Nov 15, 2017

Photos...So Many Photos!

by Bronwyn Jameson

After two overseas trips this year and a slew of exciting events -- including the arrival of our first grandchild!!! -- I am drowning in photos.  Digital photos, iPhone photos, TinyBeans photos, emailed photos, SMSed photos.
Arabella (one of MANY photos!)

I like to think that I'm an organised person.  My To-Do schedule reminds me on a regular basis that I need to "Organise Photos."  That item keeps being rescheduled because (a) it's not urgent (b) it's not work-related (c) it's never as important as other tasks.

I used to do this regularly, prompted by my Mum who didn't do digital.  I needed to go through the photos to choose which to print for her, which meant I often printed for myself as well.  And I at least edited the collection, organised them into folders, and even labelled some...a great help with trips and my failing memory.

Now I've let this slide too long.  I need to get myself, and my photo collections, organised.  Help is needed to get me started.

How do you manage your digital photos?  Do you have any tips for organising, sorting and storing them?  Do you still print copies and use albums?  Do you make photo books? 

16 comments:

  1. OMG - sooo cute! I just want to sniff her! :-)

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  2. Oh Bronwyn

    She is adorable huge congrats to everyone

    As for the photos sorry I am no help I have digital photos all over the place on my computer on my phone and old phones and in dropbox and I need to organize mine as well let me know how you go

    But keep taking photos :)

    Have Fun

    Helen

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    1. Huh, that's the problem, isn't it? So quick and easy to take so many photos. More time-consuming to deal with them all. Like you I save to Dropbox so they're not lost with a lost phone or computer, so that is positive.

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  3. I save my phone, camera, FB, etc. photos onto my desktop (sorted by month/year). When print photos come on special (every few months online at Walmart), I go through them all to determine what to print (and printing for others at the same time). Those photos go into physical file folders to join newspaper clippings and other odds/ends (also filed by month/year) until I finally get to scrapbook said items.
    Right now I am only on 1994, so methinks it'll be awhile till I get to them, but there are times when I'm really glad I have them on hand. For instance, I had to stop doing my own scrapbooks in order to create an album for my mother-in-law when her memory started to go (and she later learned she had Alzheimer's). She only had 14 pictures in her nursing home drawer, with all the family photos framed on the walls. I asked family and extended family to sort through their own photos, and they sent me their originals because they felt their own children would throw them out once they're gone. I got 16 and 144 pictures from a faraway sister and sister-in-law, and I had dozens from my husband's 5 siblings too. Now THAT took a lot of time - not just to create the MIL's album with "pretty pages", but to then go back to my own albums and chronologically insert close to 150 pictures to my already-done albums without breaking the continuity of each page. Pictures were dated back to the 1800s....
    I find that scrapbooks are appreciated because the photos are all in one place, plus they have dates and possibly explanations as to who is who, and what and why they were doing whatever they were doing in the photo.
    I WILL admit, though, that I have thrown out thousands and thousands of photos while scrapbooking. Some people didn't like that I threw out my own children's baby photos, but I didn't need a dozen pictures all taken at the same time of my newborn on the hospital bed. I kept the "best" one and chucked the rest. If my child wants more down the line (and I can't think why he would), I kept the negatives underneath larger items on the pages(again, I probably didn't need to, but when I started scrapbooking 12 years ago, the quality of copying photos wasn't as good).
    What I am finding is that people don't care about pictures of fancy wedding cakes or too many scenic pictures of the same thing. Women like seeing how we've all changed/aged; men like seeing what cars they and others were driving at the time. Go figure....

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    1. Lacey, I LOVE scrapbooks and agree that they're appreciated. I did one for each of my boys for their 21st birthdays with their life and what mattered up till then. I'm sure their kids will enjoy them as well...and get a laugh out of some of the photos! I must get into gear and do some more because it is a fun creative pastime as well. Thank you so much for reminding me how much I enjoyed this!

      (Also, thank you for the sage advice re the photos that matter. So true.)

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  4. What a lovely name! And she's just adorable. Huge congratulations to your family x

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    1. Thanks Stefanie. She is Bella already and that is appropriate. :-)

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  5. My biggest advice for you is to back up your digital images on to a flashdrive once a month. I learned this the hard way when my new laptop died a month after i got it. I had just downloaded my first grandchilds birth pictures on it the week before and hadn't printed any yet. I was nearly hysterical, how do you get those photos back? Luckily my camera's SD card somehow didn't erase my images after I uploaded them to the computer, so I was saved.
    I also go through all the pictures I have for the month and delete duplicates and enhance the ones i want to keep. I also make a collage sheet with all the photos on them and I upload it to the cloud. I make photo books using Shutterfly for special occasions like birthdays and baptisms. Now that I am retired i have lots of time to play with my photos.
    JUST REMEMBER TO BACK THEM UP SOMEWHERE SAFE!!!

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    1. Oh, Laurie, I had my heart in my month when I read about your laptop's demise and the loss of your precious grandchild's photos. BUT a happy ending...after you drew out the suspense. I hope you didn't lose too much other important stuff. Your message is SO important. Back-up, back-up, back-up! You can't be too cautious. Thank you for reminding us all.

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  6. Bron, she's utterly gorgeous! I'd have a million pics of her too.
    Reading the tips from others with interest.

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  7. Oh, she's just gorgeous and I absolutely love the name Arabella! My photos are also a bit of a shemozzle so I'm reading the comments here with interest. CC.

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  8. :-) Isn't it easy for those photos to go schamozzling? They have a mind of their own, I swear!

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