It’s a Photography Site.

So that’s what I’ll talk about. I’ll start with the software I use. How I process the images. My preferences in gear and finally my style of photography.

Software

I use Linux Mint OS. There are a number of versions, the one I use is based on Ubuntu with the Cinnamon desktop. I run updates regularly, usually within a week or two of the offering. When I want additional applications I try and install from the Linux Mint repositories. If it’s a private repository I’ll add it to the repository list if I feel comfortable doing that. Repositories often don’t have the most recent version of applications. If the newest version has features I want or need and the application is available in the Appimage format I’ll install it that way.

I’ll list the photo related apps I’m using.

• Xviewer – image viewer
• Gimp 2.10 – jpg editing
• Darktable 5.4.1 – raw editing
• ViewScan – photo scanning
• ImageMajick – image manipulation
• ExifTool – view and manipulate image metadata
• TurboPrint – collection of printer drivers

Import Photos

I record both fine jpg and raw images. I sort with folders on an NVME by year and sub folders by month. Photos get copied into the appropriate folder. I use Xviewer to preview the jpg images and delete it if it’s not a keeper. Within Xviewer it can quickly be done with shift/delete key strokes so that the images are quickly vetted. I delete raw files with no corresponding jpgs with a bash script.

#!/bin/bash
for file in *
do
extension=${file##*.}
if [ ${extension} = "RW2" ] 
#check for file with JPG extension 
then jpgfile=`ls "${file%.*}.JPG"`
    if [ "${jpgfile}" != "${file%.*}.JPG" ]
    then
    rm "$file"
    fi
fi
done

Processing

Although I have both jpg and raw I find I usually process the jpgs. I’ll open them in Gimp adjust layers, contrast, highlights and shadows, rotate and crop if needed and sharpen a bit. I then append -2 to the name and save to my Pictures folder. I’ve found it’s important to not change the name other than appending the -2. That way I know I’ve edited the photograph but can still find the original if needed. When you have drives containing thousands of photographs you’ll appreciate a simple way of locating originals. If I’m not happy with the jpg edit I’ll edit the raw file in Darktable.