Photo collections tell a story
How many duplicate photos do you think live in your camera roll? Ten shots of the perfect selfie? Ten shots of your dinner plate? It’s great to have your collection at your fingertips, but do you have a plan for keeping it organized? If you haven’t seen this clip, it’s a glimpse into what our children will think about our photo collections in 50 years.
Although funny, this clip drives home an important point… we have too many useless pictures in our photo collection. What will your grandchildren say about your photo legacy? Will they see random pictures of food or perhaps screenshots of your locked screen? Taking control of your camera roll is the first step in organizing your collection. You eliminate the excess and only preserve the good stuff. Here are some strategies you can use to help you get started.
Screenshot overload
Screenshots are simply a copy of something. They can be helpful, but typically have a shelf life and often never get deleted from your camera roll. A few things you can try instead of saving to your camera roll:
File them away. When you take a screenshot, the symbols always appear. Instead of hitting “save to your photos” consider saving to another app such as Notes, Dropbox, or Pinterest. Apps are a perfect place to file that information to reference later.
If you’re texting or emailing a screenshot to a friend or colleague, include the image in your text message and then delete it. If you’re sending it to someone else, you don’t need it, they did.
If you regularly like to save recipes, shopping wish-list items, or notes, perhaps you can create a special photo album that can be deleted in one swipe when the time comes.
Mode madness
Although photo modes such as portrait, bursts, or live photos are fun to play around with, they add to our camera roll clutter. A few things to consider when using different modes:
Burst photos, although fun to use when capturing a photo of something moving, simply create duplicates. It’s good to find the one picture you like and delete the rest.
Live photos, also fun, but when downloaded, actually offer two files. One .movi file and one photo file. Rarely do you use both and it creates duplicates. The best action is to simply turn off Live Mode before you snap your next picture.
Photos matter!
Photos tell a story. They showcase a time in your life and add context for future generations to know your story. When organizing my family collection after my mom passed, I found myself tossing tons of random photos. Photos that didn’t have any meaning. If you looked at your camera roll, I’m certain you’ll find random pictures that mean nothing to you, which in turn, will mean nothing to future generations.
Start taking pictures of:
Milestone moments
Family and friends
Travel photos with context
Memorabilia
Personal interest
Pets
Stop taking pictures of:
Food or drinks
Bare feet
Scenery without context
Bathroom selfies
Duckface selfies
Sky or clouds
Photographs strengthen our memory and provide the framework for future generations. Take the time to eliminate all the noise so that your family can hear your story loud and clear.
