Annotating pictures... while still in the camera. Is this possible?

March 7, 2013 11:40 AM

Hi everyone, suppose I was at a family reunion BBQ or wedding reception, and I wanted to stroll around and take pictures of groups of people, many of whom I might be meeting after a long absence, or even for the first time. Now, I'm terrible with names, I forget them quickly unless I write them down. Is there a camera out there that will let me do this? I'm dreaming of some P&S camera with a touch screen that'll let me annotate the image (or a copy of the image) with text so I could enter in their names. (like I take a snapshot of Jane; then I immediately enter in 'jane smith' in the camera as some kind of image caption or tag.) Any advice?
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey to technology (13 answers total)

It's a low-tech solution that's a little cheesy, but could be fun: whiteboard with dry erase markers that they hold in the photo? Maybe one photo with, and one without?
posted by supercres at 11:43 AM on March 7 [2 favorites]

>It's a low-tech solution that's a little cheesy, but could be fun: whiteboard with dry erase markers that they hold in the photo? Maybe one photo with, and one without?

It also occurred to me, I could shoot video instead of (or after) the picture that I narrate ("this...is...jane..."). Either way it could be complicated if I take pictures of groups of 5 or 10 people, or a table full of people etc.
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 11:45 AM on March 7 [1 favorite]

Take a little notepad and pencil along. Write the name on the pad and take a picture of it after the photo.
posted by pipeski at 11:48 AM on March 7 [6 favorites]

Isn't this easy to do with an iPhone (or similar smartphone)? I imagine you could borrow one from someone.
posted by yoink at 11:50 AM on March 7 [1 favorite]

While I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for *exactly*, lots of cameras, including P&S's, have some kind of voice annotation capability -- maybe you could go camera shopping with that in mind.
posted by un petit cadeau at 11:55 AM on March 7 [2 favorites]

There are some models of the Panasonic Lumix that will let you record a short audio memo with each photo. Here is one:

"A menu option allows you to activate a setting which records a five-second voice memo after each photograph is taken."

I don't know much else about that model, though I do own another model Lumix and I like it (but the GPS feature is useless, though that's another thread...)

I'm sure there are other makes and models with the same feature.
posted by bondcliff at 11:56 AM on March 7

Some p&S cameras will record small snippets of sound with each still photograph. others allow you to snap stills while recording video. In either case you can annotate as you record.

On preview, check out the Olympus TG830
posted by Gungho at 11:58 AM on March 7

Samsung Galaxy Note II lets you flip the photo over and write what you want on the back of it with a stylus. Pretty handy.
posted by londongeezer at 12:19 PM on March 7

Another low-tech way to keep track of people is to jot down (in a notebook, voice note on your phone, whatever is most convenient) what they are wearing. This is faster than annotating every photo at the event because you only have to write a note once for each person, even if they appear in multiple photos.
posted by payoto at 12:29 PM on March 7

I use an iPhone app for this called PhotoNote, though there are probably others as well. You take a photo as usual with the phone, and you attach a note and, if you want, assign it to a category.
posted by ceiba at 12:36 PM on March 7

Smart phone (or tablet) with an app (varies from platform to platform), a digital camera that is capable of recording voice memos or pad and pencil (what I do when shooting film to record exposure and composition notes).
posted by Brian Puccio at 1:24 PM on March 7

Use a smartphone or tablet with Evernote Hello . Use this in conjunction with your usual camera. Later on you will have the photo and information on Evernote Hello to tag the photos with in your photo library (i.e. with picasa or whatever)
posted by batikrose at 4:17 PM on March 7

Professional photographers covering events in my experience use notepads and jot down names and details immediately after each shot.
posted by viggorlijah at 6:24 AM on March 8