How to Archive Family Photos: help for managing digital overload

Do you have a digital mess on your hands? Taken hundreds or thousands of photos that have never seen light beyond a screen? Wish you knew how to manage them, and maybe actually print, share, or create something with them?

For me, the answers are yes, yes, and YES.

Thankfully, help has arrived. Denise May Levenick, aka The Family Curator, has written a wonderful new book called How to Archive Family Photos. It outlines strategies and ideas for changing the way you work with digital images to better be able to find, preserve, and enjoy them. In just a few days, it’s transformed how I manage my digital photo collection.

Lest that seem overwhelming, Levenick offers a piece of advice in the first chapter: start where you are, with your current batch of smartphone or camera photos, and go forward from there. Once you get a workflow established, it’s easier to go back and bring your older files into the fold.

The whole concept that there is a workflow to managing digital images, and that it can be streamlined for efficiency, was an eye-opener for me. Professional photographers call it Digital Asset Management (DAM). It’s a simple seven-step process that covers everything from capturing the image (taking a picture) to editing, exporting, and sharing it. Levenick provides multiple examples of how to create a customized workflow to suit your particular goals and situation.

I've needed a system like this desperately. When I bought my first digital camera, it felt liberating to be able to take hundreds of pictures on a tiny card, rather than 24 shots on a roll of film. I learned to upload them to my computer, where they routinely appeared in My Pictures folder or iPhoto. More recently, I started doing the same thing with images taken on my phone.

And there they’ve sat. Countless images, priceless memories, adrift in a sea of computer files.

Except that’s not the half of it. As a genealogist, I’ve also digitized old cabinet cards, tiny early 20^th century photos, faded mid-century snapshots, and old menus and keepsakes. I’ve taken pictures of tombstones in numerous cemeteries, and made digital copies of probate packets and pension files.

How, then, do I go about creating an organized system out of this jumble of modern events and historical treasures? How do I integrate images captured on my camera, smartphone, and tablet with those imported from my scanner, in such a way that I can quickly find things I want later? And how can I make sure I don’t lose all this stuff as time goes by?

How to Archive Family Photos answers all these questions, along with some I didn't even know to ask. Here are the strategies I’ve been looking for. The book’s straightforward, encouraging approach gave me the incentive and tools to get started on this long-overdue process.

Levenick offers practical advice for every step of the way, including:

• photo management solutions for both PC and Mac users
• file naming and organizing strategies
• online storage and photo sharing options
• equipment for digitizing, preserving, and backing up images
• keys to scanning, organizing, and safely storing heirloom prints

In the final chapters, Levenick explores methods of getting photos out of your files and into a form where they can be enjoyed and appreciated. She explains how to create a variety of simple photo projects, including cards, collages, calendars, scrapbook pages, Facebook cover photos, and home décor. She also discusses many options for creating photo books, as well as smartphone and tablet apps for sharing on the go. I've done a few of these already, and am eager to try more.

For anyone wishing to bring order to a growing digital image collection, gain peace of mind that the collection is securely preserved, and discover ways to share and enjoy favorite pictures, I highly recommend How to Archive Family Photos. It’s a bargain at roughly what I used to pay to get a couple rolls of film developed. I bought my book from Family Tree Magazine's  ShopFamilyTree, and it’s also available on Amazon. There's a Kindle version if you prefer to read electronically.

This is one of those books I know I'll be returning to again and again. It's earned a spot beside my computer, where I can use it to keep refining my workflow and playing with new projects. If you're wrestling with digital image overload, I think you'll find it indispensable, too. 

--Shelley

May's Bounty

What a month this has been! Hot on the heels of the successful Ohio Genealogical Society 2015 Conference, May ushered in a bunch of family highlights. One daughter graduated with her MBA and got engaged a week later; another daughter and her friends spent a fun-filled weekend with us; I helped my mother look for a new house in Florida; and my husband and I took a two-week trip to Ireland and Spain. Now that I’m home and have a chance to catch my breath, I can’t help but feel I’ve been incredibly blessed.

It’s one of those times in life when you can almost feel the pages turning.

Even as I’m busy catching up with mail, laundry, work, and so forth, I want to make sure to preserve the memories of these times. I’ve taken hundreds of pictures and collected a dozen new Irish civil registration records on my mother-in-law’s family. I’ve uploaded all the images to my computer and backed up with Apple’s Time Machine and Mozy, so they’re safe for the moment.

But I want to get those images off my computer and enjoy them, and I want to be able to find and access them ten years from now. Which is why I was thrilled to find the copy I’d ordered of Denise Levenick’s new book, How to Archive Family Photos, waiting in my stack of mail. (You might know Denise through her blog, The Family Curator.) Even though I’m just partway through the book, I’m already getting excited about trying her ideas. This looks like exactly the kind of system I need.

So I’m going to keep reading, and I’ll give you a full review in a few days. And I plan to tell you later about how I obtained those Irish records. I’m also headed to the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) at Samford University in less than two weeks, which I’m very excited about. Stay tuned—life shows no signs of slowing down!

--Shelley

Fun Family History Books for Summer Reading

With summer in full swing, it’s a good time to have a book on hand to take to the pool, the park, or on vacation. These three books make great choices, whether you need something you can pick up when time allows or relax with on a leisurely day:

1.   Only a Few Bones: A True Account of the Rolling Fork Tragedy and Its Aftermath, by John Philip Colletta

On March 4, 1873, the Ring & Co. store in Rolling Fork Landing in the Mississippi Delta mysteriously burned to the ground, claiming the lives of five people, including Joe Ring. In its aftermath, Joe’s widow and sons experienced more tragedy, and his brother George Ring withstood accusations of arson. Using evidence obtained in over 30 years of research, Colletta meticulously reconstructs the story, testing hypotheses and ultimately forming his own conclusion about what really happened. A perfect blend of mystery, history, and family lore.

2.   The Journey Takers, by Leslie Albrecht Huber

Weaving the history of her immigrant ancestors around the story of her quest to discover that history, Huber brings readers along for the journey. She vividly recounts finding her ancestors’ records and traveling to the places they lived. She effectively recreates their voyages from Germany, England, and Sweden to Utah—all set against the backdrop of her own growth from student to motherhood. Huber uses historical and social detail to imagine what her forbearers felt, looked like, and might have said, creating an interesting and engaging family history.

3.   Family, by Ian Frazier

Cleaning out his parents’ house sparks a journey of historical self-discovery for Frazier. He follows in his ancestors’ footsteps as they moved to Ohio, founded the town of Norwalk, served in the Civil War, went through temperance and Prohibition, and vacationed on the shores of Lake Erie. He sprinkles in some of his own childhood memories and contemporary impressions, effectively drawing the reader into his stories. Frazier’s deep appreciation of the everyday lives and contributions of his ancestors is evident throughout the book.

All of these books are available on Amazon.com (disclaimer: I am not an Amazon affiliate—though I’m considering becoming one—and purchased my own copies of the books. I bought Only a Few Bones from Maia’s Books, which I highly recommend.) Next on my family history reading list is Searching for Ichabod: His Eighteenth Century Diary Leads Me Home. I met the author, Julie Foster Van Camp, at the 2010 National Genealogical Society Conference, and she was delightful. What’s on your list? Do you have a favorite family history book that I haven’t mentioned here? 

(Thanks for the challenge from Tonia’s Roots, #31WBGB: Make List Posts Work for Your Genealogy Blog) 


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