How to deal with your photographs

When you're first getting started, it can be overwhelming to deal with your photographs. Fortunately, many people have gotten into digital photography now--using programs like iPhoto to store, sort and label your photos is a great way to stay organized. You print out just the best shots for your layouts. A word of advice: it's worth the investment to backup your photos regularly. Use a secondary disk drive--even if you just periodically make a copy of all your photos onto a CD--so you have a copy of them in case of a hard drive failure or a fire.
Most of us, though we may be living in a digital age, still have some prints. What do we do with them? If you're like me, I had a huge box (or two) of photos, in something close to chronological order--when the film was developed. It can be a daunting task to go through these prints and figure out what to do with them. Here are some tips:
Make a list of the albums you'd like to make, and make notes as to which photos to include and as to how you'd eventually like the pictures sorted. Here's a sample list:

• Baby David (birth - 2 years, chronological)
• Baby Kate (birth - 2 years, chronological)
• Wedding (professional and friendly photos, plus honeymoon)
• Christmas (by year)
• Personal Growth (high school, college, other artistic education years, chronological)
  
• Book of Us (milestones in our marriage relationship, chronological)
• Best Shots (artistic photos and favorites shots, no order)
  
• Family album (any other photos, chronological)

Start sorting! You'll need some temporary containers for this process. I use a two-step sorting technique:

1. Sort by the general album. Put every picture into an album pile. As you're sorting, it might become clear you need another album, so add another pile. As painful as it is, if you find a shot that is out of focus or blurry, throw it out. If you can't identify who or what it is (and you don't know anyone who can), throw it out. (Make a help-me pile, if you need to.)
2. Sort each album pile by its theme. Sort each album pile into three piles--to be scrapped, to be kept elsewhere, and to be tossed (in case you missed any the first time through). Store the extra photos in a box or an acid free photo album. When determining which photos to scrapbook, start considering the size of your album now--how many photos will easily fit on the page, how many shots of a particular occasion will you need, and which are the best shots to use. Sometimes, a memory can be enhanced when you use multiple shots of a particular event (see my July 2007 page).

If you're anxious to get started, you can go through this process box by box and start scrapping right away. However, you may find more photos of an event you've already scrapbooked in other boxes. If you find more than one, great: add another layout. Most albums will allow you to insert and rearrange pages. But you may just find a single photo. A great shot. Then what? So I recommend you do step one with all your photos, and step two with just your first project. Then start scrapping.
Just a few basics on photos: First, you should store your photos where you live--not too hot or too cold, not too wet or dry. Don't put them in your garage! Second, if it's your only copy, consider cropping carefully. Or, if you aren't the original photographer, do not crop the photograph. In my experience, it can be offensive to people to crop photos. Especially with older photographs, just leave them whole. Third, if it's a Polaroid, make a copy (preferably a digital copy) to use in your scrapbook and never cut the original. Fourth, acid content (and the lack thereof) is very important in scrapbooking. If an item is touching your photo, make sure it is acid-free, or it will fade your photos over time. Finally, if you print your photos, be aware that most printer inks fade faster than photographs do. You can buy printers that archival ink, but it wouldn't hurt to include a CD in the back of your finished scrapbook that includes digital copies of all the prints you used.
Hope this helps you--don't be too overwhelmed. If you hesitate to go through that big box of photos, start small with a theme-specific album that doesn't require that you collect all your photos in advance. Have a good time and make great art!