One of my favorite blogs from The Association of Professional Photo Organizers is a list of 21 Things that Photos Organizers Want You to Know. I’ve edited my own version for you.
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’s a few things that photo organizers from The Association of Professional Photo Organizers want you to know.
1. 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 as an exciting challenge, not an embarrassing mess.
- Adam Pratt, Chaos to Memories
2. 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
3. Start with the end in mind. How will you enjoy your photos, once the work is done?
- Kathy Stone, Calgary Photo Solutions
4. 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
5. Organizing your photos yourself will take longer than you think. Photo organizers have the software, workflows, and experience to be more efficient.
- Karen Herman, Organized Photos Forever
6. 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
7. 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
8. A- This project will take a while. You’ve been accumulating family photos for decades and it will take a while to get them organized.
B- This project won’t be cheap.
C- You could do it yourself, but you won’t.
- Adam Pratt, Chaos to Memories
9. Photo Organizers care deeply about getting the details right for your family and your legacy … 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 Woosley, Memory Forward
10. 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
Your project is as unique as your memories, and your memories are worth preserving!