Protecting Your Photos

Well, I almost learned a lesson a few weeks ago when I accidently deleted all my twins' birthday photos off my camera card. I did however find a free recovery program and got all of them back. This got me thinking though, even though the photos are on my computers, doesn't make them safe. Here's a few things I learned when researching about organizing digital and physical photos...

• get into the habit of uploading your photos once a week or once a month.
  
• organize digital photos on your computer into folders labeled with when and what they were taken of.
  
• save images to either an online photo storage/sharing site or an external device. we have an external hard drive to store all our important items on for when we evacuate for hurricanes, but i found a 4gb flash drive that i store all my photos on. there is also a device called a picture keeper that will automatically update and save your new photos every time you plug it in to your computer! it comes in 2 sizes: 8gb and 16gb
• or store them on a rewritable dvd. don't forget to label the dvds too!

protecting your prints:

• only use acid-free, archival paper, books and boxes to store your photos in.
• use a sketchbook for a photo album. arrange them as you like and label them as you go!
• use an acid-free, archival pen to label the back of each photo with the date, people's names and where you were when the photo was taken. you think you'll remember, but chances are, 25 yrs down the line, you won't!!!
• scan old photos. scan them in and make a digital copy in case old photos deterirate.

remember, not every photo is priceless. weed thru digital photos and delete bad pictures to make more memory room. throw away bad prints also. why keep a photo if everyone's heads are chopped off and there's part of the floor? who wants to see that one???

also, keep your system simple! you are more likely to stick to it if it's an easy process. sort prints by year, month and event in photo boxes. store digitals the same way in folders on your computer. each time you upload off your camera card, make a new folder for them first! then the job is done!

send multiple copies of prints to friends or family. be sure to label what they are and surprise them in the mail!

display photos of loved ones and places! some great ideas are making a wall of photos all with the same frames, hang a bulletin board and change them out regularly, use a bamboo roller blind and slip photos in between slats and hang it on the wall. use your imagination and you'll enjoy your photos all the time!

one other thing i've learned is to write down the stories! i used to love to visit my grandmother and hear all the stories that went with all of her old photos. now that she's gone, i can't remember all of them or who some of the people are in the photos. i wish now that i would have written it all down for my kids.

scrapbooking...when my daughter was born, i started scrapbooking every photo of her. then along came my twins and all that stopped! they are 5 now and i just now feel like i would have time to pull it all out again. scrapbooking has become so popular these days, that you can find supplies just about anywhere! they have full scrapbooking stores to stuff at craft stores and discount stores to the dollar stores even! it's a fun way to let kids help you with photos too!

just be sure to make your photos safe! i would hate to have lost those birthday party pictures and not been able to get them back! here's the link to the free recovery program just in case you need it! http://www.snapfiles.com/get/mjmphotorecovery.html