So, you've taken a bunch of pictures.... now what?
If you are like most people, you will want to store your images for future use. There are two major issues when it comes to image storage. The first is archiving and the second is organization.
When it comes to archiving your photos, the number one concern is creating a backup for every photo. It is tempting to leave your photos on your computer's hard drive or to just burn them to a CD, but what happens if the computer crashes or the CD doesn't open? Trust me on this-- it's no fun to lose a couple years’ worth of Christmas mornings, family gatherings and summer vacations.
There are a number of ways you can store your images; the important thing is that you pick at least two of them. That way if one fails, you have the second storage method to bail you out.
Technology has given us a lot of choices on storage. Some of the more popular options are CDs, DVDs, zip drives and your computer's hard drive. If you are really into photography, you may want to consider an external hard drive dedicated specifically for your photos. Also, with the price of flash memory coming down, in the near future you may consider just leaving your images on your memory cards.
It is easy to get caught up in technology, however. While all of these methods are good, nothing beats an old fashioned print because people tend to keep prints. Think about the drawers full of prints you have at home-- some of these prints may be 100 years old. The negatives for these pictures are long gone but, because you have the print, you have the image.
The same is true today. Even if all of your electronic storage methods fail, having a print means that you have the image.
Once you have settled on a safe place to store your images, you will need to organize them. With all the demands on your time, it is easy to fill a CD with images or load your images on your hard drive and forget about them. If you take an extra moment to organize them, however, it will make your images a lot easier to find later.
For most people, the best way to organize images is by event. If you are going to store your images on your computer, create a folder such as “Christmas 2006” and place all of your images from the holidays in this folder. Likewise, if you want to burn your images to a CD, make a CD titled “Hawaii 2007” and burn only the images from your vacation. Don't worry if the CD is not filled to capacity.
If you organize your photos this way, you find that they are a lot easier to retrieve because people tend to remember images in terms of events. Also, once you have located the desired folder or CD, you will only have to sort through 50 or 100 images instead of thousands.
Once you have organized your photos by events, you may want to rename the photos themselves. This is not a critical step since you do not have as many photos to sort through but, at the same time, it does make each photo easier to identify than a generic number would.