In the analog days, I would pass the time on cold December days by pulling everything out from under the bed and in the closet, then organizing it.

My primary focus then were envelopes and envelopes of 4x6 prints and plastic boxes filled with slides. My goal was to get those pictures in some sort of order so I could find what I was looking for when needed.

These days, I only make big prints, and I don't shoot slides. But I still have lots of pictures to organize at the end of the year. Now my closet is a computer.

Seems like every year I have a slightly different system. My Flash Drive MacBook Pro has influenced the organization for 2013. Since it doesn't hold a year's worth of images, I make seasonal libraries, such as Winter 1, Spring 1, Spring 2, Summer, Fall, etc.

I backup those libraries weekly on to my Drobo 5D. When the computer gets full, I remove a seasonal library and start a new one. But in the end, I want all of that content that's stored in those various libraries integrated into my master Aperture catalog, that also lives on the Drobo. It's like a giant shoe box with tabs.

So now, that's how I spend my Decembers. I merge all of those seasonal libraries into the master catalog, then back everything up to another set of hard drives that I store off site.

The cool thing about closet cleaning in the technology age is that I can watch football while doing it.

I love modern times...

-Derrick