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.

Downsizing Your Digital Photos

You’ve got your photos off your camera and organized in folders or in your software. Now you’re working on an album, a display, or some photo project. Now is the time to be in the editing stage, when you’re choosing which you’ll include in that project. There’s no sense editing photos you’re not going to use, right? While you’re correcting red eye, cropping, cloning and such, you may as well edit down, or downsize, the number of photos you have.

Downsizing will do two things. Reducing the number of images you have will save space on your hard drive. Deleting from your library will also save time, because you—and all your peeps—will have fewer bad shots to pour through. You can spend your precious time better by enjoying the prize shots, yes? So let’s get to it.

We’ve always found it easier to downsize in retrospect, a while after the event. Or maybe you like to do it as soon as you take the picture and review it. The earlier the better.

Blurry shots: Blurry photos never get less blurry. These aren’t fun for anyone to look at—why make someone dizzy?

Duplicates: How many photos of a battleship do I need? We try to pick out the best one to tell the story, preferably with someone in the shot to give perspective and interest. All other duplicates…delete! 

Bad shots. While you’re looking for the best photos of your event, it’s easy to pick out the ones you don’t want—those with facial expressions askew, eyes closed, heads turned, etc. You’ll want to delete those. It’s like the rule for clutter: look at and put it where it belongs, handling only once. In this case, it belongs in the trash. Exception: The bad shot may have the one good expression of a subject, and you may want to clone that face from the bad shot to the better one. In that case, keep the photo but delete other less-than-stellar shots.

Meaningless shots. In hindsight, you may wonder why you took the picture of that tiny stream. Or the butterfly whose wings you can’t see. Scenic shots are fine, but many lose meaning after the picture was taken. Again, if the photo doesn’t help tell the story of the event, delete.

Protecting and Preserving Your Precious Memories

Preserving our memories properly is a major part of organizing many homes. All of us have items that have sentimental value to all of us but may not mean anything to anyone else. Photographs and paper mementos can be both a treasure and a burden for us. I’m all in favor of preserving these precious family treasures, but it is unfortunate when they get damaged because they were thrown too quickly into a cardboard box or shoved onto a free space on a shelf in the basement. If you’re going to save these items, it’s important to treat them as the treasures they are, or they will appear to have the same value as all of the other items you threw into a box to clear your kitchen counter or dining room table before company comes over!

There are several factors that can contribute to the deterioration of photos and mementos. Humidity, temperature, and sunlight are all environmental factors that can cause damage. In addition, rapid temperature changes, such as humidity followed by cold weather can cause cracking and ruin the image in photos. This is especially true in basements and attics where temperatures can fluctuate. Other things that damage photos are dirt, dust, and oil. Your photos can stick together, curl, or get moldy in damp environments. Insects and rodents can also tear away at paperwork. That all said, attics and basements are not the best locations for storing precious documents.

Your keepsakes should be stored in a place with consistent temperatures of 65 to 70 degrees and a humidity level of no more than 50%. Not all homes can maintain such consistent climate control, especially those without air conditioning. If this is the case, safety deposit boxes can be a safe solution for valuable papers and photos if another option is needed.  When storing your photos, it is best not to keep the negatives with the photos. Just in case something happens, you will have the opportunity to re-print the photos if they are stored in two different locations. Ideally, your photos should be scanned as well and backed up on your computer as well as cloud storage and CDs.

When making decisions to display valuable papers or photos in your home, think about making a copy and keeping the original in storage. Sunlight will slowly fade the photograph. In addition, glass will sometimes stick to the photo in the picture frame. To be safe, make a high-quality photocopy to ensure the preservation of the original.

It’s also important to never write on the backs of photos with ball point pens or use anything acidic. Acids can break down the photos over time and destroy the image. If a document or photo needs special protection, consider wrapping it in acid free tissue or paper to protect it from environmental elements. You should avoid using plastic bags, storage containers, or non-acid-free photo boxes. It may be tempting to use these means of storage because they are inexpensive and available everywhere, but they will not protect your papers and photos in the long run. Use only lignin-free, acid-free, buffered paper for photos and papers. These products can also be used in-between pages in photo albums. Use only PVC free plastics such as polyester, mylar, polypropylene, polyethelyne, and Tyvek.

These are just a few suggestions about how to preserve your precious memories. You made the decision to keep the papers and photos, so be sure to store and preserve them in a way that you and future generations will be able to enjoy them for years to come!

Are your memories going to last?

In this digital age, it’s easy to capture and store countless images on our computers, phones, tablets etc.   However, a growing collection of digital photos, scattered throughout our multiple devices, may seem overwhelming to organize.  What’s a memory keeper to do…? Make a plan! 


Wait…  why should I organize?, you might ask. After all, it’s time consuming and a lot of work. We take pictures to document our lives and to tell our stories. It’s a struggle to share those stories if they can’t be easily and quickly accessed and we want them to live forever.

 

 

“People are used to the idea of having old family pictures from 50 or 100 years ago or more. There will be VERY FEW surviving family pictures from this decade or 1990′s in the year 2100. Many more pictures will survive from 1920 than from 1980.” ~Christopher G. Mullin, Special Collections, Mansfield Library, The University of Montana

Wouldn’t it feel great knowing that our photos (our memories and stories) are safe and accessible?  Not only for ourselves, but for future generations?  Don't let your children grow up to be jpegs!!

Your story to share!

People love stories. Every successful speaker keeps you on the edge of your seat as they tell their story.  You are connected, engaged, you can relate to what they are saying.  While telling their story they are slipping in nuggets of information and you find yourself taking notes and excitement fills the room.  There is laughter, sometimes tears, but you are present the whole time.

Telling stories with your photos can evoke the same set of emotions.





Take this photo for example. This is photo of my dad singing to his granddaughter about 1 year before he passed.

At the time, we did not know how ill he was and that we would only have a short time with him.  Luckily, not only do we have a photo, my sister also took a video of this precious family memory.

My challenge to all of you:

1. Locate a shoebox of photos (I know you have them) and pull out a half dozen or so photos.
2. Look at the details: objects in the background, hairstyles, fashion, expressions
3. Write down what you feel – just a couple sentences about the photo.  There is no right or wrong…it is your story about your photo.
4. Share with family or friends – you will be pleasantly surprised at how many people will enjoy your unique perspective on your photos.

Journaling Heritage Photos

Telling the story of a heritage photo is probably the most difficult. What exactly is a heritage photo anyway? Old....really old. These photos are especially important as our children are growing up. That dreaded year of elementary school is bound to come. Your child will arrive home and say, “I have to draw a family tree.

Now, let me just say that my mom's family, had a very interesting history.  I've just recently discovered that the first boat sank that was bringing my grandmother and her three children to Canada.  Luckily, they were rescue by another boat because my mom was still just a twinkle in my grandfather's eye.  Unfortunatey my grandfather was only told that the boat sank and was not aware that his wife and children were still alive until they arrived in Canada.  I can only imagine his thoughts and feelings during this time, from deep sorrow to overwhelming joy...and of course, wonderful surprise.

Well, you didn’t live with those ancestors from generations ago, and neither did your kids...maybe even your parents didn’t live with them. Those ancestors have the core traditions and background that your children will be looking for as they mature and look for their own identity. You can piece together the stories of these generations-ago family members, but you’ll need your spyglass and pipe! Not really, but you will need tenacity. Pull as many pictures together as possible. You’ll want to refer to them collectively, yet sort them by era (use people in the pictures or backgrounds to help determine the facts of the picture). If you’ve been blessed by another family member with a collection of already proven facts, use those as a reference for building on for the unknown stories of these pictures.

Record the facts as best you can. Talk to living relatives about the pictures. Ask questions about the people in the pictures, locations, and anything they may have been told by their parents or grandparents about those people and places. Ask especially about how events were celebrated or marked within the family. Did they graduate from college? High school? Did your mom grow up in a Hutterite community in Alberta and later leave this community when she was 18 years old with her older sister? Oh, wait, that was my mom. Record this information so that you can keep it separate but put it with the picture later should you determine it holds merit.

Do I have a picture of my mom at 18, or the Hutterite community where she grew up? No. But the story is amazing and I want it recorded so my children, siblings, and friends can be amazed and inspired by what she did. So as you’re collecting information, recognize that those stories, even without a picture, can be as powerful as the photos you’re preserving. All the stories of your family are important to your family’s history. Remember, if you enjoyed hearing the story, future generations will too. Now...where is that picture of my mom and dad on their favourite beach in Jamaica?

I have a thousand old slides...what should I do with them?

Optimally, images should be in a form where they can be enjoyed, which is why an album of some sort (scrapbook, photo book, pocket-page album) is a recommended destination. Albums are easy to pull off the shelf and enjoy.

• Slides, unfortunately, require the proper equipment for viewing. If you have the slides but no way to project them, it’s time to consider converting them to digital as a back-up. Then, you can print out the images for a scrapbook or pocket-page album, create a photo book with the images, or put them on a DVD and view them on your TV.

If you don’t have a slide projector, or your projector lamp is burnt out, we can loan you a slide viewer. Viewing your slides really helps you to sort what slides you want to convert and what slides can be discarded.

Whether you use a projector or a viewer, make an appointment with a loved one and review each slide until you’ve gotten through your pile. Time has a funny way of changing things; some old images will no longer hold value for you. If that's the case, you might want to give the slide to someone who might value it or otherwise toss it in the trash. On the other hand, some images will be more important today than when they were taken; these are the images worth having scanned and converted to digital files.

Scanning slides is best left to a professional. The tiny images require special care, cleaning, lighting and resolution.  You will also soon discover when scanning slides, it will take you about 3 minutes per slide to get a good quality image. Multiple that by 80 slides per tray equals 4 hours for 1 tray.

We do offer a slide scanning service at the reasonable price of 30 cents per slide. If you have a large amount of slides, we also offer a large volume discount. Not only can we save you time, it will also save you the trouble of buying scanning equipment, learning how to use it, and possibly destroying your slides in the process.

Once you’ve backed up your meaningful slides, store them like photographs: in a dark, cool, low-humidity place in your home separate from the digital files and the prints or albums.