On your computer there lives a My Pictures folder that can house your photos, cryptically labeled by date or other arcane method. A good start for organizing perhaps but there are a whole range of software programs that exist to make photo labeling, editing and sharing a lot easier, and maybe even fun.
Picasa from Google, and Mac's iPhoto, are two options. Both do the heavy lifting of scanning your computer for all your photos and organizing them into categories. Both offer easy-to-use editing tools. Both help you share, print and create display items (photo books, collages, etc.).
Do some research, read up on software options, download the one you like and start uploading your photos.
Your new mantra…”no more mindless uploading of photos”. From now on, you’ll give a name to each photo you import and create a folder named appropriately where your photos will live.
For photos already sitting on your hard drive, start renaming! Spend time labeling your pictures with the date and a description (YYYYMMDD-subject). This is a good time to do a little editing. Eliminate any really crummy pix or photos with redundant subjects. As you add photos, be consistent in naming them.
Name the folders first with the year, then month, When you name folders numerically, they’ll always stay in date order in your directory tree.
Most programs allow you to group your photos in a variety of collections, so you don’t have to choose faces or places or folders, you can — and should — group them all three ways. All the better for later searches: “Now where is that photo of Claire at the top of El Capitan from our 2007 Yosemite trip?” Search for “Claire” (faces) “Yosemite” (places) and/or “2007” (dated folder).
Now that you’ve got a handle on all the great photos in your possession share them with the world!
Contact Home Video Studio Portland and we can create a Keepsake Video with music titles and even video or old 8mm film to share them with friends and family.
Flag your favorites –those worthy of enlarging, framing or otherwise showcasing. But before you wholesale order all your favorites as prints, decide what you’ll do with them once they arrive in tangible form.
If you’ve got frames and wall space in mind, print accordingly. Photo books are great but caution this could lead to a serious scrap booking addiction I am told.
Now call Home Video Studio for back up and Archival services.
