Your photos or your purse?

What would you do if you had to chose between theft of your photos or your purse? The items in your purse are going to be difficult to replace, your licence, credit cards but your photos could be gone forever. Technology is such a wonderful thing and is relied upon heavily this day in age.  Unfortunately, it has created additional issues.  Theft being a huge issue.  

Have you ever thought about what would happen if your computer or phone was stolen?  Let’s be honest technology is getting smaller, slimmer and lighter.  Did you know a laptop is stolen every 53 seconds?

What would you loose if your laptop was stolen?  If my laptop was stolen 5 years ago, I would have lost resumes and various other word documents which can be recreated.  I would have also lost 1000’s of pictures including wedding photos and family baby pictures which would have been gone forever.  

Technology can sometimes steal our precious moments as well.  Five years ago while on our honeymoon we had an unfortunate incident with an underwater camera, luckily it was the second day and there were not many photos on the card.  We were enjoying some snorkeling just before dinner and taking some amazing underwater photos.  My husband was exploring and taking photos and suddenly he comes up and says “ why is the screen foggy”?  Well, the screen was foggy because the lock on the camera was not closed properly.  Gone where all of our photos from the previous two days, and our opportunity to get amazing pictures when we were swimming with the dolphins the next day.  Luckily, we took a second camera with us and were able to catch all of the dry moments.

If my laptop, cell phone or tablet were stolen today I would loose apps, and music which can all be downloaded again.  But this time, I would also lost only 1 copy of my photos. I now have 3 copies of all of my photos, including photo prints of my favourite photos.  Yes, believe it print is your most reliable backup solution for your favourite and most precious memories.

Backup your photos in 3 places. Don’t let thieves or technology steal your memories!

Gone in a flash!

Life can happen in a flash and we need to be ready for whatever comes our way.  In June, we were blessed with a new little wonderful girl in our family.  She arrived 6 weeks early, so needless to say we were not ready for her.  Luckily with technology these days we had a camera in hand in the form of our cell phones to capture this amazing moment.  Unfortunately, as great as technology is these days it can also be a real let down. I couldn’t even tell you how many times I have dropped my cell phone. It’s just a matter of time before my cell phone goes for a swim or I get the spider app (cracked screen).  

Prior to having my daughter, pictures on my phone had not been really important.  For my important photos, I would bring my camera.  Of course, I planned to bring my camera for her delivery but that was the last thing on my mind during my ambulance ride to the hospital.  During our 10 day stay in the hospital, I snapped many photos of our beautiful baby girl with my phone. Suddenly my phone went on the fritz, so I was in a panic trying to get the photos off my phone so I wouldn’t lose those exciting, wonderful and tender moments of my daughter’s first few days forever.

After having our daughter and almost losing the photos on my phone, I realized how precious moments can arrive when you least expect them but also depart in a flash just as fast. Now I snap photos during every waking (sometimes sleeping) moment of my little girl’s life. I never want to have that photo panic feeling again, so I now have an easy and effective backup system for my treasured photos. I now have photo peace and it is wonderful!

Gift of a Lifetime!

Do you sometimes feel like it’s the most wonderful time of the year…and the most stressful!    While the joy of giving is certainly enough incentive to keep us going, finding just the right presents can be a lot of work.

Buying a gift for a parent can often be the hardest gift to buy.  Parents no longer "need" things and if they "want" something, they often just buy it for themselves.  This is in fact what happened this year in our family.  My kids had a great gift idea for me this Christmas, so they went out and purchased the item in October...they were planning ahead.  To their dismay, I went out and purchased the same item for myself in November.  Needless to say,  I now have a strict "no personal purchases before Christmas" order from my family.  

So what is something that I can't buy at my favourite store.... my family memories!  I suspect that most parents have boxes and boxes of old photos, slides, tapes and film just gathering dust.  Just imagine the tears of joy in your parents eyes if you could give them the "Gift of a Lifetime".... their lifetime, in fact.

You might want to start with something very simple, like getting older photo or slides scanned and put onto a digital frame or have photo DVD created.   If you are short on time or you don't know where to start, we offer gift certificates and package deals that can also be used after Christmas.

Your biggest hurtle might be trying to sneak the photos out of your parents home to create this treasured gift.

Happy Shopping!

No Strangers Allowed

Our life story.  Have you thought about your life story?  Everyone has a life story, some are shorter than others but still filled with wonderful memories. 

Photos are a fabulous place to review and enjoy those life moments again.  But what happens when your photo collection contains photos of people that only your late grandmother knew their names and family connections?  I’ve seen many nameless faces in photo frames and albums in my local antique store. 

When I look at these lovely unwanted and unloved photos, I’m troubled over the loss of their life story. I wonder where do they belong, will their life story be missed, why did they have this photo taken, did they spend hours getting ready for the photo, was the photo taken in their home or did they travel to another town hours away or did they pinch their pennies and save their money so that they could afford this photo? Did they ever image that their treasured photo would be forgotten and discarded in a pile of vintage memorabilia and that they would become the stranger in the box?

The Strangers in the Box

Come, look with me inside this drawer
In this box I've often seen
At the pictures, black and white
Faces proud, still and serene.

I wish I knew the people
These strangers in the box
Their names and all their memories
Are lost among the socks.

I wonder what their lives were like,
How did they spend their days?
What about their special times?
I'll never know their ways.

If only someone would have taken time,
To tell who, what, and when,
Those faces of my heritage
Would come to life again.

Could this become the fate
Of the pictures we take today?
The faces and the memories
Someday to be tossed away.

Make time to save your pictures
Seize the opportunity when it knocks
Or someday you and yours could be
The strangers in the box.

 Author: Pam Harazim

Come and join us on Sept 26^th for tips and information on how to avoid the Strange in the Box syndrome from afflicting your family. 

www.saveyourphotosday.com

Save Your Photos Day - Sept 26th, 2015

Did you know there is an International Save Your Photos Day?

Sept 26th 10am until 4pm;
Badenoch Community Centre
Puslinch, ON

Probably not because this is only the second year for this annual event. It is supported by the Save Your Photos Alliance.

About Save Your Photos Day
This international event is for people who love their photos and appreciate the fact that photos tell our stories and that every life story is worth preserving and sharing.

Photography has changed so much lately with so many additional challenges.  The reasons why we take photos today has not changed but the number of photos we take has increased significantly.  People are feeling overwhelmed, not only with their wealth of digital photos but also with their print photos, slides, VHS and camcorder tapes and film reels that are hiding in their closet or they have inherited.

Save Your Photos Day was started as a way to provide education and tools to help people organize, preserve, share, restored and protect their treasured memories from (heaven forbid) unforeseen loss from large and small accidents, fire, floods, computer crashes, etc.

Event Details
Our event is being held on Sept 26th, admission is free and it begins at 10am and ends at 4pm at the Badenoch Community Centre in Puslinch, ON.  We have numerous guest speakers who are experts in their field, plus free photo scanning, free kids portraits and more.  Keep watching for more blog updates over the next few weeks.

So stay tuned for more Save Your Photos Day info! 

If you are unable to attend our event, 

you can check out the Save Your Photos Alliance website at

www.saveyourphotos.org for additional locations.

Click Away!

Memories aren’t quite as clear with candid shots. Sometimes friends and family don’t even realize we’ve taken the picture until they see it in print or uploaded to Facebook.

What they don’t realize is that we didn’t take “that picture,” we captured the moment.

Some pictures are like a yearbook; they serve a purpose. They record the facts. They are proof of a birthday, a grand opening, a holiday dinner, or graduation. So they serve a purpose and it’s important to take those pictures and record the events of our lives.

But the candid shots…that’s where we live.

In the candid shots of our families we see the laughter, the teasing, the struggle, and the triumph of our lives. The candid shots hold the details of who we are. Simply by capturing these moments, you tell a deeper, more complete story of the members of your family.

So, click away! Capture a moment while the family tries to organize themselves for a group photo. Get the shot of the kids all sitting on the couch playing video games... Snap away and forever record the little moments in between the big events in the lives of your family so future generations will truly know their lineage.

Downsizing Your Parent’s Photos

Back in the day, our parents purchased a roll of film, loaded their cameras, shot the pictures, and had them developed. Then, they would go home and pop the photos into those horrible “glue back” photo albums, but at least they got into an album.

There are two problems with the scenario above:

1. ALL of the photos went into an album, not just the ones that told the story. The blurry ones, bad ones, and the seemingly random photos that don't tell a story are there, too. Many of them are cluttering up the BEST of your family’s memories.

2. More than likely, the photos in the albums are the only ones that exist. This poses a problem because most families have more than one child.

So what are you to do? Below are some suggestions on how to go about downsizing your parents' photos:

• First of all, get the photos out of those “glue back” albums if they are in that type of album. (Keep them in the same order that they were in the album).
• Once each album is empty, go through the photos one at a time. Discard any photo that is blurry, bad, or simply does not tell a story. For example: landscape pictures are usually boring when no human is there to liven it up. GET RID OF THESE PICTURES! If you choose, keep only a few of the best. This process is referred to as the sorting process. We suggest you sort after each album is emptied so that you don’t get too far ahead of yourself. By doing it this way, you can keep control of the large project at hand. We’d like to add, that you can also make piles of photos to give to extended family members and friends. Sometimes, as time passes, it’s easy to let go of those photos.
• Now you have a decision to make. Will your next step be to sort the photos chronologically or by theme? If chronologically, just keep the photos in order and store them in a photo safe box until you are ready to tackle the next album. If by theme, when going through the remaining photos, try to determine in what category the photo belongs. For example: Vacations, Holidays, School Years, Sports, Birthdays, etc… If you have multiple siblings, you may also sort by sibling and then into each of those categories.

• Once you’ve emptied all of the albums, go around the house and collect any lingering photos that might be in drawers, boxes, etc… Go through the same process of sorting and discarding with these pictures as well.

We hope the information above has helped you to devise a process for downsizing your parents' photos. The most important thing is not to feel guilty about throwing away the bad pictures. In our parents' day, they kept every picture they developed. They did not have the luxury of deleting an image right from their cameras.

Good luck! If downsizing your parents photos is something you have a desire to do but not the time, please consider hiring a professional photo organizer  to tackle the project for you.