Nike said it best: Just do it.
If you've got photo problems, I promise you that it's way past time to solve them. So let's just do it! You're just about to feel SO much better!
The biggest photo problems I hear people talk about are organization (including knowing where photos even are) and knowing what to do with them (store them digitally? preserve them in print?)
Today I'm going to teach you how to solve your photo problems once and for all in three do-able steps.
And, as a bonus, if you prefer, you can skip steps 1 and 2 and do everything at the same time in step 3--I'll help!
Step 1: Learn a Little About Photo Organization
With so many digital photos floating around these days, it can be easy to be overwhelmed, but it can also be easy to not even know where all your photos even are. You may have some on your phone, some older ones on a flash drive, and maybe some even print photos in boxes or old photo albums.
So, in order to solve your photo problems once and for all, learn a little about photo organization. Don't DO anything yet, just learn. Choose one of these videos to watch (or you're welcome to watch both).
This is part of the photo organization & preservation class I taught a couple of years ago. The main meat of the video is a little less than 30 minutes, but there's some additional Q&A recorded at the end as well which you can choose to skip or watch.
That video showed some basic tips and organizational tools for organizing on a computer, along with a lot of other resources. This is my favorite way to organize my photos in the cloud, not only because it's so simple (and has an app so I can access ALL my photos on my phone without having them actually saved there taking up space) but also because it's so unlike Google, Dropbox, etc., in terms of privacy, longevity, etc.
NOTE: I am a Forever affiliate (a decision I made because I love it so much), so you will find affiliate links in this post, from which I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you.
Step 2: Learn About Preserving Photos
Again, we're just learning here. We'll start doing in the next step.
The first thing to know here is that there's a difference between storing and preserving photos.
- During the summer, you might store winter clothes somewhere that's out of the way so that you can have access to them when you want them.
- To preserve something like a cell phone, you might put it in a protective case, keep it away from water, etc., so that it will last as long as possible while you're using it every day.
When you're talking about photos, you really want to do both. I think sometimes people assume that storing photos away somewhere in the cloud or on an external hard drive is preserving them. Not necessarily.
If they're shoved away in either a physical or a digital "box," they may be put away, but they're not kept alive.
Keep this in mind as you learn this advice from photo experts:
This advice is basically about not having all your proverbial eggs in one basket.
Experts recommend storing photos 2 ways digitally (one onsite [at home] and one offsite [in the cloud]). That way, if there's an emergency of any kind, from a fire to a simple water leak onto something electronic, you've got a backup.
Experts also say we should store our photos in print. I assume this is because technology changes, you don't have to have electricity or a full battery in order to look at your photos in a book, etc. But I believe that a book is the best way to preserve the memories behind the photo. Without the details of the photo, its value dramatically reduced!
Those photos, for example, mean nothing to you. They carry a lot of meaning to me and my family.
If you just have photos without details, your loved ones will look at your photos the same way you're looking at mine because they won't have any meaning behind them.
Next, learn all about preserving photos in 2 Digital Ways and 1 Print Way here.
Step 3: Get a Tribe at a Forever Gathering and Do What You've Learned with Your New Photo Circle
Now that you've learned about the two biggest photo problems out there, take what you've learned in steps 1 and 2 and identify your biggest memory-keeping problem. What do you need to tackle first? What is the biggest thing in your way?
And if "not knowing where to start" is your biggest problem, that's OK, too!
Grab a scrap of paper right now and write down your biggest problem. We're going to start there as we help you move to the doing part of solving your photo problems once and for all.
Anything that seems like a big task is made easier with a friend. Going on a daily walk or painting a room feels more do-able when you've got someone there doing it with you.
In almost 20 years now of coaching people on photo preservation and memory-keeping, I have learned that if you could do it on your own, you probably would have already done it. There is a lot of power in both getting some help and getting a tribe.
Here are 2 different options for you to consider here in this last step where you'll do what you've learned. #1 is geared toward just getting help and #2 more toward getting a tribe. Click each one for more information:
- Master Memory-Keeping in 8 Doable Steps and/or How to Start a Photo-Preserving and Memory-Keeping Habit in 10 Minutes a Day and/or attend a Forever Gathering.
- Get a personalized help with your biggest memory-keeping problem, and create a group you can work with moving forward at the same time. Email me your biggest memory-keeping problem, the one you wrote down on the paper, at photoandstorytreasures@gmail.com and think about people you know who have photo problems, too. Who do you know who would love getting some photo solutions, too? We'll meet at a Forever Gathering to learn tools, tips, and strategies, and then you'll have a Photo Circle you can meet with regularly on your own so you can keep doing what you've learned!
By the way, sometimes when I talk to people about "hosting" something, they start thinking about "parties" and "sales pitches." My Forever Gatherings are sales-pitch-free. Because: ew. (That's just not me.)
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