Your action-packed summer, filled with kids’ activities, swim days, road trips, parties in the backyard and lots of family time, has come to an end.
Your cameras are full of memories; it’s time to organize, create and protect these great photos. Follow these steps to make the process manageable and ensure your pictures will stand the test of time.
1. Delete
Before you download your photos from your camera, take a few minutes to delete the ones that obviously won’t make the cut. If they look bad on your camera display, they will look even worse on your computer. If you took hundreds of photos, this step can cut your download time and leave you with a more reasonable number of images.
2. Download
Download the remaining photos onto your computer. Include photos from all your cameras: DSLR, compact and mobile device. Ask family and friends to send their pictures to capture a different perspective of the Fourth of July. Download regularly just in case your camera is lost or damaged.
3. Delete Again
Now that the pictures are on your computer, you can see the duplicates, missed shots, and those that are out of focus or not flattering. Delete these.
4. Edit
Depending on your level of expertise, this can be a quick step or a laborious one. Editing basics include cropping, red-eye removal, lightening and adding filters, which can be done easily in iPhoto or with your camera’s software. More advanced options include erasing distractions, blemish removal, soft focus and blurring. For more robust editing, consider purchasing software like Adobe Photoshop Elements. Always make a copy of the photo before you edit—just in case something goes horribly wrong.
5. Label
For those with hundreds or even thousands of summer photos, you may skip this step. Labeling each photo can be very helpful when you are searching for specific people, places or events, but it takes time. Set a goal of labeling 50 photos a day.
6. Organize
You may choose to organize photos by events—such as Fourth of July, birthday parties, canoe trips, or a championship baseball game—or by month or season. Choose a system that makes sense to you. If you know you will make a summer photo book, create a “Summer 2014” folder and copy photos there. This will make your project easy. Do you have a recent graduate heading off to college? Consider making a folder for him or her filled with summer memories.
7. Save and Share
Now that your photos are all downloaded, edited, labeled, and organized, it’s time to backup your images for safekeeping. When attached to your computer, an external hard drive can be set to back up on a certain interval automatically. Or consider downloading photos to a separate hard drive and storing it in your safe deposit box. These images are valuable! Flickr, Smugmug, andPicasa are services that store your photos for a small annual fee. These sites also make it easy to share, access photos remotely, and even edit. You may also choose to save your photos on a site like Shutterfly or one of the many other consumer-based product sites.
8. Create
Did you get that one amazing shot of the entire family heading out on the boat, complete with blue sky and sparkling water? Consider enlarging the photo on canvas or framing it. If you can’t choose just one photo, think about making a canvas collage at collage.com. Put together a photo book to leave out for daily viewing, which is especially nice to flip through in the chill of winter. Photo projects also make great gifts. Send some notecards with a pretty scene taken at your host’s mountain home. Give grandparents a shot of the family at the beach. You may even get a jump-start on your holiday photo!
9. Enjoy
If your computer talks with your television through a device like Apple TV, set up a slide show of your summer photos for all to see and enjoy. Make a DVD or a movie set to music. The memories will come pouring back as you laugh at all the great moments. That way, you can celebrate summer all year long.
