Last week, between my location shoot at Princeton University and three different areas in Manhattan, I've shot more than 3,000 RAW images. That's a lot of images from two shooting days.

As soon as I fill up a CF card while on location, and in between takes, I would immediately download and backup the images to the ultra-portable Epson P-5000 Multimedia Storage Viewer. I find the portability of the P-5000 to be very convenient. Plus, I can start showing the images to the clients. (And they can even begin selecting and rating the images on the P-5000.) From there, I transfer the images to Aperture either in my MacBookPro while on still on location or the MacPro in the studio.

Because I shoot so many pictures, averaging anywhere from 600 to 1,500 RAW files per session, it would be extremely difficult, tedious and quite inadequate if I depend only on the usual standard folder hierarchy to transfer, organize and backup my photographs. I used to think that dumping the images first to a file directory was the best method, but with Aperture it is now an unnecessary step. My photos, from the Epson P-5000, are all directly transferred and organized in Aperture.

Based on actual experience, many photographers have noted Aperture's strength in helping them elegantly organize and manage the photographs. The process, including keywording and rating, is streamlined. With Aperture, the logic and simplicity of the way the images are transferred from the camera to the computer just makes sense. It's a no-fuss, reliable method.

When I started with Aperture, unaware of the software's strengths and capabilities, I was naturally hesitant to give up what I used to perceive as total control over the movement and storage of image files. It used to be very important to me where, exactly, the image files are stored. There was a time when I would first use the Finder window so I can see where they are. But once I understood and experienced for myself how Aperture ingests and organize photographs, as shown in the Projects pane within the software, and as the system began to make sense to me, I totally gave up on the Finder window and surrendered completely to Aperture.

Many who are new to Aperture are often apprehensive, as I have been, in giving up organizational control to the software. Not seeing where exactly the image files go, and not being able to actually pinpoint the physical location of each and every image file can be a bit scary. The Aperture interface and the commands does not show you what is going on inside. Most of it happens in the background, and unless we dig down to Aperture's directory level (which is unnecessary), and except for the pop-up notice that a command has been completely executed, we don't know what's going on while it is doing its thing.

What many new Aperture users are discovering when they use the software the first few times is that they have to completely trust Aperture. With a different environment for handling and managing photos, they have to learn how to get used to it. Along the way, new users begin to learn and understand how Aperture ingests and organize the pictures, and how they can effectively manage their images by creating organizational structures within Aperture, particularly with the use of Smart Albums, Folders and other tools. They soon realize that this process is easier, faster and better. It is more smooth, and efficient. Of course, the purpose of this is that it allows photographers to immediately start working and to concentrate and focus on the shots.

Of course, whatever you put into Aperture, you can take out. That is one of the ideas that somehow baffles some new Aperture users. Aperture works as an integrated in-and-out processing system. The images you've put in, can be taken out. That's the logical way it works. A single image, a group of images, or the entire library is immediately available for use in many different purposes.

The other half of the equation is that many new Aperture users have to shake off the notion that their photographs are trapped inside Aperture. All image files that have been entrusted into the care of Aperture, either as referenced or managed files, and after submitting them to the step-by-step process of selecting, enhancing, editing, and the like, can also be taken out (exported, outputted, or archived) in many different forms for many different purposes.

Next to plowing through all the images to select the best shots, the tasks that I like least are anything and everything that I have to do between taking the shots out of the camera and putting them into the computer. With so many images to handle, it can be quite daunting. To make sure that everything is being handled properly, I would zone out of my environment and concentrate on the process to make sure that everything is done properly and completely. But because Aperture has simplified the process of taking it all in, and putting it together, it's no longer as hard, as tedious, or as worrisome as it used to be.

With Aperture, I can bring in all the images, and take it all out.