Sooner or later you’re going to have to bite the bullet and organize your Lightroom mess, whether you’re an experienced photographer or a beginner. If you haven’t already done so in a thoughtful manner, today is the day to get the job done once and for all. The good news is that you’ll be able to clean everything up by following the straightforward and highly recommend process in the video below.

This tutorial come from Amateur Photography TV, a very popular British YouTube channel and a great source of gear reviews, photo how-tos, and much more.  This seven-minute episode begins with a question: “Do you know where all your photos are or are they scattered across multiple external disk drives, flash drives, and memory cards?” Your answer determines whether or not you have a problem that needs to be fixed now.

A well-organized photo library is not only a valuable timesaver it’s also a necessity for pursuing our craft with efficiency and creativity. Cleaning up your mess isn’t as odious a chore as you may think, and once you complete the task it’s super simple to maintain. In other words, you’ll have everything at your fingertips and frantic searches for misplaced photos will be a thing of the past.

This episode walks you through a number of organizational “best practices” for photographers of all skill levels—everything from importing and tagging images to creating collections and using keywords. Not only will these tips help you locate images quickly, but your Lightroom workflow will be far more streamlined too.

Instructor Rod Lawton recommends starting off with “a one-time gathering up of all your images, wherever they are, into a single location and a single Lightroom catalogue.” This initial step lets you see all photos at once, thereby making backups and searches much easier. And as you’ll see, Lightroom can handle both tasks at the same time.

Once the foregoing is accomplished you’ll be ready refine your approach to organization, and the method you employ will depend upon how many photos you have. The next step is separating your images by date, genre, destination, or other criteria into new discrete catalogues that make future searches as easy as can be.

Lawton describes several additional tricks for mastering the use of folders, implementing metadata along with keywords, and utilizing Smart Collections for what he calls “dynamic organization.” He also discusses what he says is the best way to new images. By taking his advice you’ll end up with clutter-free Lightroom Library that greatly simplifies your workflow.

There’s a lot more to see on the Amateur Photographer TV YouTube channel, so be sure to pay a visit and explore.

We also suggest watching the tutorial we posted earlier, in which another expert demonstrates how to color grade landscape photographs like a pro when editing in Lightroom.

Whether you own a new mirrorless camera or shoot with a long-time friend, choosing the best settings for your style of photography is one key to achieving optimum results. If you’re thinking to yourself, “I’ve already configured my camera properly,” think again because there may be a few oft-ignored camera settings that you should at least try out.

Instructor James Feaver is a professional freelance photographer and post-processing expert whose “Two-Minute Tips” are a favorite among Shutterbug readers. The settings discussed in today’s three-minute episode fall into two categories: those you ignore because you think they’re too complicated, and others that may be totally unfamiliar.

Choosing a camera’s Raw file format falls into the first category and you’ve no doubt heard that from others in the past. Today Feaver attempts to change your mind by demystifying perceived difficulties and explaining why and how Raw images provides superior quality, greater dynamic range, and enhanced color depth.

Another advantage to shooting in Raw is the far greater control this provide s during the image-editing process. If you’re still not convinced, how about taking Feaver’s suggestion and set the camera to capture both Jpegs and Raw photos at once? Doing so should alleviate you fears and enable you to experiment until you decide which approach best meets your needs.

Feaver’s second tip is to turn off a camera’s automatic Image Review function—a default settings he finds “extremely frustrating.” He says that’s because every time you take a photo is appears on the rear LCD for two-four seconds, and that’s really annoying when capturing multiple images in succession.” In fact, even a two-second distraction can keep you from capturing a fleeting moment.

Third on the list is to make sure to set the correct time and date—a simple task that’s the first thing many photographers do when pulling a new camera out of the box. Many of us, however, consider time and dates settings useless, but Feaver just might change your mind with several important reasons you may not have considered.

There are two more camera settings that Feaver strongly recommends and we suggest following his advice. By doing so you’ll likely work faster and capture better photographs. Once you’re finished watching head over to Feaver’s instructional YouTube channel where you’ll find many more very helpful two- and three-minute tips.

One a related note, don’t miss the recent tutorial we posted from another accomplished pro who reveals the best settings to use when outputting black-and-white photographs with your home inkjet printer.

The mongoose in the picture below is not wild, but was taken in the Prague Zoo. I didn’t even take it with any new, interesting equipment. So what makes this photo so valuable to me? It’s the first photo I took after a three-week photographic absence enforced by six broken ribs. It proves that I will be able to hold a camera in a week when I visit Ecuador. Hooray! I’ll have more stories for you soon, straight from the tropics. For now, here’s the latest photography news from the temperate zone.

Yes, I want to shoot some film. But where the heck do I get it developed?
Relax! There are a number of options, five of which we identify here. One will possibly surprise you.

If you’re still on the fence about shooting film, this Shutterbug article may help you make an informed decision: Start Shooting 35mm Film – Here’s a Complete Guide.

Roberts Photo Lab (Roberts Camera)
Family owned and operated since 1957, Indianapolis-based Roberts Camera provides expert film developing and printing under the guise of Roberts Photo Lab. They also offer one of the widest assortments of used camera gear via their online retail entity UsedPhotoPro.

Roberts develops all popular film formats including 35mm, 120, APS, 110, and 126. Processing a roll of 35mm color negative film (C41 process) costs just $7.99. They also offer scanning services and of course printing. Affordable; 4×6 inch prints run 40¢ each. A 10×14 enlargement costs less than ten bucks. Download their mail-in film processing form here.

If you DIY your film developing and scanning, shoot digital only, or otherwise need to print existing images, Roberts online printing options include cards, photo books, wearables, mugs, holiday decorations, water bottles, smartphone cases, post cards, stationery—the list goes on and on—and they even offer custom framing.

Roberts Photo Lab also creates posters, metallic and canvas surface prints. Wait, there’s more. They also do movie film processing, video transferring, retouching and restoration, and passport photos for local customers.

MPix
Located in Pittsburg, Kansas and Columbia, Missouri, MPix is a division of Miller’s Professional Imaging, a lab that has been serving pros since 1964. Known for lightning fast service and superlative handling/packaging of work products, MPix has been a reliable source of mail-in and online processing services that run the full gamut of possibilities and are sure to meet your expectations.

With prices starting at $11.95, MPix processes 35mm and medium format color film, and unopened single-use cameras. Order your choice of standard scans (4.5MB, suitable for 5×7 prints) or higher-res scans (18MB, prints up to 12×18). After scanning, your images are available for download, after which MPix mails your negatives to you. Easy-peasy.

Note that film must be shipped to MPix in a plastic mailer of your choosing, with a maximum size of 11.5 x 15 inches. Do not use USPS Priority envelopes or boxes; in fact, boxes of any type are not accepted. And BTW, most mail-in processing labs stipulate the same restrictions on shipping containers.

This video reviews the process of uploading your images to MPix online printing services.

Bay Photo
Bay Photo has a separate website for film processing information. You’ll find it here. To view their entire range of printing services, visit this site instead. For our money, access to Bay Photo’s amazing Xpozer prints is reason enough for them to make everyone’s short list.

Bay Photo offers processing and scanning of color print, color slide and black & white film. Prices start at $15 per roll and you have three choices of scan resolutions. You can add prints for an additional fee. Optionally, you can request process only, or scan only (of existing negs or slides). Download their mail-in order form here. The also sell an extensive assortment of film, frames and darkroom supplies.

Founded in Santa Cruz, California in 1979, Bay Photo has long been a favorite of professionals and is home of the Xpozer prints mentioned above. If you’re not familiar with Xpozer, watch this 1.5 minute YouTube video. Xpozer is the coolest way to display photographs we’ve ever seen.

The DarkRoom
Here’s how The Darkroom describes themselves: “In business since 1976, we’re a traditional dip & dunk lab with the modern convenience of easy online ordering, free inbound shipping, and a mobile app that allows you to order processing as well as download and archive your scans!” That just about says it all.

The Darkroom processes virtually all sizes of color print and transparency (slide) film as well as black & white. They also offer the full range of prints, print stocks, surfaces, photo gifts and nearly every other type of specialty print item.

Download The Darkroom’s mail-in order form and prepaid label here.

Even if you don’t become a customer of The Darkroom, take a look at their Film Index. It’s a great resource for film stock comparison.

CVS Pharmacy
Yup, we’re referring to the popular drug store brand. With sundry products and services ranging from flu shots to flea collars, Metamucil to MoneyGrams, it should come as no surprise that CVS offers film processing. They can handle APS (Advanced Photo System)—that’s simply amazing, since many of you can’t even remember APS— plus 35mm color negative, black and white, 110 and most flavors of slide film.

Many locations have kiosks where you can print digital images, too. And if you’d rather handle print orders online, CVS accommodates you there as well.

Need a passport photo pronto? Select CVS locations take passport and ID-photo pics using the KODAK Moments Passport & ID Photo System that automatically verifies your photos meet all government requirements. They charge about 17 bucks.

With more than 9000 locations scattered across 3390 cities, there’s likely a CVS location in your neighborhood. Click here to find a CVS location near you.

Bonus: Online Print Providers (no processing)
Printique (an Adorama company), Saal Digital and WhiteWall do not offer film development, but all deserve inclusion here because of their sterling reputations for exceptional quality, and immense assortment of first-class photo products, including professional services, standard and stylized prints, posters, calendars, photo books, interior-designer-level art prints, greeting cards and a broad selection of popular photo gifts like mugs and keychains.

In short, turn to Printique, Saal Digital and WhiteWall for legendary quality and never-tiring varieties of print options, professional customization and exemplary production standards.

Conclusion
Now there’s one less excuse you can use to rationalize why you don’t shoot an occasional roll of film. Dig that SLR out of the closet and bang off a roll of Fujifilm Fujicolor.

A parting thought for photographers already hooked on celluloid, check out this Shutterbug story: Film Shooters: The Film Photography Project is a Valuable Free Resource You Should Know.

If You Enjoyed This Article
Click here and bookmark a collection of more than 500 reviews, how-to articles, quizzes, attempts at humor and other allegedly insightful journeys into the world of photography written by never-humble me.

Become a Member of the Shutterbug Community
Register for a free account. Sign up for our newsletter. Spend five minutes (or less) uploading your best shots once every week or so. Potentially become a Shutterbug Photo of the Day winner. Enjoy viewing the fantastic work being done by thousands of photographers all over the world—and add your images to the enduring collection.

—Jon Sienkiewicz