As Photo Organizers we have a saying, “when you’ve seen one photo organizing project, you’ve seen one photo organizing project.” We know everybody’s photo situation is unique. We know people get overwhelmed by the prospect of facing their years and years of photographs, videos, and keepsakes.  But we love our jobs and we love helping people preserve their legacies. 

Here are a few things that photo organizers from The Association of Personal Photo Organizers want you to know.

You don’t have the most disorganized photos. As photo organizers, we’ve seen it all and we’re not surprised by anything. We look at your chaos an exciting challenge, not an embarrassing mess.

– Adam Pratt, Chaos to Memories

Your photo collection didn’t just appear overnight, so don’t expect to preserve, protect and share it overnight. Take small steps now, and your big goals will be just that much closer.

– Rick Lippert, E-Z Scan

Organizing photos is not a retirement project! When you set this task aside until you ‘have more time’ you minimize its importance and you miss out on years of enjoyment. ‘Someday’ is not a guarantee!

– Lisa Kurtz, Association of Personal Photo Organizers

Consider photo collections as a living, breathing thing that requires periodic attention. You’re never really “done” with it since it will grow as you and your descendants add to it, and digital media will need to be updated so it will always be safe and accessible. Photo organizers can help with a long-term plan for the collection’s care.

– Kate Jacus, The Photo Curator

Start with the end in mind.  How will you enjoy your photos, once the work is done?

– Kathy Stone, Calgary Photo Solutions

[bctt tweet=”The photo organizing experts want you to know these 21 things. #photos” username=”photoorganizers”]

Have you ever heard “the cobbler’s children have no shoes”? It’s the same with many professional photo organizers. Our photos are not always perfectly organized, but we know many tips and resources to find what we want when we need it.

– Andi Willis, Good Life Photo Solutions

Photo Organizers are professional services that people need to budget for now…like gym memberships, cable tv subscriptions, after-school lessons for their kids etc. Photos overwhelm is part of our lives now and not dealing with it, or sort of dealing with it but not really, only compounds the problem. I’ve only been in business for 2 years and have already had repeat clients who somewhat sheepishly admit they can’t keep up themselves (and I’m happy to put them at ease and get to work! No shame allowed).

– Marci Brennan, Past Present Pix

The end result REALLY is customized to each client. Your goals of how to enjoy your memories will impact what we do.

– Christy Wright, Structured Simplicity

The delete button is your best friend. If you are overwhelmed by your digital photos, start by spending a few minutes every day deleting the bad shots – the random screenshots you no longer need, the picture of the floor you accidentally took, the shot of the back of someone’s head. Get rid of the junk so you can focus on the treasures.

– Andi Willis, Good Life Photo Solutions

So many people get stuck trying to figure out where to start organizing their photos, or how to organize their photos. While there are definite do’s and don’ts, the most important thing is to get started, wherever in your photo collection is most important to you. For some people, that’s starting with the present year and going backward. For others, it’s rescuing their old prints from damaging sticky albums. Still, others focus on pictures of one person to put together a gift for a milestone event like a birthday or graduation. Any of those are great places to start if that’s what makes sense for you.

– Kathy Rogers, Photo Organizing Coach

Photo organizers have a passion to help you preserve your memories and tell your story.

– Christy Wright, Structured Simplicity

We help with videos, too; everything from converting old home movies to creating montages and slideshows. You’ll never regret getting loved ones’ voices preserved.

– Kate Jacus, The Photo Curator

Organizing videos and creating a yearly highlight reel/ timeline is a great way to see your videos in one sitting without having to play every single video at a time. A pro can help with that if clients are unfamiliar with editing in iMovie or Premiere/ Final Cut Pro.

– Marci Brennan, Past Present Pix

• This project will take a while. You’ve been accumulating family photos for 100+ year and it will take a while to get them organized. 
• This project won’t be cheap.
• You could do it yourself, but you won’t.

– Adam Pratt, Chaos to Memories

Photo Organizers care deeply about getting the details right for your family and your legacy. We are passionate and quite frankly kind of nerdy about digging deep into your story and using the clues within photos to capture the names, places, dates, and the “why” behind the important photos in your collection. We don’t just scan and toss everything into one huge digital archive; we want to make your photo legacy flow like a timeline of your life and those that came before you so that generations to come can visualize their history and feel connected to their past.

– Laura Woolsey, Memory Forward

While you’re scanning your paper photos, don’t forget to print, frame, and enjoy a few of your favorite digital photos.

– Hazel Thornton, Organized for Life

It likely took you years to accumulate all of the photos, videos, and memories.  Finding and compiling all of them may be a process that takes time. If you don’t know your goals when you start that is it will come clear and likely change once or twice as you go. We will help you work through it step by step. When it is done, and your memories are at your fingertips that is when the magic happens you can enjoy and share your story. 

– Christy Wright, Structured Simplicity

It is about more than just photos – capture the stories behind the photos too

– Kathy Stone, Calgary Photo Solutions

We truly come to know and even love your family. We see your children grow up. We see the happy and sad times. We go on vacation with you. We see the picture you took on the day you met your husband 30 years ago. We even see photos that are on the private side (don’t worry, we won’t talk about them). And we know they are all treasured moments for you.

– Andi Willis, Good Life Photo Solutions

What would you like the Photo Organizers to know about your photo collection?

————————————————-

If you need help organizing and preserving your lifetime of photos, videos, and keepsakes, find a photo organizer near you at the Association of Personal Photo Organizers. 

Don’t forget to grab your copy of Photo Organizing Made Easy: Going from Overwhelmed to Overjoyed from APPO founder Cathi Nelson.