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Gregory25556071f00h
Inspiring
December 10, 2022
Question

How do I best identify and maintain a sequence of photos?

  • December 10, 2022
  • 3 replies
  • 863 views

I sometimes capture a sequence/series of photos over a period of time that I'd like to identify and maintain in the capture time order in LrC. When I sort by capture time in the Library, LrC seems to show the sequences I've processed so far in the proper order; that is nice, but I'm not sure it is sufficient (for example, what happens if the sequence of photos was shot at 10 fps, and capture time has a resolution of 1 second?).

 

So far, the easiest approach I've found is to rename the photos in the sequence using Library > Rename Photos and use Custom Name - Sequence or Custom Name - (x of y). I'd probably add a keyword to each photo to indicate a photo was in a sequence. 

 

Since I'm new, I fear I've missed something built into LrC that would be much better. Help! And thanks.

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3 replies

johnrellis
johnrellis
Legend
December 10, 2022

[This post contains formatting and embedded images that don't appear in email. View the post in your Web browser.]

 

"what happens if the sequence of photos was shot at 10 fps, and capture time has a resolution of 1 second?'

 

It depends on the camera. Most newer cameras record capture time with fractional seconds. Some manufacturers were very slow to do this, e.g. Sony has only started doing it with its newer cameras, and at least one (Fujifilm) still doesn't.

 

LR recognizes fractional seconds and will use them when sorting. To check if your camera records fractional seconds, look in the IPTC tagset of the Metadata panel:

 

Unfortunately, you can't use fractional seconds in file-renaming templates.

 

If your cameras record fractional seconds, you don't need to worry about preserving order.

 

    G
    Gregory25556071f00hAuthor
    Inspiring
    December 11, 2022

    I checked, and my camera (Sony 𝛼1)  does record fractional seconds! Seems that if I sort a folder by capture time, I'll be OK. I'm still considering doing something to specifically denote the beginning and end of a sequence. I found one instance where I had two sequences back to back, of the same bird, and it took a bit of time to concretely determine the end of one and the begainning of another. However, worrying about that may be overkill, as that does not happen often.

     

    Thanks much!

      dj_paige
      dj_paige
      Legend
      December 11, 2022

      To identify a sequence, now that you know the capture time will put the photos in order, you can use color labels in the Lightroom Classic Library Module. In the photo below, all photos are sorted by capture time, the first set is identified by the green, then next set is identified by the blue surrounding the thumbnail.

       

      JohanElzenga
      Community Expert
      JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      December 10, 2022

      Your camera already created the best sequence number: the number suffix. If you really want to make sure that the files are kept in the correct order, then rename the files with the date/time and include {original file name number suffix} at the end. 

      -- Johan W. Elzenga
        dj_paige
        dj_paige
        Legend
        December 10, 2022

        Are the file names in sequential order? If so, that gives you the order even if the capture times are problematic.

          G
          Gregory25556071f00hAuthor
          Inspiring
          December 10, 2022

          In some cases the original imported file names are in sequencial order, in some cases they are not. Even if they are in order (I could likely make it so where they are not), that does not do a good job of identifying the start and end of a sequence. If I search for a sequence using a keyword, I'd end up with a big blob of sequences. It might work, however. I think the renaming approach I mentioned gets me closer to what I want.

           

          Thanks for the suggestion; it made me think through the problem and potential solutions again.

          J
          jrsforums
          Inspiring
          December 11, 2022

          When I import my images, I rename them to 'YY-MM-DD_hh:mm:ssx', where 'x' is an  alpha sequence (a, b,c...) which is added for sub second images (taken in same second).

          this helps me always have images in the sequence taken.  It also works for when I am using multiple cameras in a shoot (if clocks are properly set 😀) 

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