How A Professional Photo Organizer Preserves A Family’s Milestones

Nixplay has partnered with the Association of Personal Photo Organizers (APPO) for the Save Your Photos initiative, a public service outreach campaign that teaches individuals how they can preserve life’s irreplaceable photos, videos, and documents in case of an unforeseen accident or disaster. Visit the Save Your Photos website for more information.

Major family milestones, such as weddings and birthdays, should never pass by undocumented. As such, people are willing to invest in the services of professional photographers and videographers who can best capture the celebration’s spirit. However, what do you do with your beautiful photos and videos in the wake of your family’s event?

This is where professional photo organizers like Patty Hopp come in. Patty, along with the other members of the Association of Personal Photo Organizers (APPO), helps her clients tell their stories better by immortalizing their memories in photo books, videos, and framed images.

“I love working with my clients’ photo collections, and especially love all the stories that go with the photos,” Patty shares.

One of Patty’s long-time clients is Mary, who belongs to a large family with members living across the globe. Mary’s family has decades’ worth of photos that needed to be stored properly, and Patty’s services quickly proved invaluable.

‘I started working with Patty several years ago to help me organize photos for my son’s high school graduation,” says Mary. “I have several thousand print photos and just as many digital photos, and they are not all organized yet.  It’s a work in progress with four generations of photos, and we are still taking lots of photos every day.”

Over the past ten years or so, Patty has worked on numerous projects for Mary’s family. These include print photo organizing, digital photo organizing, scanning photos, and creating several photo books.

The photo organization process

Photos have the power to elicit fond memories, and Patty uses this to her advantage.

“During my first meeting with a new client, I ask if they have a big upcoming event such as a high school graduation or a 50th wedding anniversary,” shares Patty. “If there is a special event, then I like to set up monthly photo goals to make photos a big part of their event.”

One of the biggest projects she worked on was the 50th wedding anniversary of Mary’s parents, for which she created a photo book and a video to be shown during the celebration.

“The video and the photo book were to include the couple celebrating their 50th anniversary, their two children and spouses, their 11 grandchildren, two of which are married, and their little great-granddaughter,” recalls Patty.

“To complete this project, I worked with Mary and with a daughter who lives in Virginia. I loved gathering all the pictures and stories to create a video that they loved and a photo book that they still treasure.”

The video and the photo book brought so much joy to Mary’s family, and it easily became one of Patty’s favorite projects.

Recalling forgotten memories

Like any other profession, being a professional photo organizer has its own set of challenges.

“The most challenging part of my job is helping the client understand that it will take time to organize their images, especially if they have thousands of photos,” Patty says.

To hasten the organization process, Patty sets up Nixplay frames for her clients so they can enjoy their photos and recall the best moments of their lives. She recently set up a Nixplay Seed 13.3-inch Widescreen Wi-Fi Frame to display the milestones of Mary’s family, which they loved.

“Our son and his family came to visit last month from Germany. While they were visiting, we surprised them with photos on our Nixplay,” says Mary. “Many of the pictures that Patty put on our Nixplay were of our son when he was little and we lived in Germany.  They loved seeing pictures of what things looked like in Germany many years ago and how much things have changed over the years.”

“I believe that everyone has a story to tell and your family photos are the best way to do that.  Your pictures are truly priceless and are worth enjoying and sharing with your family,” adds Patty.

“Nixplay frames have helped families once again enjoy the fun times in their lives.”

*Photos are for illustrative purposes only.

Patty Hopp

Patty Hopp lives in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan with her husband and two children. She is a professional photo organizer, a member of APPO (Association of Personal Photo Organizers), and is the owner of Pictures of You. She believes that everyone has a story to tell and her passion is to help her clients tell their story. For the past 16 years, Patty has helped clients enjoy their favorite photos in photo books, framed photos, and in digital photo frames.