Become Better Photographer: Numbering Your Bodies with David Bergman

*For more information visit AdoramaTV YT page, and of course you can keep up with David on Instagram and Twitter @DavidBergman. LATEST UPDATE: David opens up new IGTV episodes where you can ask him questions live! find out more at http://www.AskDavidBergman.com

For some it might seem like an overkill but for those photographers who deal with multiple cameras on a daily basis these tips might be really helpful! In this episode with photographer David Bergman  Adorama TV he will show you why it is important to keep  track of cameras on an example of his own!

David states: “… even if you don’t shoot with two  bodies there might be times when you’re  working with other photographers at an  event, like a concert or a wedding, and  you need to differentiate the images  from each camera. So this is what I do. I  number all of my cameras, I use my  initials, and then a unique two digit  number like DB 10, DB 11, and so on.”

…”I put  a small piece of gray or white gaffer  tape on top of the body, so I can easily  see which is which, when it’s inside my  camera bag. “

Mr. Bergman continues: “In addition with most cameras  you can change the default file name for  the images.  It’s normally 8 digits with the first  being ING or some random 3 or 4 digit  code. I change it to match the cameras  name, and the last four digits are always  sequential numbers. In my case it’ll be  DB10001 DB 10002, and so on. “

So why to do these markups in the first place? what are the benefits?  According to Mr. Bergman – “first, if I’m  shooting with other photographers, it’s  really easy to see whose images belong  to who. All of my pictures are the ones  that start with DB, but also I really  like to know which camera each image  came from. This allows me to easily  identify any issues that might come up.  For example if I’m seeing dust spots in  my images, I know that the sensor needs  to be cleaned. I don’t like to  unnecessarily deal with the sensor, if I  don’t have to. But which camera did it  come from? Well now I can just look at  the file name, and know which one has the  issue. If I see anything else that might  be caused by a hardware problem, I can  immediately identify which camera needs  to go into the shop.”

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Watch the full episode with David Bergman and Adorama TV: