It is a Sisyphean task, especially if you are trying to start after years of not organizing. I totally get it. Also, how on earth do you decide how to organize your photos? As someone who loves organizing, I can over-analyze things and can think of a dozen different ways to sort my photos (or whatever I'm organizing). Let's dive in to some ways to get you started on this task. First up - where do you want to keep your photos. Some computers have a "Picture" directory already. For simplicity's sake, I'm going to assume we are using that directory. Now the top level of organizing should probably be by year. If something else works better for you, by all means, do it! (And then please tell me what you decided in the comments!)
What my family has done is, within each year, we have a folder for each month for which we have pictures. The photos taken within each month are in that month's folder. Now, let's say we are working in December's folder (because a lot goes on in December). If you're like most families, you have more than one Christmas celebration. I label the folder as "Christmas Eve", "Christmas Day", "Christmas with ....", etc. I know have three folders of pictures for three different events. Here's where it can get tricky. You can search for photos by event, but what happens when you just have lose photos? I think this could happen a lot in the summer when you're outside, at the pool, just doing fun things, and you snap a photo. It will go in the correct month for that year, but other than that, there is no description to help you find that particular photo again. What I just did on my personal computer is, I went through EVERY. SINGLE. PHOTO and labeled it by who was in the photo. For example, we always take a cousin picture at Christmas. So that photo would say, "Sarah Joe Mark Cobey Carter Kenzie". On my computer, I have to add "Christmas 2018" because I don't have as many photos to make keeping a whole Christmas file worth while. The idea is, I can now search for any person's name and every photo that includes them will appear. This is especially helpful if you are trying to compile, oh, I don't know, pictures for a graduation party!!!! "Okay," you say,"but we have YEARS of photos that are unlabeled!" I know. We do to. I've only just done this with my computer. On our family computer, we have photos in multiple places, we have photos that need to be scanned into the computer, and they all need labeled. It's a daunting task. But, I think I know a way to make it easier. In the first place, don't stress about it. At the end of the day, if the photos didn't get labeled but the kids had fun making a fort with you, that's a great day! But it's a priority for you so here's what I'd suggest. Set a timer for 20-30 minutes (or whatever time frame works for you). Start at the top of the page and open the first folder. Begin labeling. Go through as many folders as you can in that time frame. Note what folder you will start on next time and be done! Maybe you'll get another labeling session in that day, maybe you won't. If you have older kids, get them in on the fun! They'll probably really enjoy going through old photos. You can have them take turns doing a labeling session. I'd also encourage you to use this time to weed out photos. Did you just do a photo dump after your vacation and there are blurry, out of focus pictures? Or do you have seven photos of the same thing with only minor differences? Just pick one (okay, maybe two or three because the facial expressions are just too good to get rid of!!!) Most importantly, organize and sort in a way that makes sense to YOU!! Don't make it harder than it has to be. Only the photos with people in them need labeled. All the rest can be found by searching the event. Have you tried organizing and labeling your photos? What system worked for you?
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Hi! I'm Sarah!
I am a natural light portrait photographer. I've been taking photos since 2014 and would eat a smoothie from Tropical Smoothie Cafe for lunch everyday if I could. Thank you so much for stopping by. I blog about sessions, things I'm learning, stuff in my life, and information for YOU, my client. If you like what you see around the site, I'd love to work with you! I'd also love to connect with you on Instagram. I'm @sarah_jayne_photo :) Archives
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