Organize your Digital photos in 4 easy steps
family photographer in westchester county and the hudson valley
It’s a new year and we all know that it’s goal setting, intention making and starting fresh. It’s also the very beginning of decluttering season. And for most of us, one thing that desperately needs some TLC and organization is our digital photos!
I myself have struggled with all the excess in my camera roll. Yes! Even as a family photographer! So, I totally understand the struggle every mama faces when it comes to their camera roll on their phones. It’s a vast, scary land LOL. I’m here to help!
Here’s 4 simple tips to get your camera roll from messy chaos to organized and fabulous:
PURGE: First things first... let that ish go! Which is super duper hard because our photos are sentimental pieces of history, not just a piece of paper or email on our phone. Buuuttt.... you don't need 5 images of the same moment. To do this with the least amount of pain, go through your album folders and go through each photo and select your favorite by clicking the heart button on each photo. This is the most tedious part of the process so give yourself lots of grace (and time) with this!
2. SORT: Once you've given your heart to choosing the photos you want to keep, next step is to organize them in a way that makes it easy to see and store. My favorite way to do this is to create albums. You can do them by year, month or special occasion. This way, every photo has its own place in your phone and you get to keep your anxiety low.
3. STORE: Now that you only have your absolute favorite photos and have them all organized by year and/or month, you want to make sure this system works for you in a sustainable way. WHERE you store and back up your images is just as important as how. I know there are plenty of apps out there for this but I like to keep it simple and use the photos app (iPhone) or the Google photos app (iPhone + Android). Both apps are PERFECT to keep tabs on your digital photos and to send them to get printed as well.
Last but not least…
4. MAINTAIN: Create a routine that works FOR you and your rhythms and not AGAINST you. For me, the easiest step is to "book" a time block on my own calendar to organize photos monthly or quarterly. Your time block can be as short or as long as you need. Personally, 20-30 minutes a week is plenty of time to organize digital photos.
Phew! YOU DID IT! You've decluttered your digital photos and created a simple system to make sure you don't drown again. These tips are simple to use and implement when it comes to the digital clutter on your computer as well. And now that you are all set (look at you!), you can focus on making sure your memories find their permanent home in an album or on your walls. I'm so ready to help you do that. Email me and let's get an album or wall gallery for you!
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