Hi there
I'm loving Aperture and I'm quite comfortable using it but I need some advice on how to handle shooting in different time zones and adjusting the files afterwards, please. What would be the best workflow?
On a recent trip to Amsterdam I thought it would be a good idea to leave the camera set to my home time, which is Europe/London. I was planning to adjust the time zone later when importing the pictures into Aperture. The time difference to Amsterdam is +1 hour.
While in Amsterdam, I copied the files from my CF-cards to an external harddrive. Back home in London, I imported the photos from the harddrive into Aperture using the 'Time Zone Adjustment'. To correct the time difference, I set the 'Camera Time' to 'Europe/London' and the 'Actual Time' to 'Europe/Amsterdam'. I also rename the files on import so that they contain the Image Date and Image Time among other naming elements.
With these settings, I imported the photos. Aperture was showing the correct date and time in the import dialog, but it didn't rename the files properly. The name still showed the original camera time, although it was showing the modified time in the EXIF data.
So I had to rename the files again using the same naming scheme of '…Image Date_Image Time…' etc to get the Version Name and File Name correct.
I don't know why Aperture didn't rename the files properly on import. Maybe it imports and re-names first and then adds the change in time zone. I don't know.
I would be ok with renaming the files after import, but here's another problem.
I reference my files and let Aperture copy them to the following directory structure on my server: “…Aperture Masters/Image Year/Image Month/Image Day/”
When checking the files on disk, I realised that the pictures I took around midnight ended up in the wrong day-folder. Aperture sorted the files from 00:00 AM to 00:59 AM into the folder of the previous day instead of the new day. The files shot from 01:00 AM onwards were sorted into the correct day-folder.
This is quite confusing. It seems that the original file/picture date is still stored in the metadata somewhere although Apterture doesn't show it.
What would be the best approach to remedy this situation and how do you guys handle shooting in different time zones? Should I set my camera time to the actual time zone I'm in? I quite like the idea of leaving my camera in home-time and adjusting the time zone afterwards, but it seems to be a bit flaky.
What's the best way to force the files into their correct folders? Do I have to adjust the date and time of the files to my home time using the 'Adjust Date and Time'-Dialog? That messes up the datestamp in the finder and I would also have to re-adjust the time zone of the photos again.
Many thanks for your help
Tom
Joseph
Many thanks for your reply. What you’re saying makes absolutely sense and it seems like a very good workflow/habit to adapt.
Even if it is just an hour time shift, things are starting to get a bit confusing. My organisational scheme relies heavily on date and time, so I don’t like things becoming messed up by time zone confusion.
You said that I should set my Computer’s time zone to where the pictures where taken prior to importing into Aperture. Let’s assume I haven’t imported the pictures, yet. In order to fix the creation times of the photos, I would temporarily import them into Aperture and adjust the EXIF data by using the ‘Adjust Date and Time’. That would fix the times the pictures were taken but would also change the Creation Date and Time of the files in the Finder to the actual date/time, right?
I would then set my Macbook back to Amsterdam-time and import the photos into Aperture. The finder will always change the display of the files according to the current time zone. Does that matter?
When importing into Aperture the ‘Camera Time’ and ‘Actual TIme’ would be set to the same zone but which one would that be? I assume the one where the pictures where taken rather than my home time zone, right? This will affect the display of the date of the photos in Aperture. Instead of GMT the date would show CET.
So would you ‘label’ the photos with the time zone they ware taken in or would you adjust everything so they have your home time zone displayed in the end?
I can imagine that things can get even more confusing when you throw GPS data in the mix. I’m looking forward to your post on this :)
Many thanks
Tom
Tom,
I’ve done exactly what you’re saying as well… imported pictures, fixed the time, and then imported them again. Yes, if you choose the option to update the file in the Finder, then the EXIF date in the actual file will be altered. The creation or modified date of the file is irrelevant (the time stamp you see in the Finder), thank goodness, because the Mac has quite a bad habit of altering “creation” dates just because you copy a file to another location. Aperture looks at the time in the EXIF data. You can easily preview this before importing by opening the file in Preview.app, getting info from there, and clicking on the EXIF tab.
When doing any time shifting like that, I’d set everything into the timezone you want the pretend that you’re in the whole time you’re working. It’s just easier. So if you are in London and fixing files from Amsterdam, go ahead and set the computer time to Amsterdam time and make your file adjustments.
I think you’re using the same technique I do of naming files with the creation date and time embedded in the file name, so yes, it’s best to import, fix the time, then import again. Fortunately if you copy the files to the Finder from the CF card first, you can import but “leave in original location” so the import is extremely fast (make sure Preview generation is off), don’t rename the files on import, make your batch time fix, “delete” those from Aperture and import again, this time adjusting file names. I presume you are changing the master file name at this point as well.
As far as how to set Aperture’s time zone function for the final import, set both Camera and Actual to the same zone, and that should be the zone that both your computer now set to and that the photos were actually shot in. This will have the same effect as just turning the feature off.
All that said, you shouldn’t need to do the double-import trick unless you’re shifting times by anything other than a complete hour. Unless you’re doing GPS or multiple camera syncing, being off by a few minutes shouldn’t really matter (unless you’re shooting a New Years Eve party, I guess!). Even the GPS match can be fixed in Aperture without having to time shift the files. The only time I’ve had to do that is when I have multiple cameras that are out of sync. Having learned that lesson the hard way, I now ensure that all cameras — mine and my assistants’ — are synced immediately before a shoot. Again, my earlier tip of shooting a known-acurrate time source like your iPhone at the start of a shoot is a great way to ensure that you have a baseline to correct off of later.
I think I got all your questions here… if not, let me know!
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
@PhotoJoseph
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Joseph,
Thank you so much for taking your time and answering my questions. That’s great information and I really appreciate it!
Thank you also for your follow-up post on this matter :)
Regards
Tom
Hi Joseph
Happy new year!
Sorry to resurrect this thread again but I noticed another strange time zones related Aperture behaviour. I did as you suggested and set the time zones of my Mac and the Import Dialog in Aperture back to Amsterdam time (CET) prior to import. After importing and renaming, the dates and times are now displayed correct (CET) and Aperture sorted the files into the corresponding Year/Month/Day folders on my network drive. But when I now set the time zone of my Mac back to London time (GMT) Aperture updates these photos in the library and changes the displayed time zone. Instead of displaying CET like before, it now displays GMT+1. So I assume Aperture always displays the dates and times relative to the current time zone of your system. Similar to what the Finder does when you change time zones. Did you experience this behaviour, too? It seems to only re-process the files you actually touch or browse in Aperture. This is a bit annoying, as it eats up processing time and you never really know which time zone the shots were taken. Plus it can create a bit of a sorting mess in an Album, when not all files have been updated.
It bugs me as there’s probably no solution or workaround. It would be nice to have a Preference setting or something for the time zone display.
Regards
Tom
Tom,
I never paid that close of attention to the time zone display (CET, GMT, etc)… I was always more concerned with the time itself and ensuring that it was accurate, to be honest.
CET is GMT +1, so it’s not inaccurate in Aperture, it’s just displaying it as GMT +1 instead of CET, right? Or am I missing something?
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
@PhotoJoseph
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Hi Joseph,
Yes. You’re right. CET is GMT +1. Aperture is just displaying it differently. I guess it’s just me being picky about it now and a little bit annoyed by Aperture re-processing the files after I spent all the effort getting it correct (which it is). I should stop worrying now :)
Thanks
Tom
Tom,
I’ve been down this road many times (I travel extensively) and I’ve found that for my own sanity, it’s best to set the camera, and computer, to the time zone you’re currently in. If you don’t import until you change time zones (as you did), then before you do the import, change your computer time to match where you shot them.
It seems silly, but trust me on this—headaches will be avoided. When you start shifting time this way, it’s SO easy to get something confused, and then as you’ve discovered, while being off by an hour may not matter, being off by an hour that pushes you into another day, sucks.
I’ve been meaning to do a big post on timezones in relation to matching GPS data later, which of course adds another element to the mix, but I haven’t gotten to it yet and I probably won’t until after the new year.
In the meantime, again I suggest making all time zones match the actual time zone the shots are made in. Just don’t forget to change your camera’s time zone when you move locations.
Finally, you can always check the way the file will be renamed in the finder by looking at the red Version Name display in the import dialog. I find that if you’re doing time critical work, taking a photo of a known accurate time source (i.e. your watch, your iPhone, etc.) at the start of the shoot can be invaluable when prepping to import. Look at the photo of your iPhone that reads 13:24 (the start of the line), and look at the red Version Name (the end of the line), and if they don’t match, adjust the Time Zone settings to make them match.
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
@PhotoJoseph
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I have also been perplexed by time zone problems in Aperture. My wife & take photos with our iPhones cameras, and occasionally I try to integrate photos that friends have also taken. The main problem I have encountered has been one of time stamps - to get the photos to appear properly in chronological orders the time zones and times must be aligned. Of course if you always set the time zones and clocks of your cameras correctly then you may not have any issues, but this post is to help those of us who, like me, never remember to do this.
After our recent Portugal trip I seem to have finally figured it out - and it was surprisingly straighforward. My approach is to fix the times and the time zones independently so that the interaction between the two doesn’t confuse the heck out of things. Here is my solution.
The first thing you should know is that EXIF does not store time-zone data. Hence when you import into Aperture it can only assign the time-zone of your Mac to the photo. On import there is an option to adjust the time zone. My strategy is not to do this, as it gets very confusing. Just import as is and we will fix everything later.
When the photos are in group the photos together (using albums or projects as you prefer) into time zones. If necessary subdivide by camera. Now you have groups of photos which can be correctly timestamped with at most two batch changes each.
For each group, figure out if you need to adjust the time. In this step we ignore time zones, and just focus on the time data. Select the photos and use “Adjust Date and Time…” to change all the times of the photos in the batch to the correct time in the timezone of the photo. That is, if the photo was taken at 3pm in the place where it was taken, change the time so that it becomes 3pm. Ignore the time zone. Occasionally taking a photo with a smartphone at the same time as with a camera is something I do so that I can synchronize location data as well as timestamps. I also turn on “Also adjust original files” but since I only work within Aperture I’m not sure if this is strictly necessary. The same adjustment should apply to the entire group so close your eyes and hit “Adjust”.
Next, for each group figure out if you need to adjust the time zone. Select the photos, use “Batch Change…” and turn on “Adjust Time Zone”. Now here is the clever part. Set both the “Camera’s Time Zone” and “Actual Time Zone” to the actual time zone where the photo was taken. If you don’t do this Aperture is too clever for its own good and ajdusts the time as well. Since you have already set the time correctly in the last step, you do not want this. Hit “OK”.
That’s it! Your photos in this group have the correct time and time zone. No mess, no bother.
NT