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To name or not to name…
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What are your opinions on naming your photos versus not naming them?
The first few photos I processed and uploaded online, I decided to name but after a while I was feeling a bit uncomfortable. I felt it was a bit forced and possibly pretentious so I stopped. Now any photos I upload just have the default IMG + number title.
Do you think this in anyway takes away from the finished product?
nice question…
names are difficult, though they can be really effective. they can create a new layer of possible meaning to an image, an interplay that can lead to new thoughts and possibilities which can make the whole experience of viewing completely different… or they can be literal/boring/tacky. For me it takes a whole lot of thinking… some people adopt a strategy for naming images such as taking titles for films or something like that… the best thing really is to observe how other artists name works (photographic and otherwise) to get an idea of the kinds of things.
myself if i cant think of something good i leave it untitled, the filename or whatever, though in a way this is down to laziness on my part. as for whether it takes away from the finished product it depends on the intended finish line.. if you’re going to exhibit in a gallery perhaps something more than img***, if its the internet on social networks or whatever it probably isnt too important. at the end of the day though if you have given a name and sometime down the line you decide something else is more appropriate you can always change it!
Thanks for the reply, Isabella. It’s certainly something to think about for my future pictures/projects
I found that from a monthly competition perspective with the camera club, naming photos was a “best practise” approach as it helped the judges get what you were trying to convey in your shot if it was not immediately obvious.
Also naming photos can be a bit of a double whammy for a viewer because they can look and like your image and then see the name and and it can make your image all the stronger if it has a good name.
Then finally it can make an image a lot easier to find when searching on your computer because if you don’t you can possibly end up with multiple images called IMG_DSC_001. Whereas you may remember names easier.
Mark S.
I think titles have the ability to take away from a picture, especially when they seem pretentious or try to bias the viewers viewing experience. The images I often like best, are those that have simple functional titles or just simple descriptions, and just let the viewer get on with viewing them and forming their own opinions. I often cringe when I see some of the thread titles for images in the criticque forums.
I took a quick look at your flikr photo stream and did a sort of before and after…..
I learnt more about your photos from the naming phase than I did from the numbering phase.
On the basis of this two minute before work research, I am in the naming camp. Thinking about my own practice, I would name the thread or post, but on my computer they are still originally numbered (at least that’s what I think I’m doing). Unless of course you are required to name them such as for a competition….. But the original image remain as is.
I would be for naming them too. At a recent exhibition of press photographs, I felt that the majority of shots were simply just snapshots unless they were titled, unless of course if you were familiar with the event portrayed, where I felt the title wasn’t necessary. Titles can be used to direct the viewer to your reason for taking the photograph & will make it easier to get into your frame of mind. Another reason might be to add humour to the shot. On a similiar vein, I wouldn’t buy a book without a title…..Would you? :wink:
Personally I use location and date for filing purpose but if theres a message that I want to convey in the image or if its for a competition I always name the image as Mark said it gets a bit messy when all your images have the system default names
markst33 wrote:
Then finally it can make an image a lot easier to find when searching on your computer because if you don’t you can possibly end up with multiple images called IMG_DSC_001. Whereas you may remember names easier.
Mark S.
Thinking more about this a little since my last post, I do think titles can be valuable in adding context, where context is important to an image. I think it is a fine line though between a title adding something that is fundamental to the viewing experience of an image and that of bolstering a weak/ failed image that could otherwise not stand on its own.
Re: my own naming/ titling conventions, all images get a filename upon import to my computer, something along the lines of Date-Subject/Shoot-Number. Those images that I choose to share/ upload, then get their own title. An example of this might be a trip to Brugge, where an image gets named 20120129-Brugge-001 on my computer for example, and then titled ‘Nighttime Canal, Brugge’ when I share/ upload it.
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