Photos and Digital Hoarding: A Growing Problem

I recently read an article on digital hoarding.  It was definitely eye opening and it made me realize that I am actually an email hoarder.  I have thousands of emails still sitting in my three in-boxes.  I haven't deleted them because whenever I go to do so, I stop myself, thinking I may need something in them down the road.  This is really not a good strategy.  Chances are I won't need anything in these emails and if I do, most likely I can find it on Google or ask for it to be re-sent.

I have a much easier time with photos.  Maybe it's because I've been in the industry for many years.  There are lots of photos we take that we really don't need.  With digital, we can take 100 pictures of the beautiful sunset on our Hawaiian vacation.  But really we could probably do with one or two of those, and delete the rest.  Those other 98 are taking up space on your hard drive, cluttering your computer, and slowing your computer down.  Not only that, it slows you down too, because the more pictures you have, the more time it takes to find the one you need!  Multiply this by the extra pictures taken at your child's soccer game, family events, and everyday moments, and this can add up to a lot of extra photos clogging your computer!  When you download your pictures, do you go back and delete the photos you don't need?  Most people don't.

I actually go through the deleting process a second time in a lot of cases.  When I download my pictures (and I try to do it as soon as possible after the event), I go through and delete the ones I don't need immediately.  By doing this, it's a quick and easy job versus something that becomes more overwhelming the more you let it pile up.  But I also take a lot of pictures that I share.  I don't need all those pictures, but I take them because I know how much other people appreciate them.  I upload them to a photosharing app and cloud storage app called Linea, and share them with the others from the event.  If anyone else at the event was taking pictures, they can also upload them to the same "Line" of photos, allowing everyone that was at the event to view all the photos in ONE place, add comments and captions, and export any of the photos they want back to their own computer in the same resolution that they were uploaded in.  Linea is a free app, and it works on PC and Mac, iPad, iPhone and Android.  I like this because everyone in my family uses something different.  Its also private and secure.  The only people that can see your photos are the ones you shared them with.  If, like me, you have a lot of photos to store, you may want to consider a subscription for unlimited cloud storage.   There are lots of other sites you can use to store your photos such as Dropbox, Carbonite, Flickr, Picasa, and more but I personally like the viewing mosaic and other features of Linea that I mentioned above.  But for the record, I am a Dropbox and SmugMug user too.

Once I've uploaded to Linea, sometimes I go back and delete other pictures I know I won't need.  For example, I take a lot of pictures for my kids' sports teams.  At a game, I might take hundreds of pictures.  Ultimately, I don't need all those pictures.  I really only need and want the ones of my own children.  So I go back and delete the others from my computer after the season is over and I've shared the photos.

My backup system consists of cloud storage for my photos, and an external hard drive for all of my files.  My photos are the one thing on my computer I'd be devastated about if I lost, so they're backed up in several different ways.  One thing to note when you are backing up everything to the cloud, make sure your photos are being backed up in full resolution.  In the last few weeks during my photo organizing seminars, twice I have run into people who have used cloud storage companies to back up their entire computer.  Unfortunately these two people had their computers crash and had to rely on the cloud storage company to retrieve their data.  In these particular cases, their photo files came back as thumbnails.  They weren't saved in the original resolution and so for all intensive purposes, these folks lost their photos, because you really can't do much with thumbnails.  Needless to say, they were devastated.  So, do your research when choosing a cloud storage option.  But, cloud storage should be part of your backup plan, regardless of who you use.

If you want to read more about digital hoarding, check out this article from the Wall Street Journal.  As for me, I think I am going to go clean out one of my in-boxes.  Maybe I will find it easier if I do it one in-box at a time!  What about you?  Are you a digital hoarder?

No Time Like the Present to Preserve Your Family's Memories

Photos tell our the stories of our lives.  Yet we are often are overwhelmed by our photo collections. Many of us have shoeboxes and drawers full of photos, we have digital pictures on our computers in various places, as well as CDs and DVDs, multiple memory cards, and home movies in formats we can no longer view.  Your family's history is important and should be preserved so you can enjoy it today and pass it along to future generations!  Here's some tips to help you get started.  

Find a system that works for you.  The ABC’s of Photo Organizing© are a great place to start.  This is a method taught by photo organizers from the Association of Personal Photo Organizers.  Your A’s are the photos that belong in albums.  They are personal and cherished.  B’s are photos that you don’t want to get rid of, but they don’t necessarily need to be in an album.  They should be organized for long term storage into an archival box, or backed up. The C’s can go into the can, either the garbage can or deleted on your computer.  These are the blurry, or unflattering photos, the duplicates, and the photos you simply don’t need, such as extra scenery photos or people you no longer remember.  The S stands for stories, and this is the most important part!  Your stories will be told in your albums alongside your A pictures.

Make sure you are storing your photos in a safe environment.  Photos should be stored in a cool dark place where there isn’t much fluctuation in the temperature.  You also want to avoid humidity and direct sunlight.  Attics, basements, and garages are NOT good storage spots!  In addition to where you store your photos, you should also consider what you store them in.  Make sure you are storing your photos in a photo safe environment and use reputable products.  You probably have noticed that photos that you have in those old magnetic albums have started to yellow or fade.  You’ll want to remove your pictures from those types of albums.

Scan your old photos.  If you’d like to have a digital copy of old photos, or would like to pass photos along to other family members, scanning is a great option.  You may find having a portable scanner like the Flip Pal that you can bring with you on the go is handy to have.  This is really useful when one family member has a photo that everyone wants, but doesn't want to "loan" it to you. 

Restore special photos.  You may have certain special photos you’d like to restore.  Perhaps they’ve faded, been torn, or even crumpled up.  There are many great types of photo editing software out there, but if you’re not comfortable doing it yourself, you can work with a service provider that offers photo restoration. 

Digitize old media.  With technology constantly changing, it’s an ongoing process to archive old media. Your old home movies can be converted to current technology, but keep in mind, as technology changes, you will need to change with it, which most likely will mean re-recording again at some point.  If you don’t want to invest in the equipment to do this yourself, there are many services that can handle this for you. 

Back it up.  I always recommend having at least three backups.  I use a cloud based storage system, an external hard drive, and I print my photos in photo books as well.  One of the great things about photo books is you can journal your stories alongside of your photos and you can order multiple copies for family members (and reprint if needed)!  I also print special photos that I want an extra copy of and store them in a photo safe box.  Having a printed copy is a great backup because a print can always be scanned and digitized.  While it may not be realistic to print all of your photos, you may want to consider printing your most important ones. 

Share your photos with family members through a cloud based service.  Before choosing cloud backup storage, make sure it offers the options that you are looking for.  Some things to consider: Your viewing and sharing options, how easy it is to get your photos back, and whether you and others can comment on the photos.  Linea is a new photosharing app that I am now using.  I really like the fact that anyone I share my “line” with can add photos to it, allowing me to keep all photos from a certain event in the same place even when multiple people are taking pictures.  Everyone can comment on them as well, which is helpful when you’ve uploaded old family photos in which you’re trying to identify people or learn the stories behind the photos.  

Preserve your family’s stories now.  Unfortunately stories get lost through the years.  Consider sitting with older relatives with a recorder and documenting their stories, or using one of the many journals out there with writing prompts.  Check out A Grandparent’s Legacy, by Thomas Nelson or other similar type of journals.  Do the same thing with treasured family recipes…if there is a handwritten version of the recipe, you may want to preserve that.  There’s always a story behind those special recipes!  Don’t forget to write down your own stories as you are going through this process…not only are your family stories important to your family now, they will be treasured by future generations!

What are you doing to make sure your memories are preserved for future generations?  We’d love to hear your suggestions!