L OCAL LIVING
District
5 DC
Manage your photos with a system that’s free of negatives
by Eliza McGraw
Summer is nearly over, and it’s time to download all those vacation photos. What happens to yours? Do they disappear into a world of alphabet-long file names and ever-changing Facebook walls? We might not want to go all the way back to the years when we waited at Peoples Drug to pick up the photos we took with a Kodak 110 camera. But those days did have some benefits: We used to place pictures in permanent albums and frames, and we enjoyed them day after day without having to turn on the computer. “Good photography was never intended to reside only on
your Facebook page or your iPhone,” says Matt Mendelsohn, a professional photographer in Arlington. “It’s supposed to be on your wall, or in books for longer than the life span of a piece of technology. Is your iPhone going to be passed to your grandchildren?”
Digital photos are easy to snap and to share through computers and cellphones. But some people get bogged down in the process of downloading and printing. Then they end up with nothing. To achieve old-time enjoyment, stay on top of your digital photo collection.
Getting started
Once you’ve taken photos on your memory card, the first step is to download the pictures onto your computer and edit them. Delete the ones you don’t like. Photos with blurry faces, closed eyes and the tops of children’s heads should be pitched. As you sift, resist altering your photos. Many people now use software programs such as Photoshop to remove unwanted relatives or blemishes. But snapshots are supposed to record amoment. “Enjoy the Band-Aids and the messy hair. Less is more,” Mendelsohn says.
Organizing and labeling Organize photos so you can find
them. Programs such as iPhoto or Picasa can help group pictures. Or devise your own system by sorting photos into folders on your computer. Either way, use a labeling system for the folders or albums that makes sense to you, and stick with it. One easy way is by date and then a brief description: “060910 swim lesson,” “071010 beach” and so on.
This way, you will be able to call up images by date. “You have to label [photos] in a
way that you yourself can remember,” says Marissa Rauch, a professional family and portrait photographer in Washington. “Because if you can’t do that, you’re sunk.” She copies photos to CDs, labels them by name, event and date and then stores the CDs in a book.
Storing Follow Rauch’s example and copy your photos so they are stored somewhere besides your camera or computer. Mendelsohn recently took a call from a sobbing bride who had inadvertently deleted her honeymoon photos from her memory card. With some recovery software and time, he was able to retrieve them, but the episode illustrates the
MICHAEL SLOAN FOR THE WASHINGTON POST WASHINGTONPOST.COM
Share your vacation photos We want to see your summer adventures. Submit your pictures to a reader gallery at
www.washingtonpost.com/your-photos.
importance of backing up. Don’t delete anything from your camera’s card until it is backed up in two places, such as an external hard drive, a CD or an online photo-sharing service. “When you make the [folder], burn it on a disc, label it, and put in the order of when [you took] them,” Rauch says. As a professional photographer, she swears by a photo-storing system that includes an external hard drive along with two copies of each file on two separate CDs. But for her personal photos she gets by just with the discs. The key is keeping the CDs labeled and in order, so you can track down what you need. Uploading your photos to Web sites such as Shutterfly or Snapfish also works, because the images are stored remotely. You can retrieve them from any computer, and you can access them even if you lose
your hard drive or compact discs. Displaying
Once your photos are sorted
and saved, it’s time to enjoy them. Print them out on photographic paper, either at home through a Web site or at a store with a printer. Then place them in frames, on bulletin boards and on the refrigerator door. “Someday, someone will go into
the attic,” says Mendelsohn, “and in box number one will be a picture of Grandma’s wedding, and we’ll instantly know the value of it. In box number two will be a CD with “Outer Banks” written on it. And it will get trashed. Only pictures that are printed out will stand the test of time.” Make some simple albums
with software from your computer or a photo-sharing site. Resist being overwhelmed by
“Label in a way that you yourself can remember.
Because if you can’t do that, you’re sunk.” — Marissa Rauch, professional photographer
scrapbook-inspired graphics and arrangements and other complicated design formats; one photo per 5-by-7-inch page is an appealing, quick layout. Album titles can be as simple as “Catherine 2009” or “Williamsburg 2010.” Create separate albums for each child. The same team photos and school play shots won’t appear in each album, but everyone will enjoy the family’s Thanksgiving shots. Grandparents, too, will be happy with tailor-made books that include photos of their visits along with the year’s highlights. Albums make lasting gifts for teachers, room parents, music instructors and coaches. The softcover ones available online are often inexpensive, as low as $12 to $15. As your photos become more organized, your albums come together faster. Then you can enjoy those summer vacation memories every day of the year.
localliving@washpost.com
McGraw is a freelance writer in the District.
THE WASHINGTON POST • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2010
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