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| Image: Charisse Kenion, Unsplash |
(Luckily I had two new photo albums that I bought almost six months ago for this job, yes, six months ago! If you don't have stockpiled albums like me, you may be able to repurpose one you already have, or else have all your photos ready to go into an album once you can get to the shops.)
Here's my method:
Firstly tip all your photos out on the floor, facing up so you can see them, of course!
The, put face-down in a 'throw away' pile out to the side, any photos that:
- Are blurry
- Are of people you don't know
- Give you a bad feeling
- Bring back unhappy memories
- Etc, etc.
After that, start sorting photos into rough piles. I go by decades mostly, and within that, holidays, occasions and putting photos together that you can see were taken on the same day.
Once you've done your rough piles, start with the oldest pile and put them in the album first. Put them into date order as well as you can without dithering too much. Do your best while working fast and just get them into the slots (I prefer cellophane slots over stick-on pages for everyday albums versus something like a wedding album where you might want it to be a bit more special and designery). You can always refine the order of photos once you've finished if you want to.
Then move onto the next oldest pile and put them in the album. As you go, try and keep the like photos or occasions together. Throw out any duplicates (or put them aside for family/friends who might like them too) and take this opportunity to throw out any more that you wonder why aren't in the 'throw away' pile already.
Keep on going and before too long your floor will be clean, except for the face down 'throw away' pile. If you must, have a quick flick through these photos before you put them in a rubbish bag, just to make sure you haven't thrown out a keeper. You will very quickly see that none of these photos are interesting to you.
Amazingly enough all of this doesn't take very long. My batch today took a couple of hours, but even if you have tons of photos you'll get it done within a day I'm sure, or perhaps a couple of sessions split over two days.
It's such a nice feeling to have this job done. I've gone from one big tin of photos and two crusty old albums to one nice, new album which is fun to flick through because it's in chronological order and contains only the best and nicest photos of people, pets and places. There are no more far-away blurry giraffes from a family zoo visit in the 1980s!
Have I convinced you to sort out your photos yet, or are you already filed and ready to view?
xx Fiona
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You can find me here too:
I love scrapbooking photos, I just never make the time to actually do it. No time like the present with the whole family in isolation. Thank you for inspiring me to get back into gear and get those photos and albums sorted.
ReplyDeleteHi Fiona - Great post! I always took photos and put them in albums..with captions. Dated. Then the years flew past and we downsized to an apartment. I had over 35 albums and there was no way I was taking them with me. Each night as we got ready to move my dear husband and I would sit down and do one album. Rules...blurry, just scenery, weddings of people who divorced 20 years ago, all got purged. I got all the photos into one pretty photo box. Years ago I did the same with my family photos when my mother passed away...divided them up between my siblings and gave each a box. Now I want to scan them into the computer so they are backed up and protected...and I can show them on the tv when family visits! Good for you...it is a wonderful feeling to get a project like that accomplished. Stay safe and be healthy !
ReplyDeleteI need to sort through a year's worth of photos and get them printed (I still like physical photos and albums.) You've reminded me to get on this! Stay safe.
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