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I organize my digital camera pictures pretty much by client name, or by subject name if for a still life, etc. The diagram explains how I have photos organized from there.
In my Portrait Reference folder I have one folder for each client, last name first. Inside that I have two sub-folders: one for original photos, and one for pictures I've modified. I try to remember never to store any modified versions of my photos in the wrong folder. This way I'm always sure I have the original shots to go back to if (when!) I mess something up in Photoshop.
Within the Originals folder I have a separate section for each CF Flash card that the images were originally stored on by my camera. (I have two 256MB flash cards, along with some others, hence the folder names 256 A and 256 B.) My camera assigns photos the same numbers over and over again each time I start with a clean Flash card, and always starts with "Picture 0001". Because of this I have to store the photos separately, in folders named for the flash card they were created on. Otherwise I'd have more than one photo with the same name and they'd over-write each other.
Within the Modified Photos folder I have one sub-folder for things I'm just trying out, and another folder for the master photos I intend to use for the actual painting, once I've decided which way to go with the portrait.
A few months after the painting has been delivered (long enough for the likelihood of change requests to have passed) I take all the photos for each client off my computer and put them on separate CDs. Then I have them stored at my husband's place work, for offsite backup, in case of fire, etc.
This is probably WAY more than anyone wanted to know, but it took me a while to work out this system and I find it works pretty well for me. Previously I had photos all over the place and could never find anything. It's a lot of layers of folders, I know, but now I can always find what I need in a hurry.
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