Do you keep an overwhelming amount of digital photos? These tips and guidelines will help you keep only your best photos and store them so that you can find and enjoy them.
Quality over quantity
- Follow the 80/20 rule: commit to keeping only the 20 percent of your shots that are excellent. Delete the flawed or mediocre 80 percent.
- Keep only the shots that are central to your memories of the event.
- Delete duplicates and flawed shots.
- Keep the photos that show clear stages of a story or of an event. What images show the beginning, middle and end of your story?
- Plan ahead for a few minutes to identify key moments or people you want to capture in your photos. Make a short list so that you remember.
As you shoot and upload
- Prevent overload by checking and deleting bad shots on the spot.
- Immediately delete any photos that are blurry, over- or under-exposed, or with flaws (people with their eyes closed, etc.)
- Review them again when you upload them and pick only your best ones.
Organize Them So that You Can Find Them
- Create folders that identify the date and person or event, such as “Family Vacation 2015,” “Mom’s 75th Birthday” or “Baseball Team 2015.”
- Use numerals rather than the names of months so that they will be listed in chronological order.
- Use your categories and naming conventions consistently.
Rachel M. Gambone is the owner of ReOrganize with Rachel, LLC. In addition to general home organizing, she specializes in helping you organize your office, papers and digital information. Her signature approach is positive organizing where she builds on your strengths, helps you find your treasures, and teaches you life-long organizing skills. See more organizing tips and a link to her free podcast at www.reorganizewithrachel.com.
