How to Sort 5,000+ Photos Quickly in Photo Mechanic

As wedding photographers, culling or selecting the best photos from a wedding can consume so much of your valuable time! In this video I'm sharing my process for quickly and efficiently culling my images using a program called Photo Mechanic!

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[Elusive_Pete]

You hit the mark on procrastination with giant folders. So glad I stopped by ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[BirgittaZoutman]

Thank you so much for this tutorial, I have ADHD and I'm a wedding photographer and this part of my job has been so painful for me. You have literally changed my worklife for the better thank you so so much x

[madaleinecutone]

you're a genius, from one over shooter to another you changed my life

[emilybrumwell]

I learned about culling in reverse when you taught it in one of your courses and it changed my entire photo editing experience!!

[mazzith]

Drop photo mechanic. I used it for years but Narrative select is way better. I swapped to it earlier this year after they finally made a viable windows version. I love the markers under the faces that indicate how well the focus is and how open the eyes are. Zooming in on faces for group shots is a thing of the past.

[Mei.insights]

The reverse culling technique is such a great idea. Thank you so much Katelyn, I really learn so much from your videos!

[Kepler]

That tip about culling backwards is absolute gold! Thank you Katelyn, you have a new subscriber!

[geeshanbandaraphotographer]

Love the tips, Katelyn. Long time PM user, but your idea of breaking the wedding down into folders, all the way through to final delivery is something that never occurred to me. Going to start doing that and call it the 'Katelyn Way' from now on.

Ps. I find mouse-wheel scrolling instead of arrow clicking faster on culling. Also with regards to culling backwards, great idea. Another thing I've done is quickly take an image with my hand in front of the lens when I know I've got my framing right for the group shots I want, so if I am culling forwards I'll skip until I see that hand or finger obstructing my lens and pick from those.

One final thing I like to add is that I'm culling by stars. In my system 2 star and above are keepers, 4 and above are for my portfolio etc. so this leaves colours free as a marker if I take a break and come back. The colour marked image is where I stopped culling.

[winsorracing]

Awesome video. Thank you very much for the smile, no b-s explanation!

[KyleMullaney]

KJ moving from the least desirable part of the task to the most desirable part of the task is actually a motivational technique used in education. It’s called the Premack principle.

[StevieDrama]

My workflow is a mess and constantly evolving. I still haven’t quite found my “method” yet. Im still trying new things and ways to cull and organize. You explained this so good and I’ve been on the fence about committing to trying photo mechanic. I’m gonna give it a go. The reverse culling method is so simple yet I never even realized how beneficial it would be. Thank you times a million!

[bisibela]

this saved my folder structure! migrating into photomechanic is so much more intuitive targeted on a workflow example and starting from a blank contact sheet screen. Photomech should hire u to make their tutorials.

[lisascontras]

As always, the best education video by Katelyn! ❤

[anna_murawski]

I’ve struggled with a culling system for years and this is the best culling system I’ve seen!!

[devacollins]

I love this channel!! Love y'alls new "bye" at the end, too 🤣

[alanjones]

Thanks for this. Looking for a culling solution and this helps. I do the same on test shots. One thing I always do if testing and working things out is once set up, I camera down and shoot my feet. So in the timeline, I don't bother with any images prior to my feet shot. LOL

[aliciatavizon]

WOW! Amazing way to organize photos. I am barely coming back to photography after 10+ years and this way to organize is very good. Thank you for sharing :)

[carapencak]

Thank you so much for this video! Was using Narrative Select, but my free trial ran out. Thought I'd give Photo Mechanic a try, watched your video, and I love the program! And great tip about the sub folders :)

[loganz]

I've been using PM for years and never thought about moving files into separate folders for each part of the shoot. I've always imported all my selects into lightroom and sorted them in a catalog, such a pain in the butt. Thanks a lot

[lry]

PERFECT! Great tips! I'm not a wedding photographer. I shoot events (Medical Assn. Meetings) which have lots of events within an event. General Sessions, Workshops, Receptions etc. Your Photo Mechanic workflow was exactly what I was looking for!!! PERFECT!