It’s Skinny Down Your Photos Day!

With many people at home looking for projects to get done, don’t forget to review your electronic and paper photos. Most people these days have 1000’s of photos on their phones, tablets and computers. This is a great time to shrink those numbers, revisit some of the great memories and share some of your best photos to enrich other people’s day. 

This morning I did my own purge and was able to delete over 1000 electronic images. That is not as hard as you think. On vacation or at an event, we typically snap multiple images over the span of a few minutes. Many of those are almost identical in terms of people in the image and catching the essence of the moment. When I worked in the marketing industry, a professional photographer shared a valuable insight with me. He said he was happy if 10% of his photos were good enough to keep and print (this was in the era of film where everything had to go through a darkroom and get printed). In other words, he was trained to look for the top 10% and let the rest go. It’s about QUALITY and not quantity.

Delete those out of focus, multiple image shots and those where you have gotten someone with their eyes closed, part of their head outside the frame, the lighting is poor etc. I find that typically revisiting digital photos after 6 months, it becomes easier to delete/reduce to the best images.

It’s the same with those physical albums and boxes of family and travel photos. Sort, remember, share and divest. This is a great time to involve the kids so they have a sense of family history (they may never have seen Great Uncle Roger or heard the stories about his legendary travels). If your children are older and you have had boxes for years, send a box to them so they can remember and choose their favorite photos from their childhoods. During this particular time, being able to refer back to other times and build stronger bonds is very helpful.

Happy sorting, sharing, remembering and keeping only the best and meaningful photos. If you need anything, I’m WithinReach.biz …. Mary