Alot of us use the camera in our smartphone now for everyday snapshots. It makes it easy to show them to others as they're right there in your pocket. But for those special occasions and holidays, we want better quality photos, so out comes the trusty digital camera. I'm someone who has always loved to take photos, my family sometimes calls me "the papparazzi" at special occasions, so having a way of keeping track of all those photos is really important.
Do you still have photos from Christmas or your last holiday still on your camera? Or maybe you've got a heap of photos from all different events jumbled up in the same folder on your computer?
It's easy enough to get motivated to transfer your pics to the computer because you want to see them on a bigger screen and see which ones really turned out well. There are a couple of extra steps though, that are quick and easy and if followed every time, will save alot of messing around searching for lost photos later.
Create a new folder for each occasion
I always organise my photos in folders in Windows. There are plenty of photo programs out there that have an organising component but some of them duplicate or resize your photos when you don't want to, and also sometimes software gets outdated. A simple folder in Windows (or Mac OS) will always be compatible later on. So I set up a folder for each different group of photoswithin the main "Photos" folder. How you want to categorise them is totally up to you and how you think you're likely to look for them later. It could be by date, event, place, people etc.
Give the folders meaningful names
For naming the folders, I use a system that includes the date and the event name. It goes:
[YEAR]-[MONTH] - Event name
, so for example
2012-08 - Mums birthday
. So if you sort your folder by name, the dates are going to all group together but I can also search by name if I'm looking for birthdays etc. If I have lots of miscellaneous pics from a period of time, I'll just call it
2012-08 - mixed
.
Delete the Dodgy Photos
This is one I have always struggled with, but if a photo is out of focus, overexposed, or someones head is cut off, then you are never going to print or display it anywhere, so it's just taking up valuable hard drive space. Hit Delete! Once you get past the initial hesitation it starts to feel good to get rid of that photo clutter. What you are left with is a folder of photos that you are proud to show off and won't bore your friends to tears.
Clear your memory card
Finally, once you've transferred your pics and you've made sure they are stored safely, make sure your memory card goes back in your camera and is erased, ready for the next photo opportunity. This way you won't be accidentally transferring and storing the same photos twice because you forgot you already did it. This is also a good time to charge your camera battery so it's ready to go at a moments notice.
Happy snapping!