What's the Big Deal?

Welcome to my new blog!  I’ll be blogging about best practices for photo organization and other related topics.

You may be asking yourself, “What’s the big deal about getting my photos organized?”  Sure you’d like to get it done, but you just don’t have time right now and besides, your photos will still be there "one day" when you have the time to get to them, right?  The problem is your printed photos may be deteriorating if they are not stored properly and you could lose your digital photos with a computer crash.  I'd also ask you, after your family and pets, what item(s) would you try to bring with you in the event of a natural disaster or house fire?  Most people answer that their pictures are the #1 possession they'd try to save.  It's hard to save what we can't find.

Heat, humidity, sunlight, water, and dust are some of the enemies your printed photos must be sheltered from.  Your printed photos need to be stored in a temperature and humidity controlled environment, not your attic, basement, or garage.  They also need to be stored in an archival and acid free box, like the Legacy Box.  If you have pictures under glass (in a picture frame) or a magnetic style album, they may become stuck where you cannot remove them without damage.  These should be removed as soon as possible and scanned to preserve them.

Legacy Photo Box

Your digital images need to be stored in three locations.  The reality is the hard drive on your computer will crash someday and you rarely get any warning.  Flash drives and memory cards can easily become corrupted and cloud storage services go out of business.  I recommend you have all your digital photos on your computer’s hard drive, backed up on a mobile storage device (like an external hard drive, Gold DVD-R, or flash drive) that is kept in a separate location from your computer (maybe a family member’s home or in a fireproof safe), and on the cloud through a cloud storage provider like Backblaze.  By having triple redundancy, you are less likely to lose your files with a hard drive crash or natural disaster, because one of your backups is likely to remain.

I invite you to follow along the next few weeks as I discuss a simple system for getting your printed photos organized.  You can do this on your own or get the help of a Personal Photo Organizer.  Find one in your area by visiting APPO (the Association of Personal Photo Organizers).

Thanks for reading!

Teresa Cox

Certified Personal Photo Organizer

www.photoconciergeservices.com

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links on this page are "affiliate links."  This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.  Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."