|
|
|
How to organise and keep track of your photos
by one super organised mum, Linda G.
The digital revolution is fantastic – but it can be hard to keep on top of the volume of photos. The fact that you can see what you’ve taken and keep taking the same shot until you’re happy with it just increases the volume!
I have a 4 month old and although I loved photos before she came along, since having her I’ve gone crazy. I think in the first month I took over 400 photos. Being a hoarder of photos it took all my strength to cull any and needless to say I ended up filling my first album very quickly. Since then I’ve slowed down a bit and become braver with the delete function. I’ve also developed some good systems to manage my collection – here’s how I do it...
Negatives / Film
I’ve kept them in their strips and stuck labels on each one with a brief description of what they are – eg “Family Christmas 2006” – so that there is a quick reference. I’ve put them all in a small box (a shoe box is perfect) near my albums so they stay together and don’t get lost.
CDs burnt from developed film
I used this option a lot when I had a film camera – I’d get films developed but also pay for them to be burnt onto disk. Needless to say I ended up with a lot of disks filled with all sorts of photos, not labelled in any particular order.
When I went digital, I copied all those images from every disk onto my PC prior to starting my archive system (read more on that below). This way I could throw away the 20 or so CDs I had and burn everything onto one DVD later. Much less space needed and of course all nicely labelled and archived.
PC Organisation
This is the key to being able to stay on top of it. You have to decide how you’re going to work it, and stick to it. Otherwise the system falls apart and you’re not sure what you’ve printed, what’s been archived etc. The other thing to be diligent with is updating your system regularly. Otherwise the number of photos keeps building up to a point where it’s too daunting to know where to start. I usually spend a couple of hours every two weeks downloading everything off my cameras, naming them and organising them into their folders. I then print a batch monthly.
I’ve created a folder called ‘Pictures’, which has two sub folders: ‘To Print’ and ‘To Archive’.
‘To Print’: This is where I keep all the images I want to print. I generally wait until I have around 50-100 before I print them but that’s something you can decide on. (See printing options below). The important thing to remember is to only keep one copy of every image. So once you’ve printed and received the images, this is when you move them to your archived folders. Having more than one of each image just gets very confusing.
Deciding on which images to print is a very individual process. The key is to really look at each photo and how it makes you feel. If it evokes a memory, makes you smile or feel emotional, captures a moment or anything like that, it’s a good one to get printed and put in a frame or album so it’s readily on-hand.
‘To Archive’: in this folder I have lots of sub folders grouped into friends and family. For example, I have a folder for my family photos and I have a folder for my husband’s family photos. Within the Friends folder I then have sub folders by individual families. If there is a special occasion I also create a new folder. Here’s an example:
To Archive
Family
- Bennetts
- Greens
- Mums 60th
- Joes Christening
Friends
- Curnows
- Smiths
- Jones
- Murphy
So once you’ve printed the ones you want, move them into their respective folders. This is where you keep the ones you want to archive but not print.
File Naming
This is very time consuming for me because I’m so particular about it. There are plenty of different ways to do this but for me I remember looking at albums my Mum has from when she’s little and the thing you always want to know is who it’s of (hence grouped by folder into families) and the date it was taken. So this is how I name my images, by date.
If your camera is anything like mine, it downloads automatically into a folder of the date taken. This makes it much easier to name them, but if yours doesn’t do this then even just by month would be enough if you can’t remember. The naming convention I use is ‘041207_01’. This is the day / month / year followed by the image number (which isn’t of significance, but just differentiates files). This means right clicking on each file and renaming it. It’s time-consuming but I know I’ll appreciate it in the future.
Printing
There are lots of options when it comes to printing. If money isn’t an issue, your local camera store doing a quick turnaround is the most convenient. But for those of us on a budget, there are other good options. My local Big W does 15c on a permanent basis, while Domayne and Harvey Norman do specials periodically of 15c and at other times are around 25c I believe. Some chemists can do them for these low prices too but these get sent away for around 24 hours.
An online option I’ve used is Snapfish (www.snapfish.com.au). This is also a great place for photo gifts as they do calendars, mouse mats, photo cards and heaps of other things. Their photos are 19c plus delivery. The bonus is you don’t have to leave your house. The downside is it is slow to upload to the site. You’re better off doing it in batches as you get photos you want to print so it doesn’t take forever to upload. However it works by saving “albums” so you can utilise it over weeks or months and just keep adding to the “album” until you’re ready to print them.
If you do use this method, still continue to keep a “To Print” folder and move them once you receive your order like I outlined.
Home printing is, of course, another option. I personally don’t do this as I don’t have a great printer. I’ve found in the past though that it’s slow and much more expensive when it comes to paper and toner.
Photo Albums
I have my albums in chronological order based on either family, friends or my own little family of three. A friend of mine has just bought 12 of the same album (hers are all black) and she’s organised them to be chronological by years. Almost like a life story. This way sure does look much neater on a book shelf than my haphazard ones, but I can’t quite fathom redoing them all at this point.
Displaying your photos
For a truly professional display, you can’t go past Angelface Image Displays. Being able to say they are your own photos when they look so fantastic is a proud moment. However for other display options it can depend a lot on your house. I’ve tried to stick to all the same type on the walls (all black frames or edges) so there’s uniformity. This makes it looks much neater and less chaotic.
The idea of one of the new digital frames really appeals to me. It means being able to view lots of photos without taking up all my wall space. I’m yet to invest in one but it’s definitely on my wish list.
Printing onto canvas can also look fantastic, although I recommend choosing the image carefully. They’re not cheap and it’s important to wait until you have a fantastic shot that really makes an impact. Don’t forget a nice close crop always works well (see “philly’s photo tips” for great image tips).
Backing up
Most of us have, at some point, lost information from a computer because of a malfunction. Now that we keep one of our most precious possessions on our PC, it’s important to keep them well protected. This means backing up regularly – I’d recommend monthly. I burn my “To Archive” folder to DVD (I usually make two copies to be sure) and then delete all the content from the PC and start the process again. Then make a nice neat cover slip for the DVD case labelled with the content and you’re protecting your cherished memories forever.
I hope these tips have been helpful. I’m a very organised person as it is, so I quite enjoy making sure everything is in order. However even if it’s not your cup of tea, I truly believe you’ll be thankful in the long run for taking the time now to ensure your photos are around forever.
|
|
|
