My last post describes how I started (loosely) keeping track of where my photos end up. For example, my photos published in Fast Forward have the “Fast Forward” keyword applied to them through my “Exported” keyword set. However, I’d like to add a little more detail to this process: I want to keep track of exactly where my photos are published by cataloging their URLs on the web and the print publication’s name & issue number when printed.

My first idea was to store the information in the “Large Caption” view in the Metadata list, thinking that it was separate from the plain ol’ IPTC Caption field. However, it turns out they’re one and the same: the former is enlarged to make verbose captions easier to enter and edit than in the teeny tiny text field provided in the regular IPTC metadata view. And unfortunately the caption field is important enough that I can’t clutter it up with URLs and such.

And there aren’t really any other places to hang extra metadata on. I don’t see keywords as a valid solution, as I don’t want to clutter up my dictionary with URLs and other information that will only be used once; applying the keyword “http://www.readmeansrun.com/blog/2007/12/christmas_tree” seems wrong to me (although it would get the job done).

So for now I’m using an external application to keep track of this information. I’m crossing my fingers that future versions of Lightroom will allow flexible & customizable metadata fields that can be defined by the photographer. And providing one free-form notes field in which photographers can jot down random ramblings for each photo would be a blessing. Here’s to hoping that something along these lines is coming down the pipe in a future update.

Viva Lightroom updates!