Tag: save your photos month

September is Save Your Photos Month

September is Save Your Photos Month

Every September, Photo Managers, photo retailers, software companies, and service providers collaborate in teaching people how to preserve life’s irreplaceable photos, videos, and documents.

Why do you take photos?

If you are wondering why this is important, ask yourself: Why do you take photos? How would you feel if you suddenly lost them? Can you easily find an image of your daughter’s first birthday or a picture from your high school graduation?

If you are like most people, your reason for taking photos is to remember your life’s everyday events. I always say we are a people of stories, and the way we tell the stories of our lives today is through photos. And when our pictures are an unorganized, chaotic mess, sharing those stories becomes a tough job.

What do you see?

What do you see when you look at this photo? An elderly woman?

I see the woman whom my family affectionately called Aunt Izzie, a German immigrant who came to the USA after World War II. She came here as an indentured servant, working for a family that was cruel to her. It took her four years to pay for her freedom. Only then was she able to marry my grandfather.

Listening to her stories of surviving the war—the hunger, the fear, the incomprehensible losses—impacted me deeply as a young child and likely contributed to my lifelong fascination with stories and photos. It is vital that my children, and someday their children’s children, know these stories and understand their family’s history.

I know most of your photos and stories aren’t about war heroes and tragic losses. Neither is mine. They are mostly a collection of ordinary moments of vacations, celebrations, love, and loss. But these moments are worth preserving too, as they form the threads in the colorful tapestry that is my family’s story.

I have made it my life’s mission to help people around the world preserve their most treasured memories. This is why I founded The Photo Managers: To educate others about the importance of preserving their photos and videos.

Over 40 Free Virtual Classes On Photo Preservation

We hold Save Your Photos events every year to help motivate you to save the photos and stories you care about. In the past years, we had in-person events, but this year, we are going all virtual due to the pandemic. We are thrilled to offer over 40 pre-recorded classes designed for a busy lifestyle. Every week, beginning on September 1, we will release the courses that apply to one of the five key photo organizing elements.

Register for your free pass and choose the classes that interest you. The free pass offers access to all of the classes. Click here to get your Save Your Photos Month Free Pass.

Classes are available through November 1st, 2020. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

Cathi Nelson, author of Photo Organizing Made Easy; Going from Overwhelmed to Overjoyed, is the leader of a global photo organizing movement. A cutting-edge entrepreneur and speaker, in 2009 she founded The Photo Managers, the leading organization serving entrepreneurs through training, a professional certification program, best practices, and a code of ethics that sets high standards for the rapidly growing photo management industry. She’s built a worldwide community and organization around supporting people in creating thriving businesses doing work they love. She’s been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Real Simple Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal about how to organize and preserve the legacy of your family heritage through photos.

peter bennett fotoflow solutions photo mess

Meet A Photo Organizer: Peter Bennett Of FotoFlow Solutions

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.

 

Here at Nixplay, we believe in the importance of digitizing and preserving your photos. Think of it as insurance for your memories: You might consider it irrelevant at present, but you’ll wish you did it sooner when an accident or a disaster strikes.

The reason a lot of people put off this task is not that they lack the skills necessary for the job. With technology advancing at such a rapid pace, organizing your photos has become easier than ever. The main hurdle is lack of time–with our fast-paced lives, carving out the time to dig out, scan, and arrange your photos can be nearly impossible.

Luckily, you don’t have to do all these. Professional photo organizers, like Los Angeles-based Peter Bennett of FotoFlow Solutions, can accomplish this task for you so you can better preserve your family’s legacy. Read on to learn how he became a photo organizer, his processes, and the pros and cons of the job.

1. What led you to become a photo organizer?

I’ve been a professional photographer for most of my career. I started my own digital photo agency in the late ‘90s, and it was there where I learned to manage and work with large collections of digital photos.

My family has always taken a lot of photos. My maternal grandfather owned a photo studio on the Brighton Beach Boardwalk in Brooklyn, and my father was an amateur photographer and professional filmmaker. Between everyone, there is a huge collection of prints, slides, and negatives going back over 100 years.

A small part of Peter's family photo collection.

A small part of Peter’s family photo collection.

One day I looked at the family photo collection I had inherited. [I realized that] while my professional collection and my agency’s photos were all meticulously organized, my own family photos were a complete disaster. I was the guy who is supposed to know how to do this stuff, and I realized that if I was having problems, everybody else was probably having them too. That’s when I decided to become a professional photo organizer.

2. How do you go about organizing your clients’ photos?

Every client’s situation and needs are different, so every job starts off with a conversation. This is the time to find out why they called me and what they would like done. It’s also an opportunity for me to give them suggestions and explain certain things.

Essentially what I do is collect all the digital images, remove the duplicates, and then sort them into a chronological folder structure that can be viewed by a cataloging software. Once that is set up, we discuss a workflow, a backup system, and some best practices moving forward.

3. What’s the most challenging thing about your job?

Changing people’s attitudes about their photo collections, and teaching them better ways to interact with their images so that they don’t have to call me again in the future.

When people call me, they are stressed and anxious about their photo collections, which is such a shame as pictures should be enjoyable. My role is to alleviate some of their concern, simplify things for them, and impart them with some confidence going forward.

With all the benefits of the digital age, there are also some downsides, namely the sheer number [of photos] that we are dealing with. We can’t keep going at this rate of accumulation, lest we start losing the emotional connections to our photos and to our histories.

Nixplay frames can help you establish a better connection with your memories.

Nixplay frames can help you establish a better connection with your memories.

You can’t exactly curl up with 30 or 40,000 photos like we did with old family albums. Nixplay Frames are an excellent and innovative way to have our photos present in our daily lives and connect them to our memories. They really bridge the gap between how we traditionally viewed photos and what’s possible with technology today.

4. Can you tell us about the most fulfilling project you’ve managed?

Honestly, any time I see a client smile. Like when I’ve scanned some of their old prints or negatives and they can finally share them with other family members, or when they’re able to sit down with their photo archive without worry or concern. It feels pretty fulfilling.

Peter Bennett has been working as a professional photographer for almost 30 years. In 1998, he started his own photo agency, Ambient Images, which represented over 30 photographers. Peter has also been a photography instructor at the Los Angeles Center of Photography since 2009. In 2015, Peter started FotoFlow Solutions to help people and families manage their personal photo collections. His mission is to help everyone get the information and resources needed to manage and enjoy their priceless photos collections.

Save Older Vintage Photos

7 Reasons To Save Those Older Vintage Photos

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.

 

September is Save Your Photos Month, a time to raise awareness about the benefits of safeguarding your photos. In the spirit of this initiative, let’s focus on why you should not just safeguard your photos, but save your older, vintage photos as well.

Maybe you’re thinking, “why should I keep those photographs? I’ve not looked at them in years so they’re just collecting dust. I don’t know many of the people in them and they won’t mean anything to my children.” Or, maybe it’s simply that you’ve scanned them and have them stored in digital format.

I’m at a time in my life when I’m going through boxes of photos stored in my home and my parents’ home. I’ve found baby pictures of my dad and older pictures of family, which have brought back so many fond memories. I even found my Grandad’s little box of photos that he used to bring out every time we visited. I’ve probably seen every photo in that little cigar box over a hundred times, yet when we saw them again, they made us laugh so hard and share funny stories about him.

So, whatever your perspective, let me share with you why you may want to save those older vintage photos!

Why keep older, vintage photographs?

Nostalgia and memories

This is the main reason photos are taken—to capture and preserve memories. Maybe you need to weed through your photo collection to remove duplicates, blurry photos and bad shots, but you want to preserve those special moments in time. Your child’s birth. Birthday parties. The first day of school. Weddings. Anniversaries. Photos enable us to remember these moments much more vividly, bringing back the emotions—the laughter, the tears, the excitement.

Grandma Vintage Photo

This is one of my favorite pictures. It’s my Grandma when she was three years old. They were taking family pictures and she did not want her picture taken. She screamed and cried until she was given her mom’s pocket watch. She finally allowed her picture to be taken (although she still has a bit of a sour face).

In 1910, having your picture taken was a big deal—they had to dress up and go to a studio out of town—so they wanted to be sure to get everyone’s picture. Unfortunately, this is the only photo taken that day that survived; all the others have been lost over the years. It sure would be nice to have them now.

Personal history

Photos tell your own personal history, one that you want your children or other loved ones to know about. Every photo is part of your experience, showing the people, places, and events that have shaped your life and made you who you are. They are part of your identity.

Storytelling

Every picture tells a story. You may learn stories that you never knew. You may never know the story behind a photo, but photos can stir the imagination and you can give them new life by having your children create stories to go with them.

Signs of the times

How much fun is it to look at photos of your parents and grandparents to see how groovy they looked when they were younger? Different decades lead to different hairstyles and different fashions. Were they part of the cool kids, the nerds, or the jocks?

When you look at photos from the early 1900s, when taking pictures was more of an event, you see people in their best outfits, starched and posed.

It’s easy to forget about how things were done in the past years. Older, vintage photos capture the lifestyle of the decade. They help us imagine the past and remember how things were done. How many people in their 20s today know what a rotary phone is? How about an 8-track, cassette, or even a vinyl record?

Help a loved One remember

Do you have loved ones who suffer from memory loss? Old photos can help them remember people or special events or give them back their childhood for a period of time. Looking at these photos may spark some stories that you can capture and pass along with the photo. What a wonderful way to spend some time with an elderly loved one!

Pass on for posterity

In truth, your photo collection isn’t just for you; it’s also for future generations. Your photo collection is a way to leave your legacy, so your grandchildren and their grandchildren will know from whence they came. Photos give them a chance to connect with deceased ancestors and family history. Family pictures are storehouses of long-forgotten memories, just like that of my grandma.

Family Vintage Photo for photobook

I created a photobook for a friend to help honor and remember her grandparents. There were so many photos that showed what their lives were like as a young married couple and as their children grew into adults. This is one of her favorite photos—taken during her uncle’s wedding, with many family and friends she has only heard stories of and never had the chance to meet, such as her mother’s grandmother.

It captures a moment in time when her grandparents were young and vital, and her mother was just a teen. This image, as well as the other photos in the photobook, show what life was like in Great Britain during the early 1950s. It is something she can pass along to her son and his children one day.

History lives on

We don’t want history to fade away. Your ancestors may have been involved in WWII or the Holocaust or the Civil unrest of the ’60s. Your photos may document historical times that you want to share with future generations.

Don’t lose that precious history. Cherish them. Share them. Display them.

The printed photograph is meant to be shared and displayed, not to be solely scanned and stored away to pass on for posterity purposes one day. I love having tangible photos, coming up with creative and unique ways to share and display them.

Why not snuggle up with pictures of your grandparents or grandchildren or even pets on a warm fleece blanket or pillow? Create a unique wall display that shows different generations of your family. Find some fun frames to display those goofy shots that make you laugh. I love using canvas and metal to print pictures on, they make great gifts and have a unique texture and finish.

I just recently got the Nixplay Iris WiFi digital frame. I love the peach copper finish; it really dresses up my mantle. It’s fun to be able to share photos anytime, anywhere. The key is to enjoy your photos now!

What’s your favorite way to share and display your photos?

Kristy is the owner of Lifetime Memories. She has a passion for helping others save their memories, keep them safe, help you enjoy them today and be able to pass them along to future generations.

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