more !!!!!  Since establishing a workflow that is a combination of PM and Lightroom I have cut my processing time by 70%. It's great.
> 
> The only thing that worries my slightly is that possibly in my haste to find the "keepers", I miss a really great image.  Although I don't discard any images, I never really go back to check.



Yes it's probably the same for me. I only bring my keepers into Lightroom and delete the rest. Probably not the best policy!  What the quickest way to send the keepers into Lightroom while keeping the rest on the computer to go through later on?


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