My photos are EVERYWHERE!

Does this sound familiar? “I have photos everywhere…

…on old CDs, thumb drives, external hard drives, old computers and phones, in albums and scrapbooks, bins and boxes, closets and drawers, and then there is my Dropbox, Google Photos, and everything on iCloud...HELP, I am overwhelmed!"

With as many as 1 trillion photos taken every day, it’s no wonder we have a hard time keeping up with them.

Before you can start to organize your photos, you have to get them ALL into one place. During this first week of Save Your Photos Month, we will focus on gathering your photos. 

Even if you aren't ready to physically gather them, making a list is a useful first step, and you'll be more prepared when the time is right to embark on the organizing.

Let’s start by making a list of all the places you are storing your printed photos, slides, negatives, videos, and films. Include photo albums, framed photos, drawers or boxes or closets, or even storage units. Making a written list of everywhere you have photos and memories will create a checklist when you gather them.

Here are some of the places you might look -

FINDING DIGITAL PHOTOS

• Desktops/laptops/tablets

• Phones - current and old ones

• Cameras - is there a memory card inside?

• Memory cards (e.g. Compact Flash, SD, microSD, Memory Stick, etc.)

• Thumb drives

• External hard drives

• CDs and DVDs

• Email - photos included in emails to save?

• Photo cards/calendars

• Photo sharing websites (e.g. Flickr, Shutterfly, Snapfish, Photobucket, SmugMug, PictureTrail, Fokti, Imgur, Ipernity, jAlbum, Mylio)

• Photo retailer websites (e.g. Bartell Drugs, Costco, CVS, Walgreens, WalMart, Target, Sam’s Club)

• Family history websites (e.g. Ancestry, FamilySearch, MyHeritage, FindMyPast, FamilyArc, Geni, Treelines)

• Social media (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, LinkedIn)

• Cloud storage (e.g. iCloud, Google Photos, Dropbox, OneDrive, Amazon, pCloud, SpiderOak, SugarSync, OpenDrive, Zipcloud, MediaFire, Team Knowhow, Tresorit, Mega, Storj, Sync, JottaCloud, FlipDrive, JustCloud)

• Online backup (e.g. Backblaze, Carbonite, CrashPlan, iDrive, SOS Online Backup, Livedrive, ElephantDrive, Zoolz)

FINDING PRINT PHOTOS

• Check all rooms - closets, desks, storage bins, basement, attic, etc.

• Photo albums and photo books

• Professional photo packages (school, sports, headshots, events)

• Scrapbooks

• Framed photos

• Photo lab envelopes

• Slides

• Negatives

• Undeveloped film

• Other family members

• For a business - other departments, locations, etc.

FINDING MEMORABILIA

Consider other memorabilia you have collected and hold memories

• Home movies - VHS or MiniDV tapes, 8mm reels, etc.

• Audio cassettes

• Documents - family papers such as letters, wedding certificates, military records, etc.

• Journals, books, recipe collections - can be photographed in their entirety or sections

• Memorabilia - objects such as baby shoes, military medals, baseball cards, trophies, etc.

If this sounds like a lot of work, it is! But without starting here, you will never know where all of the memories stored in photos are found.

If you want help with this project, The Picture Org (anizer) can get you going on your way to an organized and enjoyable Family Photo Legacy! Contact us at https://thepictureorg.com/lets-get-started today!