"Sometimes you never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory."
Dr. Seuss
Hello to all our aspiring and masterful memory-keepers out there!
We thought we would start this blog with wisdom that comes from a man who has many quotes sprinkled on the walls throughout our home. We feel it's particularly relevant and meaningful to us this month as we work towards weaving the value of your photo memories into stories that you wish to be told, but also because I (the BC half of MM) have had a first-hand experience this month of packing up my memories quickly to leave our home.
We have been touched by the threat of a local B.C. fire and the outlook is hopeful for our town and home (for now), but my family and I are some of the few hundred who have been evacuated from our homes. I know first-hand now, that feeling of lining up what is priority in my life in my home. Because we had time to do this.
Kids. Dog. Photos & Devices. (Just for the record, the hubby was not at home at the time, otherwise he would've been on the packed list also!) I can buy food. I can buy clothes. Photos really WERE the first non-living item I packed.
We are safe. We are with friends. But the timeliness of this is a reinforcement of how much I value what we do in helping people get organized enough so they know where their memories are kept, so they are backed up, and so their stories come alive before they are lost. These photos are such a beautiful, deeply-valued piece of who we are - our stories and memories - and we honour you for taking the steps to discover these memories again and weave them into your family's legacy.
SO, let's get down to it.
Step 1: Commitment - 30 minutes a week or bi-weekly - mark it on your calendar and STICK TO IT!
Step 2: Pick an event or vacation (recommended for starters) or year, or whatever theme for which you will make your photo book – keep it simple for this first run.
Step 3: Get your photo notebook ready to use!
PLEASE NOTE: All references to organizing and getting photo-book ready here are for those using a 'Pictures' Folder in Finder for Mac users and in File Explorer for Windows Users. Should you prefer using software programs for organizing photos, (i.e. Photos for Mac) you will have to adapt our info below to create your own folders or albums within those software programs. But we always recommend working within your computer's native system such as Finder and File Explorer for many reasons, which we can explain in another newsletter.
Step 4: Gather and Select your Photo Book Photos
If your photos are not all in one place, you need to get them all in one folder! Remember we love Chronological YYYY-MM-Event. For example, we'll use Kristi's Punta Cana trip as an example. Any photos and videos from that vacation from any cameras and phones need to all be dumped into 2017-04-Punta Cana folder.
Within that 2017-04-Punta Cana folder, you will create the following folders:
2017-04-Punta Cana A Photos
2017-04-Punta Cana B Photos
2017-04-Punta Cana Videos
You will now go through and choose which photos are 'A' or 'B' or 'C' or videos and move them to their corresponding folders.
What the heck do we mean by ABC? Here's a Quick-Reference legend for you:
A- (stands for ALBUM) Your favourite photos that you want to go into an album.
B- (stands for BOX) More great photos or similar photos (yes you MAY still decide later to use some of these for your album); they're likely not going in the album but you definitely don't want to delete them so they go in the B folder.
C- (stands for CAN – TRASHcan!) TIME TO DECLUTTER!!! You DO NOT need all those photos so delete delete delete and see the meaningful ones surface and come together into a story!
NEXT, highlight your 'A' photos and move them into your 2017-04-Punta Cana A Photos folder. Then do the same for your 'B' photos, and then your 'C's, and videos.
Side Tip: Did you know with our favourite photo-organizing software, Mylio (that works directly with Mac's Finder, Windows File Explorer or any external hard drives), you can use a colour-label process to select your ABCs and then filter them out for big batch-movements to their corresponding folders and for batch deletions. It's incredibly fast, easy to view and a simple process if you feel up to tackling your whole photo collection with this ABC organizing selection. If you would like to get set up, learn more, or have a one-on-one education session – contact us here!
BE SURE to record in your photo notebook, the progress you've made, and what your NEXT step should be so that the next time you sit down you don't have to try to remember what to do – your past self will remind your future self for you!
**Not sure if your iPhone photos are safe and backed up? What iCloud do you even use? >>GRAB OUR iCLOUD CHECKLIST
See you next time,
Amanda & Kristi