Hey, over the summer I decided to start a site about organizing digital photos. I finally created it last week! Let me explain the method below. If you want a more detailed version,
visit the site.
So here it goes. It's basically a few folders, with many, many, sub-folders. In fact, I have over 250 folders for 10,000+ pictures. Seems excessive, but it isn't. It keeps me sane.
The first thing you do is create a few general folders. Mine are: "Anniverseries and Birthdays," "Concert and Shows," "Holidays," "Misc.," "Photos Emailed to Us," "School," "Sports," "Vacation and Trips," and "Weddings." Each folder then has a few sub-folders. The Vacations and Trips folder, for example, has a folder for each place. Each place is then divided by year, if necessary, which is then divided by location. For example, I go to Brazil every year and take many pictures. Instead of placing all the photos in a folder named "Brazil", I have a folder for the year, another folder for the state, another folder for the city, and another folder for the name of the place (for example, Ipanema Beach). My Vacations and Trips folder can goes over 6 levels deep!
Do something similar for each general folder. I've explained each folder thoroughly in
my site if you need help.
I've been using this method for over five years. It's worked great, but I occasionally tweak it to fit my needs. Hopefully, it works for you.