Polaroids, disposable cameras with 25 frames, and the latest film cameras of the 90’s gave people the ability to capture moments mostly from family vacations, birthdays, and holidays.
In contrast, it no longer is required to have a special occasion to bring out the camera. A new parent will have 100’s of photos of babies first nap, first smile, first poop face, baby napping again, baby with new toy, baby with doggie, baby chewing on doggie, baby… you get the drift.
Now comes the question, what do I do with 4 gigs of pictures worth of Tommy’s first tooth fairy visit? Here are a couple of helpful tips:
1. Edit - If you have tons of images from the same event, delete the bad ones and keep the ones that truly speak to you, or tell the story the best. To this day, my mother has a drawer full of all the best photographs of my childhood, but they are jumbled up with an overwhelming amount underexposed, blurry, and meaningless pictures that we never attempt mess with them because we don’t want to sort through the mess. It’s ok to edit out the ones you don’t like.
2. Make a back up – Photos can take up a lot of space on a much needed hard drive. Burn a copy of your pics to a dvd and also put them on your backup hard drive. Remember, the better you organize the files, the better off you are!
3. Make prints – I know, it seems so 1900’s, but facebook should not be your only family album. Out of the 100 pictures of you and your family at the lake, edit them down, then print the top 10 favorites and put them in an album. It makes for great conversations that can be centered around the coffee table with a lot of people, instead of around a computer with a couple of people.
4. Make a children’s album with your professional portraits – I have never had a parent tell me that they regret buying multiple prints of their family from a photo shoot. What I do hear is, “What am I supposed to do with all the ones from the last session?”. I recommend a childrens album. Put your portraits on your wall, or in your personal album. Then, take the duplicates and put them another album to give your kids when they head out on their own. This is the only way that I personally have been able to have photos of my family and childhood in my own home. Momma will not give up her portraits, but she will share if she has a duplicate. (Thanks mom!)
In the mean time, enjoy the technology of the modern day cameras and try not to get too overloaded!
Happy clicking!
need of getting her family photographed, or at least getting someone to do some children’s portraits for her kids. With buying a package like this, not only will her needs be met, but the money she spent will be donated to the