It’s graduation season – and if it were not that, it could be wedding season or holiday season or new babies season (yep, that is every day!) or any other occasion where photos abound! Everyone is snapping photos, texting them to each other, sharing them on social media.
My first grandchild is graduating from high school – oh, my, where did the time go? Although we loved the senior photo session results (lots of great poses) and will take a ton of photos over the graduation and celebration time, there is a very big question on my mind.
My daughter-in-law was great at taking “first day of kindergarten” and “last day of kindergarten” pictures all the way through each grade up to the senior year. She posted the full gamut over the years on her Facebook page – I scrolled through them entranced by the memories flooding me at each stage watching the maturity and growth. And at appropriate stages, she inserted photos of the significant activities and family members.
What a treasure!!
And yes – my big question – where will these photos be in 5 years, 10 years, 50 years?
It makes me want to snatch them all up right now and quick-stream them into a digital photobook to be printed and saved. And the big final step, put the photobook pages in FOREVER’s permanent storage which her mom has wisely purchased to last her lifetime plus 100 years.
But the most fun (immediate gratification) is getting to pull this photobook off the shelf and look at it anytime I want. Yes, I could go to the digital site to view it, too, but I am still enjoying the physical photobooks. They are digitally created, and saved, and then printed in physical photobooks.
And, oh, how I wish I had saved and curated so many more of my own children’s photos –especially when my grandson wants to hear stories about his dad growing up. (I need memory help which photos prompt plus he loves seeing the pictures.)
I resonated with a blog titled “Why Photo Albums Are Important” which I saved from a website titled prophotobusiness.com. Great points – I just have to share them. As you read these, check your own photopath for your treasured photos (of yourself, ancestors, family members – anyone special to you):
- Organization of Memories – photobooks allow us to preserve and organize our photos in a tangible way. Instead of having to sort through piles of loose photos, we can keep them organized and easily accessible in an album. (digital or physical)
- Sharing with Family and Friends – photo albums provide a way to share our memories with others. We can flip through the album with friends and family, reliving the moments together and telling the stories behind the photos.
- Preservation of History – Photo albums are a way to preserve our history and pass it down to future generations. They allow us to document important events and moments in our lives, and share them with people who may not have been there to experience them in person.
- Preservation of Memories — Photo albums allow us to revisit our memories and relive important moments from our past. By flipping through the pages of any album we can transport ourselves back in time and remember the people, places, and experiences that have shaped our lives.
- Making Memories Physical – Photo albums help us to preserve the physical prints of our photos. In the digital age, it’s easy to take hundreds or even thousands of photos, but many of them may never be printed out and displayed. By keeping them organized in an album, we can ensure that the physical prints of our photos are not lost or damaged.
- Physical Documentation of Events – Photo albums provide a way to document the important events and milestones in our lives. From weddings and birthdays to vacations and holidays, photo albums allow us to capture and preserve these memories for future generations to enjoy.
- Nostalgia – Photo albums can be a source of nostalgia and sentimentality. Looking at old photos can bring back feelings of happiness, nostalgia, and even sadness, reminding us of how much we have changed and how much our loved ones have meant to us.
- Creative Outlets – Photo albums can be a creative outlet. Many people enjoy designing and decorating their photo albums, choosing themes and layouts that reflect their personalities and interests. This can be a fun and fulfilling hobby, and can result in beautiful, personal keepsakes.
As I shared above, my favored photoplan is digitally created, and saved, and then the key events, highlights and milestones printed in physical photobooks.
Why? Flipping through physical photobooks is a joy – especially when the stories, key information and treasured points are added in and amongst the photos. But the safest storage is digital in the cloud – I chose FOREVER permanent storage because of its album structure, easy accessibility, and the preservation for my lifetime plus 100 years. I love that in the album structure in the storage, each photo has attached to it all the story and information I want relevant to that photo.
OK – I asked you to check your own photopath (or plan) as you read through the above points. Any questions? Need help? Want to kick around some ideas? Just hit reply and let’s talk.
