If you're anything like me—Type A, love things organized to a T, but also get distracted by...everything—then you know the struggle of trying to keep a photo management system that actually works. Especially with Lightroom catalogs! After some trial and error, I finally nailed down a process to keep my photos organized without driving myself nuts.
I've been asked before about my process, so I'm sharing it here! This is just what works for me—take what you like, leave what you don’t, and hopefully, it gives you a few ideas for your own workflow!
For context, I like to keep things simple in Lightroom which for me means creating a new catalog for every session or wedding. I know I tend to overshoot, so this helps me keep each project clearly separated and ensures I don't get lost in all the photos.
I primarily use Collections to keep everything organized, and throw in some labels or flags sometimes as well!
Here's how I like to set up my collections:
Gallery
The "Gallery" section is where I organize what actually gets delivered to clients.
I always, always, always create separate sub-collections for each piece of a wedding day. It helps the editing feel so much more manageable (love checking off a section), I can easily track my progress on each wedding, and I can ensure I'm being consistent between weddings too.
Photos
The "Photos" section is where I track what I'm actually going to edit, or what's already been edited. I outsource the culling process, so I like to have a collection for that as well.
Smart Collections
My smart collections kind of change depending on the wedding, but these are always included! AS a reminder, smart collection are automatic, you just set your filters or requirements.
- Cropped - easily see what photos I've edited, especially when I'm doing sneak peeks and jumping around
- Unflagged - photos chosen by the culler
