Organising your Photos
by Rebecca Jordan
It's lovely to sit with a relaxing cuppa and pore over the photos of yesteryear and remember the fond moments you shared with those around you. Those memories are precious and so the photos become precious to us.
Unfortunately they can build up, take up space and become difficult to maintain if not stored immediately. Most of us end up putting them all away in a box until the time when we can get to it and the years roll by. When those boxes are pulled out, the idea of sorting them all is sometimes overwhelming and we put them away again for another time.
Should you be spring cleaning this year and wish to finally get them organised, here are some helpful ways to organise and store those beloved images.
Take your Time
This may be a big job for you depending upon how many photos you have so take it a step at a time. Don't expect to get through it all in one sitting. Organising a bit at a time is one step closer to completion each time you do it. Be realistic and pace yourself and you'll soon be organised and proud of your photo collection.
Sorting
Before touching your photos, decide what categories you'd like to sort them into. You may wish to sort them according to years, people, occasions or anything else you'd prefer. If you're like most people, you probably have boxes of them laying around so tackle one box at a time and work through them methodically.
You may wish to cut down on the number of photos you have. Many of us hang onto every single photo even though it's not necessary. Be a little critical and by that I mean judge the appeal and usability of every photo.
I recently discovered whilst doing this project myself that I even held onto photos where people had their backs to the camera and some were even fuzzy simply because they were of certain people even though I already had a load of photos of these particular people. It's a good idea to keep the best quality photos you have and discard extras. You will have the same fond memories from one or two that you will from 20 and it's less boring for others when looking through your albums to see different views of a person than pages of the same moment. Also keep in mind that photos are a sort of permanent memory of a person so make sure the photos you keep represent the event or person as you want it to be remembered.
Storage
There are many options available today for photos and the way you wish to store and display them.
Photo Albums and Scrapbooks - These traditional photo storage systems are still favoured today by many people. They allow you to sit and enjoy the images and share them with others when they visit. A large range of theme-orientated albums are available to suit the style of your home or the theme you wish to have for the photos so have fun creating a collection of crazy albums or you can choose to keep a theme running through all albums. Perhaps you wish to choose a particular album for each person you keep images of or the suit the timeframe that the contents cover eg…for photos from the 70's you may wish to choose an album with 70's theme artwork. Another option is to buy plain albums and cover them yourself. Wooden albums are also available so you could even paint or glue the fabric and accessories you'd like. For the glitzy 80's you may wish to glue tiny mirror squares to represent disco nights or perhaps crystals.
CD Scrapbooks - There is software available that allows you to create your very photo scrapbook from your images. Scan them in or use digital images, click a few buttons and 'voila!' you have a beautiful CD of memories that can have music added. This also makes a great gift idea.
Online Photo Albums - There are many free services provided for those who wish to have an online photo album. They are a great option for anyone who has family in another part of the country or the world. You can upload photos or videos and add comments etc. to them as you take them. This is a great option for the person who owns a digital camera, but you can also take your existing photos to a photo development store and have them scanned to disk ready for upload. If you own some photo software, you can easily remove redeye and other problems and even add some details to improve upon the photographs.
LCD Digital Photo Frame - LCD Digital photo frames stand alone on a table top and allow you to scan your photos and digitally upload them to the frame. They then run through each photo with a slideshow function thereby displaying a veritable album of photos in one frame - one at a time - while playing music. They can also play family videos and even come with a remote control and a choice of frame designs. They're a fabulous and space efficient way of storing your images. When they first were released several years ago, they were priced at over $1000 but now you can pick one up for between around US$130 to US$500.
Maintain your System Once you've decided how you're going to sort and store your photos, make sure that you continue to add the new ones immediately and this will avoid having to spend the same long hours sorting later on. You will then be able to pull them out and enjoy them as often as you like and sharing them with others will be a proud, pleasurable moment.
Happy organizing!