The Best Family Photos are Organized!
If you’re anything like me, you have about a gazillion or so images slowing down your cell phone performance as we speak.
You don’t dare delete them-there are just too many memories you wouldn’t want to lose. There are so many images accumulated, it takes you at least 20 minutes just to find that one photo of your child you need for his school project. Forget printing...can you imagine the cost to print thousands of images every year, not to mention where on earth would you keep them? You would literally have boxes upon boxes if you printed all of your cell phone images...so what to do?
As a senior and family photographer in Lancaster, PA, I am always promoting the value in preserving your images into fine art albums and archival frames. I am talking about museum quality artwork that will keep your photos safe for lifetimes. Despite my love for gorgeous albums and frames, I understand that some of life’s most memorable, and sweetest moments are captured on cell phones. My own cell phone is chalk full of photos and videos I treasure!
The dilemma is, cellphone cameras are so incredibly accessible, that we tend to collect waaaay more images than we know what to do with We take pictures of absolutely everything, and often every single day! I want to share a few suggestions that have helped me tame my out-of-control stockpile of cell phone images into a well curated collection I feel good about. You may find that this system is a good solution for you as well, or perhaps you will tweak it to make it just right for you.
Step One
Take Less Photos
This is pretty self-explanatory, but the takeaway is that less is more! This is just as true for professional photos. By intentionally taking fewer photos, you will naturally focus more on quality over quantity. When you have 5-10 great photos of your daughter leaving for senior prom, instead of about 60, you are going to come back to that collection of photos again and again and appreciate them all the more.
Decreasing the number of photos you take at each event will make organizing your photos (the next step) so much more manageable!
Step Two
Delete Excess Photos
Start going through your phone gallery. Delete absolutely every photo you don’t need. To decide which photos are worth keeping, ask yourself a few questions. Is this photo a duplicate or one of ten similar photos? If so, choose the best photo, and delete the rest. Does this photo have special meaning or evoke emotions that indicate true sentimental value? If not, consider deleting.
Is the photo too grainy or out of focus to enjoy? With rare exceptions, I recommend deleting all out of focus and overly fuzzy photos. Remember it this way: Keep the best and delete the rest. Is the subject important to me? For most of us, pictures of our loved ones and pets are important, but images of material things are not. You may have snapped about a hundred photos of birthday gifts, food ideas, clothing, random sights you observed while driving...again, with rare exceptions I would recommend deleting all of these, or saving just a few of your absolute favorites.
Step Three
Create a Filing System for your Photos on your PC
When it comes to organizing photos, or pretty much any form of digital data, folders are your friend. My filing system is simple. My main folder is labeled, “Phone Images”
Within that folder I have a subfolder for each year since I began organizing my photos. Then, within each year, I have a subfolder for each quarter. So there is a folder for January-March, April-June, and so on.
Organizing your photos down to just the year is absolutely fine too, or you could have a separate subfolder for each individual month. How you decide to organize your folders is entirely up to you, but having a file folder system will work wonders in helping you stay organized.
Step FourMove your images to their new home
Now that your folder files are set up on your PC, take the time to move your photos into their new home. This will take a bit of patience if you are moving years and years of photos, but once you are done, the maintenance is a piece of cake! Combing through your photos in step 2 and getting rid of as much of the “fluff” as possible will make this step much more manageable.
Step Five
Back Up Your Images
You have just spent your precious time organizing all of your photos. This investment will allow you to enjoy your family photos for years to come without feeling overwhelmed by the number of photos, or frustrated because you cannot locate the photos you would like to find. After all this hard work, don’t risk losing your images by failing to back them up properly.
Invest in a quality external hard drive. These can easily be found online. I would recommend starting with Amazon or Best Buy. The price will depend on how much storage you purchase. Purchasing drives with more storage will cost more upfront but will last longer. My favorite external hard drive is the Lacie rugged hard drive, and I found that 1 terabyte gives me plenty of room for years worth of phone images.
External hard drives, in case you are not familiar with them, are small and easy to store. They plug into your computer via a USB. Word to the wise - when you purchase your external hard drive, go ahead and purchase 2! Back your photo folders up onto both drives and sleep peacefully knowing they are safe and sound.
Purchasing cloud storage is another option you might consider. Personally, I like to have my photos on 2 external drives and if I use back up to the cloud it ends up being my third backup. Right now, our personal family photos are backed up to the cloud using Amazon Photos. It automatically backs up all the photos I take with my cellphone in real time, so I never have to remember to manually go in and save them. Its a lifesaver!
Step Six
Printing
I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t advocating the value of printed photos, and I would be lying if I said this only applies to your professional photos. Printed photos are a treasure that we can leave to our children. Let’s not leave them a giant mess of digital photos, but a thoughtfully curated collection of our most special memories.
I suggest purchasing a special storage box where you will keep your printed photos. You can opt for something fancy and beautiful, or stick to the basics, but be sure the box is airtight as this will improve the longevity of your photos. Then choose which photos to print. This is the time to be VERY selective.
Choose a number that seems reasonable to you and stick to it. For me, choosing 25-50 photos per year lands me with a fairly sizeable collection over the years, but still feels doable.
In my business, I utilize industry leading printers, but with cell phone photos, choosing something a bit more economical makes sense. I have used Nations Photo Lab, and MPIX in the past with good results. Don’t expect perfection. The point is, we are printing our favorite family snapshots, and they are being set free from digital prison! This is a huge accomplishment in today's high-tech world. Pat yourself on the back at this point and don’t stress too much about which printer you choose.
Step Seven
Keep Up the Good Work!
Now that you have successfully curated, organized, and backed up your photos, go ahead and delete what is remaining on your phone. Start fresh and give your phone a huge boost in performance! Maintaining the system is easy. Remember to take less but more thoughtful photos. Every month, comb through your photos and move the keepers onto your external hard drives and/or the cloud. When you come across a photo that is an absolute gem, print it! Write on the back of it in your own handwriting the way your grandmother used to. Place it in a special box of printed photos - only the very best and most special memories will be kept there, and I promise you will visit this box time and time again, and so will your children.
