17 August 2011

the big picture debate...

What do you do with all the hundreds of photos you take of your kids?  I have no idea what to do with mine anymore.  I am stuck between the digital world and the old school way of actual photos placed in albums.  I used to back them up on Smugmug and then print them all and spend hours putting them in albums and labeling them.

albums stacked on by bookcases


Then... I got behind.  Lets say I am a good year behind.  I still organize them on my computer and back them up in smugmug.  I just couldn't keep up with printing and albums.  Looking back, I shouldn't have printed all of them, just my favorites.

For Ethan's 2nd birthday, I made him a book on iphoto of his 2nd year (12 months-23 months).  I took all of my favorite photos from holidays, everyday, and events and made a book.  I was impressed with the quality of the book verses shutterfly or snapfish, but it was more pricey.  It did take me several hours, but not near the amount of time or money spent on albums and prints.

 the front of the book
inside cover

sample of one of the pages

the back of the book




So what are your thoughts on photo organization?  I have had this ongoing debate with myself about what is "best" thing to do.  I can't imagine not going to my mom's house and looking through my baby albums.  Are we cutting our kids short if we don't make these for our kids?


2 comments:

Nana aka MUM said...

Okay child of mine...I vote that you continue with albums of your favorite photos. Ethan will love it as he gets older especially when he has a family. "that's my thoughts"
I do love the book you created; that book is totally awesome.
Hope this helps.
Love, Hugs and Kisses

Christy Veal said...

I think I finally decided to do the books of my favorites once a year, but with so many photos it's a bit overwhelming... We started using Carbonite for back-up. It's a yearly fee ($59 I think) and it automatically backs up everything at a time you choose. I like the fact that we can access anything and everything from our computer from anywhere at any time, and that we don't have to spend any time backing things up.