One of the most difficult parts of my job as an artist is managing my photo reference resources. 40 years ago I began with colored snapshots taken with a cheap camera. Today these photos are faded and useless, the negatives stored in shoe boxes. Photo quality improved with a through the lens focus 35mm camera,  before long I had boxes and boxes of slides. They are labeled by date and location, but sorting them on a light table takes forever.
To find what I need faster I set up file folders by subject ie; moose, caribou, Denali winter, ect., and placed slides in plastic sleeves. After we moved from the wilderness of Alaska I enjoyed the convenience of one-day service for prints so I abandoned slides, this led to piles of envelopes full of colored photos. When I find time I file prints by subject in plastic sheets and include them in the folders with the slides. Soon I needed expandable files.
Finally, the age of digital arrived. Now my computer is full of digital images all sorted by date, but not by subject. When I finally decide to organize my digital photos I will spend weeks on the computer and no time on the easel. Managing my reference resources is an ongoing challenge. Before I start a new painting I fritter away at least a day searching all my various files for support material. Not a bad problem to have really, and what a wonderful life I’ve led traveling to so many great places to gather research.
More tomorrow,
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska fine art
