iPhoto shows right date - wrong date in Finder

Terrific. Thank you.

When I look at the photo in preview, it looks fine. When I re-import to iPhoto, it has the color filter applied. Any way to import it without the filter applied, so it looks in iPhoto the same way as in Preview?

Just discovered that, since iPhoto for some reason with these doctored iPhone photos creates both an "original" and a "modified" version in iPhoto, I can go to any one of these photos and edit it, and select "return to original" and it will delete the stored "modified" version, leaving me with the photo I want.

All my problems solved now. Thanks very much.

Excellent explanation, Terence.

I would like to add that if you want to keep your photos in Finder instead of, or in addition to, importing them into iPhoto, Aperture, etc. you can get Finder to display the correct date and time when the photo was taken. I use an inexpensive app called A Better Finder Attributes. Among many other metadata-manipulating functions, it can copy the EXIF date to the Creation date. The date and time when the photo was taken will then be displayed by the Finder. Large batches of photos can be processed at once.

You can't do that for videos, which don't have EXIF data, and the date and time will be wrong even after you import them into iPhoto, Aperture, etc. However, A Better Finder Attributes does allow you to adjust the Creation and/or Modified dates. iPhone and other iOS devices set the video creation date to your "home" date and time, even when you are in a different location and have set the iPhone to that location's time zone automatically via Location Services or manually. You just have to figure out the number of hours difference between the location where your videos were taken and your "home" time zone and add it to or subtract it from the files Creation date. Again, large batches of videos taken in another time zone can be processed at once.

I use an inexpensive app called A Better Finder Attributes. Among many other metadata-manipulating functions, it can copy the EXIF date to the Creation date.

This is true and there are several free and inexpensive apps that do this. But why would you? All you're doing is changing the date on the file, and the file is not the photo, only the shoe box that contains it. Computers of all ilks are now rapidly moving away from the file-is-my-data metaphor. Nowadays even Word Processors are actually databases where the data is much more important than the container - be it doc, jpeg, tiff, mp3 or whatever.

Using the Finder to manage photos is like arranging a shoe shop around the size and shape of the boxes and not the shoes. The same is true of using it for music, movies and everything else. The Finder is a file manager, and it doesn't know a photo from a novel from a letter from a gif of a dancing bear. It treats them all the same. True it's simple, but hopelessly limited.

Terence Devlin wrote:

This is true and there are several free and inexpensive apps that do this. But why would you? All you're doing is changing the date on the file, and the file is not the photo, only the shoe box that contains it. Computers of all ilks are now rapidly moving away from the file-is-my-data metaphor. Nowadays even Word Processors are actually databases where the data is much more important than the container - be it doc, jpeg, tiff, mp3 or whatever.

Using the Finder to manage photos is like arranging a shoe shop around the size and shape of the boxes and not the shoes. The same is true of using it for music, movies and everything else. The Finder is a file manager, and it doesn't know a photo from a novel from a letter from a gif of a dancing bear. It treats them all the same. True it's simple, but hopelessly limited.

I understand what you are saying and I agree. Actually, I use iPhoto for managing and storing my photos. I didn't intend to suggest using the Finder to manage all your photos, but I can see that my post might have given that impression.

I simply wanted to suggest a method for getting the Finder to show the actual date and time that photos and videos were taken for anyone who wants to do that for whatever reason. One of the reasons I occasionally do it is to share a batch of accurately dated photos or videos with someone who isn't going to put them into a photo managing app. To extend your shoe metaphor, it is quicker and easier for them to tell the shoe sizes from the labels on the boxes than having to open the boxes and examine the shoes.

I found and easier fix.

1. Hold Command and tap spacebar, type Terminal and hit enter.

2. navigate to the directory (folder) your image is in by using cd /Volumes/ or drag the folder in and hit enter.

3. type ls and make sure you see your file in the list (you should see it if you cd'd to the right directory).

4. type SetFile -d "09/06/2013" file_name.jpg and hit return

5. if you want the modification date changed, type SetFile -md "09/06/2013" file_name.jpg and hit return

you won't get any feed back after hitting return unless you did it wrong.

6. check the dates in finder