While Lightroom is certainly the dominant photo processing software on the market, its strengths go well beyond colour correction and RAW image processing. The core of Lightroom is a powerful database for managing collections of images and the Metadata that makes that collection a functional system.
Underwater photographers invariably find their hobby leaves them with a large collection of photos and when that collection reaches a critical mass you quickly appreciate the importance of Metadata. This is more than just Search functionality, a good database with consistent Metadata becomes a way to make connections, see patterns, and form deeper understandings about the marine environments we photograph.
But more importantly this is about recognising that our photos hold value beyond the display of wildlife or personal adventures; it is a valuable data set - snapshots of time and place, biodiversity and behaviour. However, to effectively manage metadata in Lightroom requires a consistent approach to the myriad options available. Some are personal or subjective to you (ratings and favourites), others are universal standards (GPS, Location), some aid search (species), others are technical (camera model and exposure). All of it is valuable if it’s organised.
Over the past decade I have refined my process for adding metadata to images and corralled it into a series of steps undertaken once I have culled and processed the days photos.
1. RATING.
A star rating from 0-5 whereby I use 0 as a baseline. To get a Star it must be better than ordinary. A 1-star pic is interesting, a 3-star is very good. 4 and 5-star photos are my very best.
A star rating from 0-5 whereby I use 0 as a baseline. To get a Star it must be better than ordinary. A 1-star pic is interesting, a 3-star is very good. 4 and 5-star photos are my very best.
2. KEYWORDS
In formal institutions (like News outlets) keywords come from a ‘controlled vocabulary’ so they are consistent. My Keywords start with generic ocean-based terms that I can apply to all underwater photos (Diving, Marinelife, Underwater, etc). From there I have words in groups such as ‘Environment” (reef, jetty, shallows, swim-through etc), ‘Creatures’ (Cephalopods, Crustaceans, Fishes, etc), and then descriptive terms (colour, stripes, banded, and so on). Keywords unto themselves aren’t particularly useful for specific searches but they work well in conjunction with other metadata. For example if I’m looking for Fishes + Jetty + Stripes I’m going to be able to find a very particular group of results.
In formal institutions (like News outlets) keywords come from a ‘controlled vocabulary’ so they are consistent. My Keywords start with generic ocean-based terms that I can apply to all underwater photos (Diving, Marinelife, Underwater, etc). From there I have words in groups such as ‘Environment” (reef, jetty, shallows, swim-through etc), ‘Creatures’ (Cephalopods, Crustaceans, Fishes, etc), and then descriptive terms (colour, stripes, banded, and so on). Keywords unto themselves aren’t particularly useful for specific searches but they work well in conjunction with other metadata. For example if I’m looking for Fishes + Jetty + Stripes I’m going to be able to find a very particular group of results.
3. TITLE
One of the seemingly obvious Metadata fields is the ‘Title’ of the photo but this need not be a creative title (which could take a shit load of extra work to come up with for every photo). I keep this very simple and title every photo taken on a given day at a given location the same title = Year-Month-Day Location (e.g. ‘2025-03-03 Chowder Bay’). This means every photo in that group has the same title but that’s ok because the other metadata will provide the specifics.
One of the seemingly obvious Metadata fields is the ‘Title’ of the photo but this need not be a creative title (which could take a shit load of extra work to come up with for every photo). I keep this very simple and title every photo taken on a given day at a given location the same title = Year-Month-Day Location (e.g. ‘2025-03-03 Chowder Bay’). This means every photo in that group has the same title but that’s ok because the other metadata will provide the specifics.
4. SPECIES
Formal Metadata schema doesn't include a field specifically for animal species but many fields can be flexibly used. In this case I use the ‘Headline’ field for specifying the species of creature in the photo by common name and scientific name; e.g. Striate Anglerfish (Antennarius striatus). Most good dive log software (such as MacDive which I use and highly recommend) allows for the creation of a marine life database. I maintain this in MacDive for every species I encounter and then simply copy over the species name into the Headline field in Lightroom.
**Note: An excellent plugin for Lightroom by Jeffrey Friedl is the “Metadata Preset Builder”. This simple plugin allows you to create a custom metadata panel and change the titles of metadata fields. (e.g. changing Headline to Species). This is only for display in Lightroom and doesn’t change the metadata itself but it is very useful.
Formal Metadata schema doesn't include a field specifically for animal species but many fields can be flexibly used. In this case I use the ‘Headline’ field for specifying the species of creature in the photo by common name and scientific name; e.g. Striate Anglerfish (Antennarius striatus). Most good dive log software (such as MacDive which I use and highly recommend) allows for the creation of a marine life database. I maintain this in MacDive for every species I encounter and then simply copy over the species name into the Headline field in Lightroom.
**Note: An excellent plugin for Lightroom by Jeffrey Friedl is the “Metadata Preset Builder”. This simple plugin allows you to create a custom metadata panel and change the titles of metadata fields. (e.g. changing Headline to Species). This is only for display in Lightroom and doesn’t change the metadata itself but it is very useful.
5. CATEGORY
Scientifically species are grouped together into a hierarchy of family and genus. You could certainly use Lightroom metadata for this but for practical purposes as a non-scientist, I use the Category field to group similar species together. For example all squid, cuttlefish and octopus photos are marked ‘Cephalopods’.
Scientifically species are grouped together into a hierarchy of family and genus. You could certainly use Lightroom metadata for this but for practical purposes as a non-scientist, I use the Category field to group similar species together. For example all squid, cuttlefish and octopus photos are marked ‘Cephalopods’.
6. GPS
An obvious field to indicate the coordinates of the location the photo was taken. Whilst you can't track GPS underwater, many dive computers and camera will track GPS points from the surface at the moment of decent or ascent. Failing that you can use the MAP panel in Lightroom to drop an approximate pin on the spot where you dived.
An obvious field to indicate the coordinates of the location the photo was taken. Whilst you can't track GPS underwater, many dive computers and camera will track GPS points from the surface at the moment of decent or ascent. Failing that you can use the MAP panel in Lightroom to drop an approximate pin on the spot where you dived.
7. DEPTH
There is no specific field for Depth but there is one for Altitude which achieves the same result simply with a negative integer. You can easily locate the precise depth a photo was taken using your dive log profile. So long as your camera and dive computer clocks are synchronised you can match the time of the photo to the depth indicated on the profile graph.
There is no specific field for Depth but there is one for Altitude which achieves the same result simply with a negative integer. You can easily locate the precise depth a photo was taken using your dive log profile. So long as your camera and dive computer clocks are synchronised you can match the time of the photo to the depth indicated on the profile graph.
8. TEMPERATURE
For the temperature of the water at a given depth when he photos was taken I use the ‘Additional Model Info’ field. And using the plugin above rename that field in Lightroom to 'Temp'.
For the temperature of the water at a given depth when he photos was taken I use the ‘Additional Model Info’ field. And using the plugin above rename that field in Lightroom to 'Temp'.
9. DIVE SITE
Dive Sites often have creative and unusual names and for this I use the ‘Sublocation’ field. Here I also make it consistent with the list of locations tracked into my Dive Log software.
Dive Sites often have creative and unusual names and for this I use the ‘Sublocation’ field. Here I also make it consistent with the list of locations tracked into my Dive Log software.
10. CITY STATE COUNTRY
All self explanatory.
All self explanatory.
11. CAPTION
By now your photo will have a collection of data and there’s a trick I use to automate the generation of a caption for each photo. John Beardsworth has created a plugin for Lightroom called ‘Search and Replace’. It does a whole range of very useful things but the key function is to be able copy metadata from one field to another in various combinations. So in my case I've created a template that takes the photo’s Date, Species, Dive Site, City, and Country, camera exposure settings (f-stop, shutter speed, iso), the Depth and Temp, and complies them together. I can run this as a single batch process for all the photos at once and each will end up with an instant caption such as:
03 May 2025
Striate Anglerfish (Antennarius striatus)*
Chowder Bay
Sydney, Australia
¹⁄₁₆₀ sec at ƒ / 5.6, ISO-200
Depth -7.0 m
Temp 22deg
By now your photo will have a collection of data and there’s a trick I use to automate the generation of a caption for each photo. John Beardsworth has created a plugin for Lightroom called ‘Search and Replace’. It does a whole range of very useful things but the key function is to be able copy metadata from one field to another in various combinations. So in my case I've created a template that takes the photo’s Date, Species, Dive Site, City, and Country, camera exposure settings (f-stop, shutter speed, iso), the Depth and Temp, and complies them together. I can run this as a single batch process for all the photos at once and each will end up with an instant caption such as:
03 May 2025
Striate Anglerfish (Antennarius striatus)*
Chowder Bay
Sydney, Australia
¹⁄₁₆₀ sec at ƒ / 5.6, ISO-200
Depth -7.0 m
Temp 22deg
12. CITIZEN SCIENCE
As many of my photos are submitted to citizen science research projects I use the field known as ‘Instructions’ (renamed as Cit Sci), and enter any details of what the photo has been used for. For example Sea Dragon photos submitted for pattern recognition tracking will have this field filled with:
Identified for SeaDragonSearch
Marked Individual NSW-0550
Occurrence ID - 5878331E
As many of my photos are submitted to citizen science research projects I use the field known as ‘Instructions’ (renamed as Cit Sci), and enter any details of what the photo has been used for. For example Sea Dragon photos submitted for pattern recognition tracking will have this field filled with:
Identified for SeaDragonSearch
Marked Individual NSW-0550
Occurrence ID - 5878331E
13. NOTES
Invariably there are times when none of the normal data fields fit and this is where the very handy ‘User Comment’ field comes in. Renamed 'Notes' I use this to note down anything interesting or unusual about the photo or the particular encounter.
Invariably there are times when none of the normal data fields fit and this is where the very handy ‘User Comment’ field comes in. Renamed 'Notes' I use this to note down anything interesting or unusual about the photo or the particular encounter.
This can all sound like a lot of work but there is a good deal of streamlining that can be done so that fields can be applied across groups of pics in one go. The end result is something much more than a collection of photos - a genuine record of marine life that is searchable and navigable. Your photos become more than just memories and display, they become a rich navigable database.