Evernote for Photographers

I have written before how I use Evernote (free version) in my photography to save tutorials, images I like, ideas, etc. The folks at organizedcreatives.com have a good article on using Evernote. It can be found here. Have a look. I find Evernote to be a big help.

Evernote Revisited

Back in February of 2010 I wrote a post on using Evernote for photography. Since then, I have been collecting “notes” at a pretty good clip. I still find Evernote the best solution for storing information from the web. I now have over 2300 notes in over 30 notebooks. My notebooks are shown in the image below. As you can see, I have many different subjects of interest. I browse these notebooks from time to time just for inspiration and idea generation. Other times I search for specific items. I still can recommend Evernote as a great tool for photographers or any creative.

The Importance of Notes in Nature Photography

I have discovered more than once the importance of taking notes and multiple shots in

nature photography. In my case it is usually flower or plant photography. The number one reason is that it gives you a chance to identify the subject. Even if you think you will know by the image, it is wise to record the following:

1. Time of year
2. Plant size
3. Flower color/unusual features
4. Location
5. Leaf structure
6. Soil type (clay, sandy, marsh, etc.)

There may be other features that are important. You can't record too much. Presently I am working on a cyanotype of a beautiful purple/blue flower. Unfortunately I do not know what type of flower it is. I do not know where I photographed it. Even if the image turns out magnificent, all I can do is label it "Purple/Blue Flower". Wish I had taken notes.

Evernote for photographers

Evernote (http://www.evernote.com/about/learn_more/) is a program which allows you to capture and store information. The information can orginate in many places. You can capture images and screens from the web. You can store pdf files. You can import text files or images. You can type a note directly in Evernote.

The beauty of Evernote is the syncing via the Evernote website. This means that you can have a local Evernote database on multiple computers and sync them all together, so that the same info exists everywhere. Very cool indeed. 

Evernote is offered in 2 versions, a free version and a paid version. The free version limits data collection to 40Mb per month. The paid version expands this amount and adds a few more features. I only have the free version and it works fine for me.

You can create multiple notebooks. So I have notebooks like: Interesting Photos, Creativity Ideas, Photography Tips, etc. You can also tag each note. The is a search function as well. All of this is neat stuff.

What can a photographer use Evernote for?

1) I store copies of art and photography that I find on the web in a notebook. This allows me to come back to these images later for inspiration. They are stored as images, not links, so they will always be there.

2) I copy photoshop tutorials and put them in a notebook for later use.

3) I copy photo tips and tutorials and put them in a notebook for later use.

4) I keep camera manuals, lens information, and other personal equipment information in a notebook.

I have additional notebooks for Recipes, Journal, Work, etc. The uses are limitless.

I find Evernote to be a very useful tool for gathering and indexing photographic information. I highly recommend it.