01 Sep 3 Steps to Conquering Photo Overwhelm
Do you have photos everywhere? Has your mom or your aunt passed along her photos to you, to add to your collection? Are you overwhelmed? Find out the answers to these and other questions during Save Your Photos Month!
Step One
The first step in getting order from the photo chaos is to list all the places where photos are hiding. These hiding places include: photo boxes, albums, frames, old computers, old phones, cloud services, your cousin’s house. Eventually, you will need to get all the photos in once place. Initially, making a list is a good start.
Step Two
Creating a photo plan is the next step. Think about what is important to you in preserving the photos. What does success look like to you?
Photographs are so personal, there is no one answer that will work for everyone. Some people want to have their entire photo collection saved by scanning. Some prefer to look through the pictures to curate them. Curating means that they go through the pictures, throwing out duplicates and near-duplicates, blurry pictures, pictures with people’s heads cut off, and pictures of landscapes that are no longer meaningful.
That still leaves a lot of pictures! Understanding what is important to you will help you curate the pictures further.
If you were told that you could keep only 100 pictures, which ones would you keep? Perhaps life events such as birthdays, baptisms, weddings, bar mitzvahs. Maybe some of the portraits, especially if you have portraits of the same person over time – from childhood to old age. School pictures are a very good example.
Sorting and curating photos could be a daunting task! If you need help or guidance, you could sign up for any of the many courses offered for free at www.SaveYourPhotos.org or contact PreciousMemories at www.PreciousMemsPhoto.com/Contact.
Step Three
The most fun part of a photo project is capturing the family stories and bringing the pictures back to life!
At the next family gathering you could bring a few pictures and have family members comment on them. When were the pictures taken? Who is in the picture? What was the occasion? What other memories are stirred up by these pictures?
If your family is far-flung, like mine is, you could set up a Zoom session and record the session. The comments could then be transcribed.
The information could be stored with the scanned images, in the metadata, or written (very carefully) on the back of the photos. Another option is to create a photo book with the pictures and the story next to it. What a wonderful gift idea!
Your photos are both your history and your legacy. It’s important to save your photos, so the next generations could understand their history.
If you have questions or need guidance, please contact amira@PreciousMemsPhoto.com
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