I find changing the file names to the dates taken a waste of time because i can sort the pictures by the date that it was taken which as long the date is set on your trail camera correctly it works great. Here is an example of the folder for each camera location for this year so far and another one showing the date they were taken is saved on the camera
How I do mine: Folder 1 - Year Inside that - Farms Inside each farm - Bucks or everything else folder Inside each folder - Month taken Inside each month - specific bucks in order by date
I just recently started really analyzing my pictures more but for each location I have a trail camera, I mark down which direction the deer came from and the general time it came through (AM, mid-day, PM, or night). After I tally up how many deer visits and see what the trend is, then I have a general census of what kind of deer are frequenting that spot and what the best time to hunt it is. This thread prompted me to post it on my Nine Acre Archery hunting journal on Facebook. Here's a small sample of what we do:
I do similar what everyone else does. I have a folder for the year ("2016 Trail Cam Pictures") then inside that folder I have the name of the Camera, (Reconyx, Black Flash, Browning, etc.) Then inside each Camera I name the folder by the date range that the camera was out/last checked. For example If i put the camera out May 1st and then checked it on July 15th. I would name the folder 05012016_07152016 Then I can go back and find pictures easily from a certain date range.
Also, to categorize the pictures themselves, I have a folder for each year, and then within that a folder for each camera location, and within those a folder for each month with the respective month's camera pics. Then I put the Excel spreadsheet I posted above for each month in with the corresponding pics and rename it so it's at the beginning for easy access.
I haven't seen a free app yet that does what I can do with excel for free. Plus when I put the time in I understand the data far better.
