Things that sit in your gut: how to get started organizing your photos
Do things ever just sit in your gut? That one thing that you know you need to do something about, but you put it off and put it off? Then you do it…and you wonder what took you so long?
This happens to me all. the. time.
My daughter studied abroad in the Fall of 2017. The thing she wanted most for Christmas that year was for me to create an album of her experience using her blog and the hundreds of photos she took. I wouldn’t exactly call it fear, but definitely this project sat in my gut for a really long time. It was a huge project that I knew would take hours that I didn’t think I had…but I promised. A full year later, that album arrived. I can honestly say it felt like a ton of bricks off my shoulders. Even better was the smile and the gratitude I got to experience when my daughter received it. Totally worth it! I now know that those 4 months that completely changed the way she sees the world will be preserved forever.
So many of my clients find their way to me because the weight of being the family memory keeper and the fear of losing their memories to technology failure is sitting in their gut. Over and over my clients have shared with me the relief they feel after just making the call and getting started.
So how do you get started?
1. Put together a plan. Break down your collection into 4 parts: digital photos, printed photos, old media (VHS tapes, film reels, slides), and memorabilia. Start with digital, as that is the area that is most susceptible to technology failure. Don’t try to do it all at once. Take it in pieces.
2. Set goals. If you don’t, it won’t get done. You know it.
3. Gather everything into one place. With digital, make a list of all of the places that your digital photos live (e.g. computers, phones, external hard drives, flashdrives, cloud services, CD/DVDs, social media) and gather them. The only way to effectively manage a digital collection is to have all of the photos in one location. With printed photos, get everything into one room. Here is an overview of the process I recently went through with my own family’s printed collection: Before and After…My Photo Organizing Project.
4. Establish a system or process you will use going forward. Once you get it organized, having a process that you will follow is a must if you want to maintain it.
If you need help, I’m here for ya. Or call another professional photo manager (https://thephotomanagers.com/) The tools and knowledge we have will definitely speed up the process and can get you unstuck. If you want a go at it yourself, there are tons of online resources, including our online course series, The Photo Organizing Blueprint.
Wishing you peace of mind and gut!
Holly Corbid is the Founder/Owner of Capture Your Photos, where we help you celebrate life, tell stories and touch hearts with your photos and videos. We specialize in digital photo organization and work remotely with clients all over the country.
Visit us at: www.captureyourphotos.com