Family vacations, summer weddings and family reunions are in full swing, and the warm memories and envelopes of photographs are ever growing! You certainly intend to organize them -- but the boxes in the attic are full of intentions, and now the photograph CDs are being to pile up! What can you do to stop the madness?
Step 1: Decide why you are saving the photographs. My mother- in-law, for example, wants to ensure them for future generations, which means acid-free paper and detailed labeling. One of my clients, on the other hand, just wants to enjoy them now. She has an antique trunk full of loose photographs (with names and dates!) she uses to tell stories to her fascinated grandchildren.
Step 2: Don't set unreal expectations. Mary had a house full of photographs of her 18-month-old -- duplicates, in fact -- because she was always going to send them to her mother. But first she wanted to write a letter explaining the picture -- the birthday party, the trip to the zoo, or the first haircut. There wasn't time for that, so her mother hadn't seen a picture of her grandson in months, and Mary felt overwhelmed by her failure. Undoubtedly her mother would have been delighted to see the photos -- without the perfect narrative descriptions. If you are a working parent with active children, the best way to organize your photographs for now may be a shoebox in the front hall closet -- with the lid off, so you can get to it easily!
Step 3: Avoid tackling too much at one time. Dolly decided to organize 25 years of photos. She declared the living and dining room off-limits to her family -- and began making piles. In the midst of the project, old friends called to say they were in town. So Dolly quickly gathered up all her piles and stuffed them in a suitcase. Several years later they're still there! Begin organizing your photos by sorting them into major time blocks -- before kids, pre-school, elementary school, high school, college, for example. Put each category into a large container. Then take one container, and divide it into smaller categories -- by year, then by season, and finally by months. (Keep your old calendars. They can be a great resource to retrieve specific dates for major events!)
Step 4: Eliminate the unnecessary. The first candidates for the wastebasket are double exposures, pictures of the inside of your lens cap, and those shots you wonder why you took. You are also bound to find some photos that have little meaning to you, but could be special to someone else. Drop them in the mail to bring a smile to Aunt Amanda's face. As a birthday present for my 85- year-old grandmother, I took one photo of each of the members of her family, and one or two of each of the major events in her life and put it in one album. It was the first thing she shared with every visitor.
Step 5: Taming the Paper Tiger software to the Rescue! The beauty of using The Paper Tiger for taming your photos is its incredible flexibility! You can put a number on each photo (or photo holder) with keywords, dates, and a category for each one. Or, you can put a number of an entire packet of photos, and then use the keyword field to describe specific contents. This is a great way to solve the problem of the packet of Johnny's wedding photos that also contains a single photo of Jenny's new car. Organizing photo CDs with Paper Tiger is also a cinch. Just put a number on the CD and use the keywords to describe the contents. A keyword search on Johnny's wedding will instantly tell you where to find the portrait (on the wall in the hallway), the packet of photos (in the family room credenza) and the photo CD (in the CD box by the computer).
Bonus: Organizing photographs can be a great summer project to do with children of all ages!
? Barbara Hemphill is the author of Kiplinger's Taming the Paper Tiger at Work and Taming the Paper Tiger at Home and co-author of Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever. The mission of Hemphill Productivity Institute is to help individuals and organizations create and sustain a productive environment so they can accomplish their work and enjoy their lives. We do this by organizing space, information, and time. We can be reached at 800-427-0237 or at www.productiveenvironment.com
Digital SLR Camera or Digital single-lens reflex (SLR) camera is... Read More
So you recently bought a digital camera or perhaps your... Read More
The digital camera is not something of a magic box... Read More
The digital camera being a fantastic and technologically advanced device... Read More
Like most folks you have probably have organized and sorted... Read More
There is one simple technique any body can do to... Read More
Your lens is an essential element to good photographs. It's... Read More
A picture is worth a thousand words, so goes a... Read More
It's hard to find sometimes but it's making a resurgence,... Read More
You will need an underwater camera housing to keep your... Read More
How many people have pictures in a shoe box? In... Read More
So, you want to become a digital artist but paying... Read More
So you have this great digital camera and you've taken... Read More
Good wildlife camera equipment on safari can make the difference... Read More
Disposable wedding cameras (also called single-use cameras) will never replace... Read More
Last month we bought the Canon Powershot A80 online for... Read More
Being a professional digital photographer is a dream many people... Read More
PrefaceIn order to understand color management, it is important to... Read More
Purchasing any gift item for your child is a mind-numbing... Read More
Imagine being able to frame all your own photographs just... Read More
Panasonic is a world-renowned consumer electronics company today. Its digital... Read More
Infrared photography is sometimes placed on the outside edge of... Read More
Get a good face shot: Use Higher quality cameras at... Read More
The article given here was written for Adobe Photoshop 5,6,7,CS,... Read More
Using a tripod is essential when taking photos - and... Read More
There is a wide world of photography. It touches each... Read More
IntroductionModern cameras are highly automatic in operation. They have auto... Read More
There are many kinds of disposable cameras. All disposable cameras... Read More
Children are naturally photogenic. Ive worked in studios and children... Read More
The digital camera is essentially a computer-based device, whose core... Read More
Every device needs a driving force to operate, just as... Read More
One of the biggest debates in the photography world is... Read More
Photography with the aid of a digital camera is beyond... Read More
Candid photography is photography that focuses on spontaneity rather than... Read More
Here are examples of two basic videos you can create... Read More
Sometimes, usual photographs look so common and boring. Converting your... Read More
Imagine being able to frame all your own photographs just... Read More
Before you are able to take the kind of photos... Read More
These parameters are discussed at 2 levels: -Based on... Read More
You will need an underwater camera housing to keep your... Read More
The most important part of buying a digital camera is... Read More
The Vacation Season is fast approaching and naturally you will... Read More
One of the major problems of the larger cities of... Read More
If you think that digital cameras are for snapshots only,... Read More
Reflected Light Readings for Film and Digital ImagesIn order to... Read More
Why Pinhole Photography?It's fun. It's creative. It's educative about the... Read More
Infrared photography is sometimes placed on the outside edge of... Read More
So you have bought a camcorder and have shot some... Read More
For years I wondered how big the bucks were that... Read More
I've been practising wildlife photography on safari for over twenty... Read More
Photography |