Ring in GUILT-FREE photo fun in 2012!
Oh boy! Photo-scouting for 11 Favorite Smiles of 2011 challenge crystalized the reality that my e-photos are a royal mess. I have guilt to resolve, photos to tag, and loads of photos to delete!
DETAILS…
Join THE TEAM & I will email this icon, to place wherever you need a reminder.People I know are guilt-ridden for:
- not taking enough photos
- not editing photos
- not printing photos
- not organizing photos
If one of these is a source of frustration for you, join THE TEAM by emailing me (emma -at- snapstories -dot- com).
Make a commitment and check in, via email, everytime you work to implement your goal.
We will share a Google document that will list our stated photo goal & incremental progress. We can learn from each other, and monitor our own (and collective) progress. I can promise that this will be an intimate group, because Snap Stories & my voice/audience still has a small reach… That said, feel free to invite anyone you know who has voiced self-critique in managing their family’s photos.
Join any time during 2012, for each month you are actively participating and keeping up with your goal, your name will be added to a drawing for a FREE SNAP STORY! Anyone can join at any time, and if you check in with progress two times that month, you’ll be entered for that month. Of course, the bigger payoff will be resolving the guilt!
Below I’m listing some tips I’ve distilled from scouting around.
Shoot More.
Some of my absolute favorite photos are the ‘randoms’ taken on Any Day, USA (verses the birthday shots, the the photos with Santa, or the everyone-look-and-say-cheese shots). Plus, I feel more at ease peeking around the corner to snap my kids playing together, rather than trying to light the birthday cake, sing Happy Birthday AND get the right photo! Often, it’s the everyday moments that hold the real emotions you want to remember.
Keep Less.
It’s SO EASY to take digital photos. The hard part is figuring out which ones are worth keeping. To me, it almost feels disrespectful to DELETE even a digital photo that has my cute kiddos’ mug smiling back at me. I have to remind myself, “you have six great shots in that sequence. You don’t need all six! Pick your favorite and delete the rest.” It’s true, seeing just that one moment (verses all similar six ones) will do the emotional job of ‘bringing me back to that time & place.’
Print More.
What would bring more photo joy to your life? A few snapshots on the coffee table, or the dash board of your car? Maybe tucking a photo into your child’s lunchbox once in a while? Or your spouses suitcase when they go on a business trip? It takes just a few clicks to print from your phone or computer (or you could invest in an instant-print camera).
Organize All.
Better to start where you are, rather than at the beginning. When you get (or make) a little time, you can go back to other years. (It can be too daunting to go back and organize the photos from when your child was born, rather than today, when they’re 4 years old.) Create a folder for each year & month. Each download should be a new file, within the appropriate month folder, titled by theme (playdate with Williams, Tia’s visit, Joey’s 5th b-day, snowman+, etc.).
Save each month to a CD. Put the CD in a safe place or CD album WITH a printed out contact page of the photos on that CD.