Managing my images from the Nikon - Part 1

Prior to the purchase of my new Nikon D70 (now you get the Nikon D70s instead) I checked to ensure that I would be able to use the "raw" image format pictures it can create on my Linux workstation. I'm so used to using the image tools under Linux to prepare shots for the web, that I felt it imperitive that I be able to do so with the new camera.

A look on the web found the dcraw program which does a wonderful job of converting the "NEF" format raw images from the Nikon to a format that I can work with on Linux with GIMP, Xview, and ImageMagic, my typical tools.
Until I got the Nikon, I used an old Kodac DC215 for most of my digital shots - hampered by the fact that the zoom no longer works. The Kodak is 1.3Mpixels and is actually quite a good camera despite the fact that mine is broken.

I've put together a bit of a tool-chain of scripts that I use to create web pages of "contact" sheets from my basic images, both so I can find them and so I can easily put them up on our family's web site to share with friends. While I can still use these scripts with the images from the Nikon I have to do some pre-processing before I do so.

The first thing I do with the 1Gig CF card from the camera is copy it to a directory on my workstation with today's date (and a trailing letter of the alphabet if I do more than one dump in a day). The script camera-in does the sub-directory copy and then erases the images from the card and "unmounts" it so I can put it back into the camera. The camera estimates that I can take just less than 100 shots on the 1 Gig card, but it is pesimistic - I have shot well in excess of 200 raw images before it ran out. The raw format does have compression and the content of the image makes a difference in how large the file actually is.

Once the images are in the main directory the camera-in script creates a subdirectory for any images not in raw format and moves them there. It then creates rough versions of the raw files in a format (.ppm) that I can view using XV my favourite viewing tool. XV allows me to do quick crops and color edits if all I'm going to do is use the image for the web or the personal photo album. If I'm going to use the image for something at full resolution (i.e. print it) then I typically will use GIMP to do any editing.

After the first pass I'll open up a nautilus screen on one monitor and the XV program on another (I have 3 screens on my system at the moment) and quickly go through the images with the intent of deleting and categorizing them prior to doing better versions. The dcraw program can create the initial .ppm versions in about 3 seconds per image using its "-h" option whereas the full process can take 15+ seconds per image. dcraw recognizes the white balance info in the .nef files and the automatic color balance works well too.

I do the initial categorization and deletion because the files are so large that even my workstation with over 500Gigs of storage will run out of space - and the mark of a good photographer is throwing away anything that is not useful. I have been using the automatic bracketing option of the D70 so many times end up with 3 identical shots with slightly different exposures. At least 2 of these will be deleted in the first round.

The use of a digital camera means I can take lots of shots easily and seemingly cheaply. The fact of the matter is that my time is worth enough that taking too much time to determine what to keep balances off ease of taking lots. I used to be concerned over the cost of the film and processing. Now I'm concerned with the cost of my time.

I'll post some of my scripts in follow-on articles.