If you love a good project and tackling that cluttered photo closet (or desktop computer) doesn’t scare you – go ahead and dive right in! After all, you have a personal connection to all those memories and you know exactly what you want to keep or toss. Here are a few Pro Tips for those of you who are managing a photo organizing project on your own:
Begin by sorting based on subject, event, or date. Choose a categorizing method that makes the most sense for you. Think ahead to how you and your family will want to access these memories in the future. If you’re working with printed photos – make piles or use small bins. If you’re organizing digital files – create folders and name them based on your preferred sorting method.
Toss or delete multiple or redundant images from the same event. After all, do you really need to keep 26 images from little Chloe’s birthday party? Also, eliminate duplicates or poor quality shots where the lighting or subject matter isn’t up to par. The goal here, is to refine your photo collection to only the “best of the best” images/photos.
Decide what you want to do with the physical photos and memorabilia long term. Do you simply want your photo closet more organized? Do you want to digitize all of your printed photographs? Do you want to make photo books for family members? Knowing your end goal, will help you make decisions on how to complete your project.
Let the local expert do the heavy lifting
Sure, you could scan your family photographs one by one on a home scanner, but do you really want to give up your weekends for the next 6 months?
Trusted local photo experts (like us), have the equipment, training, and professional experience to manage this portion of the project for you. We’ll carefully digitize, color correct and save your printed memories as digital files. Once your memories are in a digital format – you have countless ways to share them with family members and make fun photo creations with them.
PRO TIP: Determine which family members would like a copy of your digital files – not only today but also in the future. It’s easiest and most affordable to order multiple copies of your files at the time of digitizing. Think about your children, your siblings, your parents, etc.
Hiring a Professional
If a project like this just isn’t for you or if you’re managing an extreme amount of memorabilia – then you may want to consider hiring a professional to help sort, name, and organize the items. Our archiving team can help you get started and advise you on the best way to approach your project. We also have relationships with local professional organizers and archivists who can assist as well.
Photos can make your wedding day more personal and after the event, they can live on for years after! Here are some creative ways to bring photography to your celebration and beyond!
Please, please, please – don’t let those gorgeous professional photographs sit on your computer gathering dust. Select a few favorites and get them up on the walls of your home as canvas prints, framed decor or even a gallery wall with multiple shots.
Of course, the bride and groom will want a wedding album filled with images and snapshots from the celebration, but professional photo books are also a great gift for parents, grandparents and the wedding party!
Trendy personalized gifts are always a favorite at any wedding! Bring us your ideas and we will help you design a special gift for your guests or wedding party.
Gift this adorably cute heart collage to the newly engaged couple. Gather images from their social media and surprise them with the perfect engagement gift.
Need help on a project like this?
Join us in the design process while we create the perfect solutions for your day. Choose from hundreds of ideas for gift giving and personal storytelling. Here are just a few…
– Save the Date Cards + Magnets
– Announcements + Thank You Notes
– Guest Book
– Personalized Bridal Party Gifts
– Custom Keepsakes
– Imagery + Reception Décor
– Video Productions + Slideshows
– Prints + Memorabilia (from your wedding day photos)
– Photo Books (for yourself, the bridal party + your parents)
– Home Decor (showcasing your professional photographs)
Passport need updating? Don’t forget the photo! Walk-in’s are always welcome!
The world is yours to explore with a passport in hand. Have your picture taken in our studio by our professional staff. We promise to take as many photos as needed to pass U.S. Department of State regulation at no additional charge. A few things to keep in mind when traveling:
If your travel plans include cross-border travel from the United States, your passport or passport card need to be up-to-date. Some countries require that travelers hold valid passports for a certain period of time before entry. All travelers and citizens of the U.S., regardless of age, are required to present a valid passport or passport card when entering or leaving the country at any airport or border crossing.
Passport photos can also be used for the convenient and less expensive U.S. passport card. The passport card is valid when traveling between the U.S and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean or Bermuda at land-border crossing or ports-of-entry at sea.
Because of environmental factors, VHS tapes are literally deteriorating and degrading as we speak. Not to mention the fact that VCRs are virtually non-existent for viewing them. If you wait too long to digitize home movies, there might be nothing there to capture or view.
YOUR KIDS WANT TO WATCH
Trust us – your kids and grandkids WILL want to watch these… if not today, someday.
FAMILY HISTORY
As the family historian, it’s your duty to preserve the family legacy (a.k.a. memorabilia). Once you have a home movie digitized, it becomes a file that is easily shared with other members of your family.
Keep your memorabilia local – here’s why:
Who wouldn’t be devastated if suddenly their priceless home movies were lost in the mail, misplaced or damaged by a shipping carrier?
Sentimental irreplaceable possessions like photos, videos and home movies should NEVER be shipped away to an unknown location or service provider. It’s just too risky! Things could get lost, damaged or never find their way back to you.
Instead, talk to a professional archiving expert (like us). You need someone who really gets it. Our shop is full of dedicated people who care about your life being documented. We stake our reputation on it. Best of all – money spent locally stays local. Let us handle your photo life so you can get back to real life!
https://camerashopmuskegon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2021/06/main.graphic-3.jpg321845Natalie Gunnhttps://camerashopmuskegon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2024/03/TCS_PRlogo_web.jpgNatalie Gunn2021-06-22 10:33:202023-10-25 19:12:21Bring back the 80’s + 90’s and protect those priceless home movies!
When it’s sentimental or involves your sensitive personal information (like photos), you want to talk to a professional face to face so you can trust their recommendation.
Passion. You need someone who really gets it. Our shop is full of dedicated people who care about your life being documented. We stake our reputation on it.
Quality. We can find, fix, and finish any photo from any device right now! No waiting weeks for products to arrive and no question of quality!
Support. We’re here for you today and after the purchase. Stop in and speak to a human photo pro – anytime. Best of all – money spent locally stays local.
Engage the services of a photo professional like us! We’re experts at finding, creating, and printing your photos locally, so you can hold them close. We make amazing photo products right here, fast. Let us handle your photo life.
Today, we don’t give our digital photos much attention once they’re captured on our devices. Instead, we may think about doing something with them only when our phones run out of memory and prompt us to make more room by exporting the photos to other storage devices. Years of this saving go by, and then we find ourselves in the unforgiving sea of unnamed images.
Most people use the default file naming structure for our digital photos like IMG_9876 or JPG-2839. Unfortunately, these unidentifiable names leave many of us drowning in a sea of thousands of photos with no way to locate specific memories.
Using metadata and a consistent file renaming pattern increases the “searchability,” of your images. If you want to be able to quickly find your images, it’s important to start renaming your files now. Otherwise, a decade from now when you’re looking for a photo of your daughter’s first day of school to post on her graduation day, you might be wanting to pull your hair out as you try to locate it.
Consistency is key. Professional photo organizers recommend using a consistent system when it comes to renaming files. This will tie your entire collection together, despite the years that may separate certain pictures. Professional organizers also encourage you to find a system and style of renaming photos that will work best for you. Feel free to make variations on the following suggestion, but whatever naming convention you pick, be consistent.
Who, what, when and where naming approach. This naming system — who, what, when and where — has proved to be the most popular with professionals. For this system, you’ll include people, event, date and location in the file’s name. An easy reference to remember this organizational tool is: YYYY-MM-DD-location-event-who-sequence number. For example, a birthday party for your mom, Susan Smith, in San Francisco on May 23 would look like this: 2017-05-23-san-francisco-birthday-party-mom-susan-smith-JPG-2839.
Once you have named individual files, you can put images in folders. Professional photo organizers have found that the simplest way is to organize by year, and you always have the option to further consolidate by decade. You can also create folders for specific people, such as your kids, or events, such as vacations and sports matches.
Where to find missing details. If you are unable to recall the specifics of a photo, refer to the file’s metadata. All you have to do is right-click the photo and then click on the option that says “get info” or “properties” to view the file’s metadata. This will reveal the date the image was created, which is vital for the above photo renaming system. But you’ll also find the file size, the name of the device that took the image and sometimes even the location.
Why do this now? The work may seem tedious at first, but consider the even more daunting task of trying to find specific image years from now if your photos aren’t organized. This is why photo naming matters! Start renaming your photos, and in the future, your family members will also be able to easily locate photos to share with their loved ones.
Is the idea of organizing your life in photos too daunting? Or maybe you just inherited a storage unit full of your great grandfather’s photo collection? We get it – these treasures can be a real bear to manage. Ask about our professional photo organizing services and we’d be happy to take this project off your hands.
Your story is meant to be shared – and now is the perfect time to do it! Don’t wait until it’s too late to protect those photos of your grandparents, your high school prom and that family vacation to the Grand Canyon.
https://camerashopmuskegon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2021/05/Main-image.jpg3601125Natalie Gunnhttps://camerashopmuskegon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2024/03/TCS_PRlogo_web.jpgNatalie Gunn2021-05-22 10:26:292023-10-25 19:17:36TIPS FOR BETTER SEARCHABILITY OF YOUR IMAGES LONG TERM
From photographs and snapshots to graphics and logos – there are literally hundreds of creative ways to decorate your walls today. The best part is that you’re never limited to a cookie-cutter solution.
Not everyone is a visionary in this arena – and that’s where we come in! Our in-house design experts will bring your vision to life by helping you select the right materials, the right sizes and the right overall look for your space.
https://camerashopmuskegon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2021/02/main.graphic-1.jpg321845Natalie Gunnhttps://camerashopmuskegon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2024/03/TCS_PRlogo_web.jpgNatalie Gunn2021-05-05 11:58:372021-03-02 11:02:02ENDLESS WAYS TO DECORATE
Mobile technology makes digitizing keepsakes like old printed photos easy! But before you go any further – this tutorial is designed for people with just a handful of prints to digitize. Do NOT use this method if you have a closet full of prints! Instead, bring those into our shop and our archiving team would be happy to assist!
When you’re finished, you’ll have:
Shareable Digital Files (for texting or email)
Back-Up Copy (should anything ever happen to the original print)
Even though ceremonies and gatherings may still be limited – there’s no reason to dial back the celebration! Show your support and pride with personalized keepsakes, announcements and décor! Put those wonderful senior portraits on display with a variety of creative products and prints. Here are a few Grad Party Decor Tips that will make your event stand out!
Flashback to when your grad was a baby, starting school and growing up before your eyes. Using photo prints, digital files and video clips, we can produce a show-stopping video montage that guests will love! Plus, this makes a great keepsake when it comes time to pass down her memorabilia.
Create a DIY display table, aka “shrine” to your graduate with certificates, the diploma, photographs, photo books, framed prints and other special keepsakes. Create depth and varying heights for visual interest. Use easels and risers to avoid simply setting everything flat on the table.
Social Selfie Frames are a great way to capture fun snapshots of your guests. Customize your frame with the grad’s name and year or in a design theme of your choice! We promise this will be a hit!
Print images from your grad’s Instagram in 4×4″ squares for easy clipping to branches. Place them in a beautiful vase and use colorful clothespins as a design accent!
If you have an abundance of photos and keepsakes, use open areas of your home or party venue to display things like yearbooks, posters and awards.
Let the grad choose the color scheme if you want to decorate in something other than traditional school colors. This DIY garland is something the grad can make with ease and it adds color and style to your event!
https://camerashopmuskegon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2021/04/Main.graphic-5.jpg321845Natalie Gunnhttps://camerashopmuskegon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2024/03/TCS_PRlogo_web.jpgNatalie Gunn2021-04-05 09:32:302023-10-25 19:24:57GRAD 2021: Celebrate your Senior!
Organizing a closet full of pictures doesn’t have to be a challenge. First, think about the best way to categorize or sort your prints – by subject, event or date – whatever method works best for you. It also helps to imagine how you would search for specific images in the future once the prints are digitized.
The video above shows you an easy way to prepare photos and memorabilia to be digitized and archived.
Professional archiving is our jam!
Is the idea of organizing your life in photos too daunting? Or maybe you just inherited a storage unit full of your great grandfather’s photo collection? We get it – these treasures can be a real bear to manage. Ask about our professional photo organizing services and we’d be happy to take this project off your hands.
Your story is meant to be shared – and now is the perfect time to do it! Don’t wait until it’s too late to protect those photos of your grandparents, your high school prom and that family vacation to the Grand Canyon.
https://camerashopmuskegon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2021/03/Untitled-1.jpg321845Natalie Gunnhttps://camerashopmuskegon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2024/03/TCS_PRlogo_web.jpgNatalie Gunn2021-03-08 09:48:232023-10-25 19:27:44HOW TO PREPARE PRINTED PHOTOS FOR DIGITIZING
Concierge Archiving Services
If you love a good project and tackling that cluttered photo closet (or desktop computer) doesn’t scare you – go ahead and dive right in! After all, you have a personal connection to all those memories and you know exactly what you want to keep or toss. Here are a few Pro Tips for those of you who are managing a photo organizing project on your own:
Begin by sorting based on subject, event, or date. Choose a categorizing method that makes the most sense for you. Think ahead to how you and your family will want to access these memories in the future. If you’re working with printed photos – make piles or use small bins. If you’re organizing digital files – create folders and name them based on your preferred sorting method.
Toss or delete multiple or redundant images from the same event. After all, do you really need to keep 26 images from little Chloe’s birthday party? Also, eliminate duplicates or poor quality shots where the lighting or subject matter isn’t up to par. The goal here, is to refine your photo collection to only the “best of the best” images/photos.
Decide what you want to do with the physical photos and memorabilia long term. Do you simply want your photo closet more organized? Do you want to digitize all of your printed photographs? Do you want to make photo books for family members? Knowing your end goal, will help you make decisions on how to complete your project.
Let the local expert do the heavy lifting
Sure, you could scan your family photographs one by one on a home scanner, but do you really want to give up your weekends for the next 6 months?
Trusted local photo experts (like us), have the equipment, training, and professional experience to manage this portion of the project for you. We’ll carefully digitize, color correct and save your printed memories as digital files. Once your memories are in a digital format – you have countless ways to share them with family members and make fun photo creations with them.
PRO TIP: Determine which family members would like a copy of your digital files – not only today but also in the future. It’s easiest and most affordable to order multiple copies of your files at the time of digitizing. Think about your children, your siblings, your parents, etc.
Hiring a Professional
If a project like this just isn’t for you or if you’re managing an extreme amount of memorabilia – then you may want to consider hiring a professional to help sort, name, and organize the items. Our archiving team can help you get started and advise you on the best way to approach your project. We also have relationships with local professional organizers and archivists who can assist as well.
Creatively Cute Wedding Gifts + Keepsakes
Creatively Cute Wedding Gifts + Keepsakes
Make your day unique and personal!
Photos can make your wedding day more personal and after the event, they can live on for years after! Here are some creative ways to bring photography to your celebration and beyond!
Please, please, please – don’t let those gorgeous professional photographs sit on your computer gathering dust. Select a few favorites and get them up on the walls of your home as canvas prints, framed decor or even a gallery wall with multiple shots.
Of course, the bride and groom will want a wedding album filled with images and snapshots from the celebration, but professional photo books are also a great gift for parents, grandparents and the wedding party!
Trendy personalized gifts are always a favorite at any wedding! Bring us your ideas and we will help you design a special gift for your guests or wedding party.
Gift this adorably cute heart collage to the newly engaged couple. Gather images from their social media and surprise them with the perfect engagement gift.
Need help on a project like this?
Join us in the design process while we create the perfect solutions for your day. Choose from hundreds of ideas for gift giving and personal storytelling. Here are just a few…
– Save the Date Cards + Magnets
– Announcements + Thank You Notes
– Guest Book
– Personalized Bridal Party Gifts
– Custom Keepsakes
– Imagery + Reception Décor
– Video Productions + Slideshows
– Prints + Memorabilia (from your wedding day photos)
– Photo Books (for yourself, the bridal party + your parents)
– Home Decor (showcasing your professional photographs)
– Passport Photos (for the honeymoon)
Passport Photo
Passport need updating? Don’t forget the photo! Walk-in’s are always welcome!
The world is yours to explore with a passport in hand. Have your picture taken in our studio by our professional staff. We promise to take as many photos as needed to pass U.S. Department of State regulation at no additional charge. A few things to keep in mind when traveling:
If your travel plans include cross-border travel from the United States, your passport or passport card need to be up-to-date. Some countries require that travelers hold valid passports for a certain period of time before entry. All travelers and citizens of the U.S., regardless of age, are required to present a valid passport or passport card when entering or leaving the country at any airport or border crossing.
Passport photos can also be used for the convenient and less expensive U.S. passport card. The passport card is valid when traveling between the U.S and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean or Bermuda at land-border crossing or ports-of-entry at sea.
Bring back the 80’s + 90’s and protect those priceless home movies!
TIME IS RUNNING OUT!
Because of environmental factors, VHS tapes are literally deteriorating and degrading as we speak. Not to mention the fact that VCRs are virtually non-existent for viewing them. If you wait too long to digitize home movies, there might be nothing there to capture or view.
YOUR KIDS WANT TO WATCH
Trust us – your kids and grandkids WILL want to watch these… if not today, someday.
FAMILY HISTORY
As the family historian, it’s your duty to preserve the family legacy (a.k.a. memorabilia). Once you have a home movie digitized, it becomes a file that is easily shared with other members of your family.
Keep your memorabilia local – here’s why:
Who wouldn’t be devastated if suddenly their priceless home movies were lost in the mail, misplaced or damaged by a shipping carrier?
Sentimental irreplaceable possessions like photos, videos and home movies should NEVER be shipped away to an unknown location or service provider. It’s just too risky! Things could get lost, damaged or never find their way back to you.
Instead, talk to a professional archiving expert (like us). You need someone who really gets it. Our shop is full of dedicated people who care about your life being documented. We stake our reputation on it. Best of all – money spent locally stays local. Let us handle your photo life so you can get back to real life!
LOCAL PRINT EXPERT
When it’s sentimental or involves your sensitive personal information (like photos), you want to talk to a professional face to face so you can trust their recommendation.
Passion. You need someone who really gets it. Our shop is full of dedicated people who care about your life being documented. We stake our reputation on it.
Quality. We can find, fix, and finish any photo from any device right now! No waiting weeks for products to arrive and no question of quality!
Support. We’re here for you today and after the purchase. Stop in and speak to a human photo pro – anytime. Best of all – money spent locally stays local.
Engage the services of a photo professional like us! We’re experts at finding, creating, and printing your photos locally, so you can hold them close. We make amazing photo products right here, fast. Let us handle your photo life.
TIPS FOR BETTER SEARCHABILITY OF YOUR IMAGES LONG TERM
Today, we don’t give our digital photos much attention once they’re captured on our devices. Instead, we may think about doing something with them only when our phones run out of memory and prompt us to make more room by exporting the photos to other storage devices. Years of this saving go by, and then we find ourselves in the unforgiving sea of unnamed images.
Most people use the default file naming structure for our digital photos like IMG_9876 or JPG-2839. Unfortunately, these unidentifiable names leave many of us drowning in a sea of thousands of photos with no way to locate specific memories.
Using metadata and a consistent file renaming pattern increases the “searchability,” of your images. If you want to be able to quickly find your images, it’s important to start renaming your files now. Otherwise, a decade from now when you’re looking for a photo of your daughter’s first day of school to post on her graduation day, you might be wanting to pull your hair out as you try to locate it.
Consistency is key. Professional photo organizers recommend using a consistent system when it comes to renaming files. This will tie your entire collection together, despite the years that may separate certain pictures. Professional organizers also encourage you to find a system and style of renaming photos that will work best for you. Feel free to make variations on the following suggestion, but whatever naming convention you pick, be consistent.
Who, what, when and where naming approach. This naming system — who, what, when and where — has proved to be the most popular with professionals. For this system, you’ll include people, event, date and location in the file’s name. An easy reference to remember this organizational tool is: YYYY-MM-DD-location-event-who-sequence number. For example, a birthday party for your mom, Susan Smith, in San Francisco on May 23 would look like this: 2017-05-23-san-francisco-birthday-party-mom-susan-smith-JPG-2839.
Once you have named individual files, you can put images in folders. Professional photo organizers have found that the simplest way is to organize by year, and you always have the option to further consolidate by decade. You can also create folders for specific people, such as your kids, or events, such as vacations and sports matches.
Where to find missing details. If you are unable to recall the specifics of a photo, refer to the file’s metadata. All you have to do is right-click the photo and then click on the option that says “get info” or “properties” to view the file’s metadata. This will reveal the date the image was created, which is vital for the above photo renaming system. But you’ll also find the file size, the name of the device that took the image and sometimes even the location.
Why do this now? The work may seem tedious at first, but consider the even more daunting task of trying to find specific image years from now if your photos aren’t organized. This is why photo naming matters! Start renaming your photos, and in the future, your family members will also be able to easily locate photos to share with their loved ones.
Is the idea of organizing your life in photos too daunting? Or maybe you just inherited a storage unit full of your great grandfather’s photo collection? We get it – these treasures can be a real bear to manage. Ask about our professional photo organizing services and we’d be happy to take this project off your hands.
Your story is meant to be shared – and now is the perfect time to do it! Don’t wait until it’s too late to protect those photos of your grandparents, your high school prom and that family vacation to the Grand Canyon.
ENDLESS WAYS TO DECORATE
QUICK PRINT SHARING
Mobile technology makes digitizing keepsakes like old printed photos easy! But before you go any further – this tutorial is designed for people with just a handful of prints to digitize. Do NOT use this method if you have a closet full of prints! Instead, bring those into our shop and our archiving team would be happy to assist!
When you’re finished, you’ll have:
GRAD 2021: Celebrate your Senior!
HOW TO PREPARE PRINTED PHOTOS FOR DIGITIZING
Organizing a closet full of pictures doesn’t have to be a challenge. First, think about the best way to categorize or sort your prints – by subject, event or date – whatever method works best for you. It also helps to imagine how you would search for specific images in the future once the prints are digitized.
The video above shows you an easy way to prepare photos and memorabilia to be digitized and archived.
Professional archiving is our jam!
Is the idea of organizing your life in photos too daunting? Or maybe you just inherited a storage unit full of your great grandfather’s photo collection? We get it – these treasures can be a real bear to manage. Ask about our professional photo organizing services and we’d be happy to take this project off your hands.
Your story is meant to be shared – and now is the perfect time to do it! Don’t wait until it’s too late to protect those photos of your grandparents, your high school prom and that family vacation to the Grand Canyon.