A workflow challenge

I shoot a lot of pictures. Most are from altitude (such as the above). But lots are of people and places, for example, here are a few I shot at DWebCamp last summer:

Importing and curating photos is the only organized thing I do in life. Let me explain.

Under each of those photos is the name of the file. These are the actual file names, not ones stored in the library of some app and remembered at the meta-level. None are called DSCN0401.JPG, IMG_4523.JPG, or IMG_1874.PNG. I’ve given all of them meaningful names, all by the same convention: YYYY_MM_DD_name-of-event. Every file in every folder has the same name as the folder, with a number appended to it. The numbers are chronological. Each event’s folder goes into a month folder, each of those goes into a year folder, and all years go into a folder called pix-by-year. That folder has years going back to 1869. (The earliest are scans, such as this one.)

I organize and name all my photos with a piece of software originally called iView Media Pro, then Expression Media 2 (after Microsoft bought it), and finally Phase One Media Pro (after Microsoft abandoned it). I like the second version best, so that’s what I use.

Here is a short and partial list of all the things Expression Media 2 can do:

Rename files in the Finder, very selectively, alone, or in batches (much more smoothly and easily than can be done with Adobe Bridge or Apple’s Shortcuts or Automator).Search for any variable, or combination of variablesSort by up to 24 variables (file name, size, date created, date modified…)Resize selectivelyOpen any files with any other appRun a slide show, with many choices of presentation (much more than with Apple’s Photos), and save shows as moviesOpen any file or collection of files in any other app (for me that’s usually Photoshop 2021)Basic image editsRotate, flip, zoom in and outSee and edit EXIF data for every shotFind missing and duplicate itemsShow or hide any file or combinations of filesMove files in the FinderOperate in lieu of the finder when dragging or dropping into a Web page or another appArrange or tile photos by hand or by sortLog and show actionsPlace images on a mapMake a .pdf of any image or collection of themTurn galleries into pages in .htmlImport and export to and from .xml

I don’t do all that stuff, but I list it because I want to remember what I fear I will lose when I move from this 2017 MacBook Pro running Mojave to my new 16″ 2023 M2 Max MacBook Pro. That will happen later today after I upgrade both machines to the latest version of Ventura. When that happens, Expressions Media 2, a 32-bit program last updated in 2013, will be kaput. And I will need to find another workflow.

Maybe Expression Media 2 will survive through emulation or something. Or maybe Phase One Media Pro (also last updated in 2013) will work.

Or maybe one of ya’ll has a better way to manage workflow than I’m using now. I’m open.

Meanwhile, here goes…

Addendum: If you’re wondering why I’m not running my life on Linux and free and/or open-source software, the main reasons are Photoshop and Lightroom. I’ve tried Gimp and it doesn’t cut it. Photoshop knows the camera and lenses I’m using, and its tools, such as dehaze, are extremely useful. See the photos here? Thank dehaze for making the detail pop out. (Yes, Gimp de-hazes, but not easily.) I hate being trapped in Apple’s castle as much as the next serf, but shooting as much as I do requires tools I can use quickly and easily.