Photo ingest & culling pipeline

Problem

After a shoot, valuable time disappears into copying cards, creating folders, guessing which files are keepers, and shuttling everything between devices. For working photographers, that overhead competes directly with billing work and creative energy.

What was built

An end-to-end workflow triggered when storage is connected: files are ingested, organized using consistent rules (so results are predictable), and pushed to the photographer's own private server — not a third-party lock-in. The emphasis is on automation that respects their existing storage and ownership choices.

The design assumes intermittent connectivity, large file volumes, and the need to recover cleanly if something interrupts mid-import — the same realities as field and operations data, just with RAW files instead of log lines.

Outcomes

• Faster path from card to archive without manual folder rituals
• Less risk of misfiled or orphaned shoots on loose drives
• A repeatable system one person can operate under time pressure

Technical notes

Implementation details stay client-specific, but the architecture follows the same principles as operational tooling: explicit stages, logging you can trust, and failure modes that surface clearly instead of failing silently.