My Photo Storage Tips
Photo by Rustic White Photography
Over the summer I decided to start diving into the cabinets and cabinets of family photos in my parents home. I was hoping to make them a very special memory book in celebration of their 50th anniversary this June. I’m sure it’s easy to imagine the amount of pictures they had collected over the years and this would be no easy feat but I was excited to gift them with this collection of memories. What I didn’t know was that in a few short months collecting these memories would take on a different meaning because of my Dad’s passing...and while it was still a celebration, it also brought on immense sadness. But I still felt the need to push through and get organized. In doing so, I picked up some tricks I thought I would share.
Sort, sort, sort!
I first chose to edit! It felt so much less overwhelming to go box by box and then I wasn’t spending time on preserving any and everything.
Since many of our memories came before the digital era, I had stacks of negatives that I needed to make sense of. So I invested in a Film Negative Digital Scanner. This was (and still is) the most lengthy part of the process. Many of the photos were pretty random and I made a pact with myself to only invest time in the photos that mattered the most. As I started to get a handle on all the different strips of negatives and film, I arranged them according to years. I chose to do this for the first round of categorizing knowing that once I had all of the pictures scanned and loaded digitally I could also add other levels of groupings.
I also purchased a simple photo scanner that made it super easy to feed pictures of all sizes through. It’s very much a work in progress, but I love having memories of my families lifetime at my finger tips knowing they are safe and will last a lifetime. And just in case you are like me and want another level of protection, I recommend adding a flash drive that you can load up and keep in a safe spot!
Next up was storing the actual photos. We have so many from my Dad when he lived in Cuba, to coming to America as a young man, and my mom had some of the most quintessential 60’s high school photos. They are priceless. I consulted the recommendations from The National Archives for storing family photos and documents
and headed to Container Store for archival boxes and other recommended essentials.
If this all seems a little to much for you, this is an easy and ongoing project that doesn’t have to be overwhelming. I have also heard of great services that do all the work for you. They can be costly, but the end result is so magnificent. LEGACYBOX has come highly recommended. If I take the plunge I will report back!
This is most certainly a labor of love, but it was really healing and wonderful to be reminded of moments with my family that are priceless. I also loved seeing my mom and dad when they were kids and their wedding photos are now some of my most treasured possessions.
Have you gotten the bug to organize your memories??? If so, what are your tips!
Xx,
Jo