Angie Boone loves photography, specifically taking pictures with a camera that uses 35mm film.
"I loved the process of taking photos and developing them [using a 35mm camera] but with little kids, it is not practical, and it's very expensive," Boone, 30, says.
So, she switched to a digital camera last year.
With two young children under the age of 3, a new fitness business and a move to a new house happening in the next month, free time is a factor for the Frederick mother.
But Boone says even with digital photos, the task of saving, editing and organizing can get overwhelming.
Both Boone's and her husband's families live out of state, so she feels the pressure to organize her photos in a timely fashion so she can easily share images with them.
"It is overwhelming because we live so far from our families so I feel I need to keep up to date for them," Boone says.
Crissie Traugott owns Crissie Traugott Photography in Urbana. The children's photographer is also a mother of a 2-year-old and a 9-month-old. She says the use of a digital camera may sometimes add to the feelings of being overwhelmed because parents can now take hundreds of pictures very quickly.
"It seems like with more technology and options, it is more overwhelming than easier. Honestly, I love digital, but the problem is you can just take pictures and take pictures. People get snap happy," she says. Then when it comes time to download and file the photos on the computer, it becomes a big chore.
Her solution? Put a due date on the calendar to tackle the task.
"If you are finding it's a chore, and you are dreading it, just pencil it in like any other appointment," Traugott says.
Boone agrees. "I really have to sit down and plan the time or it does not get done."
Scheduling the time to get the project done is a good idea for several reasons, says Cheryl Larson, a professional organizer who owns Cheryl's Organizing Concepts in Clarksburg.
"If photos do not get organized, [parents] are not able to enjoy them." Plus, the longer the task is ignored, the more photos pile up, and if stored wrong, photos can be become damaged.
Larson says another reason to get your photos in order is in case you'll want them in the future to make slideshows or posters for special occasions. Having them organized makes that job much easier. But once you plan the time, how do you get started?
"Organizing photos is the same process we use for any type of organizing," Larson says. First, gather all the photos to organize in one place. If electronic, pull them all onto one computer. If photos are printed out, get them into one pile.
"The next step is to purge," Larson says. If five shots are similar, keep only the best one. Also get rid of duplicate sets, blurry shots or overall poor pictures. It is at this step that Larson recommends recruiting help, whether it is a professional organizer, friend or family member.
"When you verbalize with someone why you're saving something, it becomes evident to you that it's not a good reason," she says. "People are amazed at how much they can get done when they put their mind to it, especially when they have someone helping them."
Boones says her husband is more detail-oriented than she is, so when he helps to organize pictures, "I do a much more thorough job and enjoy it more as well."
Her other thought on the purging process is to be kind to oneself. "Don't look at yourself and ask ‘How do I look?'" she says. "Think of whether it will be a good memory for the kids."
Larson says the next step is to decide your goal for the photos and then sort them into labeled electronic folders, photo albums or photo boxes. Is the goal to have a folder or album for each child? Then sort by subject. Is the goal to put everything in chronological order? Then sort by year.
Traugott says it is important to "keep the filing system as simple as possible." When she had her first child, she sorted photos on her computer by the baby's age. But when her second child came along, the system became too difficult since many pictures had both children in them, so she was saving pictures in multiple spots. Now she creates folders on her computer by year and month.
"If [your filing system] is too complicated, it's going to be a mess, and you're not going to want to do it," she says.
Every month, Traugott prints out the month's pictures and puts them into photo albums.
"I'm less inclined to look through photos on a computer. I love something tangible in my hands to look at. An album is a natural choice for me," she says. But if buying and storing albums is not your thing, Traugott recommends online services that place photos into DVD slideshows.
Amy Masser owns Baby Face Photography in Frederick. She likes to organize her pictures on the computer by year, then by date and a short description of the event at which it was taken to make it easier to find a particular photo when needed.
She also recommends using an online photo service to store favorite photos into an electronic photo album. Albums can then be ordered, which cuts out the step of printing out pictures and buying traditional photo albums, since the online services print the pictures onto the pages of a personalized book.
Masser likes this idea because it saves favorite photos in a second secure spot in case a person's home computer gets a virus. "You should definitely back up your files. Have them on your computer and somewhere else as well," Masser says.
Traugott says it's a good idea to regularly copy digital photos onto an external hard drive or flash drive, or use an off-site company, such as Carbonite, that stores files for an annual fee. She learned this lesson the hard way when her computer crashed, and she lost many of her photos.
"This is probably one of the most valuable things we have in our home, the photos of our children," Traugott says. "Preserving and protecting them is important."
How to make photo saving
and organizing easier
-Use an off-site source, such as the Web site Carbonite.com, to back up computer files, especially precious photos.
-Do an online search for "photo slideshows" to find Web sites that offer free slideshows of your photos, set to music.
-Web sites such as Scanmyphotos.com or Savemypix.com scan negatives or hard-copies of photos and give you electronic versions.
-Look for photo storage boxes at craft stores and other retailers to organize hard copies.
-Web Sites such as Snapfish.com, Kodakgallery.com and Mypublisher.com allow you to upload pictures and make electronic photo albums
-Use a photo editing Web site, such as Picnik.com, which allows you to tweak digital photos mostly for free.
Sources: Crissie Traugott of Crissie Traugott Photography; Amy Masser of Baby Face Photography; Cheryl Larson of Cheryl's Organizing Concepts
