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Smugmug tip: use keywords

When using photosharing sites on the web most people simply toss up their photos and leave them there.  If you do this (and I admit, I do it for the majority of my pictures) you’re missing out.

Adding keywords to your pictures gives you a whole new way to browse through your memories.  Everyone one is used to looking at a typical photo album… here are pictures of us at Mike’s birthday… here are pictures of us in Disneyland… etc.  Absolutely something people want to do… but also something people have been doing for centuries.

If you apply keywords to your pictures you can also look at a totally different set of pictures.  One thing I learned from my dad is this: if you see a dog you must pet it (I learned other stuff too, but bear with me).  As a result of learning this lesson well I’m starting to end up with a collection of pictures of me petting dogs.  Once you have some keywords you can then combine them with others… so I can see pictures of me petting dogs in South Korea.

Now, don’t feel like you need to go out and add keywords to 100% of your pictures in one go.  It will be overwhelming.  You should, however, start adding them slowly and, as you start to spot things you do frequently, go back and add special keywords like "pet the dog" or "self portrait" (tip: if you want a two (or more) word keyword in smugmug be sure to put quotes around it).

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