https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 12 May 2026 12:41:49 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2054525 Wed, 04 Feb 2015 17:39:40 +0000 Beehive 2054525@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I take way too many photos. But all the raw files uploaded from my camera go to our backup drive, so it doesn't matter that there are tens of thousands of photos on there. Here is how I organize:</p> <p>(1) Monthly Picasa albums (a pared down set of around 100-150 photos/month) that I share with immediate family, including in-laws in London, who really appreciate getting to see lots of photos of DS since they can't visit often;</p> <p>(2) From those albums I choose a few favorites and add to a running Flickr set, which I share with Flickr and Facebook friends; and</p> <p>(3) Hard copy printed albums - I print all the photos from the Picasa albums on Mpix and end up using probably a little over half in the albums. Old school paper albums with photo corners.</p> <p>Yes, I'm crazy, but I really love photos (especially photos of DS) and my family really loves seeing everything DS is up to in the photo albums. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2054405 Wed, 04 Feb 2015 16:23:58 +0000 shellio 2054405@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrskc: @sunny: I tag all of my photos with keywords too, as I import them. It is tedious but totally worth it for exactly what sunny described, when I go back and make annual calendars for the family it is super easy to find pics of the specific person I am looking for. Ok, now I'm inspired to start using ratings. And smart collections. What a great idea!</p> <p>mrskc - There are lots of plug ins you can use for lightroom and I'm sure Shutterfly has one. I know smugmug does and that's what I use, also facebook and flickr have them. Then light room can upload directly too the photo site. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2054120 Wed, 04 Feb 2015 14:00:07 +0000 sunny 2054120@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrskc: All of my data (photos, docs, music, etc.) is backed up automatically to a Crashplan account (unlim space for $60/year). Once it is setup, it monitors my computer for new or changed files and it will upload the latest version. </p> <p>Another cool thing you can do with your photos once you have them all tagged is do searches like this: "Mom + Son" or "Son + Daughter" or "Mom + Dad + Son + Daughter", etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2054083 Wed, 04 Feb 2015 13:46:58 +0000 mrskc 2054083@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sunny: ok I see. Yeah I didn't even know I could do that in LR. lol I did notice I could rate photos. I'll have to look into it. Maybe try it out and see what method I like. So I backup all my photos to an external hard drive. But to dropbox I only backup favs because of space constraints. How do you backup? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2054057 Wed, 04 Feb 2015 13:34:44 +0000 sunny 2054057@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrskc: You can rate photos (e.g. 5 star) and then create "smart" collections to grab all of the photos that meet a particular criteria.</p> <p>For instance, to grab all the best photos of your child from 2014, you can rate your best photos with 5* and also add Keywords like their name or event. </p> <p>Then create a smart collection with the criteria:<br /> -Rated 5 star<br /> -Contains Keyword "Child's name"<br /> -Date Taken between 01/01/2014 and 12/31/2014</p> <p>If you're making a photo book, you can then select all photos in this collection, then export them to a specific folder on your desktop. That way they'll have all of the edits you've made. You can delete the newly exported photos afterwards so you don't get confused as to which is the master copy. </p> <p>This is how I do it, but there is no right or wrong way. :-)</p> <p>ETA- I just saw that you don't want to backup all of your photos. Is there a reason why not? Is it due to space constraints? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2054024 Wed, 04 Feb 2015 13:21:09 +0000 mrskc 2054024@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sunny: I guess, how else will I separate them out? Unless you know a better way?! I don't want to delete ALL of my photos. So like some xmas pics I took of the kids. I had like 30 altogether but picked out maybe like 5 or so favorites. I don't want to delete the other 25 pics but I want to easily find the favorites and have them separate. Then I can just upload my favorites folders to Shutterfly to make my yearly photo book and just backup favorites so I'm not backing up tens of thousands of photos. Does that make sense? Or is there a better way? </p> <p>@shellio: I'm sure I'm not using lightroom to it's full potential. I only just learned of tagging photos from another thread on HB recently. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2053927 Wed, 04 Feb 2015 12:42:33 +0000 sunny 2053927@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrskc: Why do you make a separate copy? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2053913 Wed, 04 Feb 2015 12:37:15 +0000 shellio 2053913@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrskc: Interesting. I keep all my Lightroom photos on a separate hard drive. The program is so powerful and I keep thinking I'm not using the full potential! I love it though. I think I will start using more of the sorting features - I like your idea of marking favorites and might try doing those as a "collection". </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2053891 Wed, 04 Feb 2015 12:27:10 +0000 mrskc 2053891@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@shellio: I don't know if this is the easiest way, but I don't use lightroom to pic favs. I create a separate folder for my favorites. Then I put the folders side by side on my computer and copy and paste images into the fav folder. I try to do it as the month ends... but yeah I'm still working on sorting through November 2014. I upload all my iPhone pics as well so I'm sorting through phone pics and DSLR pics. I know in Picassa you can star favorite images, but I like having them all in a separate folder. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2053445 Wed, 04 Feb 2015 08:34:52 +0000 shellio 2053445@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrskc: Oh I love the idea of keeping a faves folder for each month! That sounds ideal - and I will look into backing up those to dropbox. How do you identify these in lightroom? The only marker (stars, colors etc) I frequently use is that I color pics red when I'm quickly going through, then go back later and delete all the red pics. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2050504 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 10:57:08 +0000 mrskc 2050504@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ugh, I'm a pic hoarder too!!! I probably have in the tens of thousands of pics of my kids. yikes. If I'm taking pics on my DSLR, I do my best to eliminate as many as possible before I upload. Then I put them in lightroom and sort through them. </p> <p>So I usually just go through all the pics first. Deleting obvious ones first (blurry, etc). Then I go back through the pics, and focus on one pose at a time (because yeah I end up taking like 10 pics of the same pose). I delete ones that are very similar or I just don't love. I try to keep it at 2-3 per pose. Or sometimes I tell myself, I have to weed down the amount of photos to 10 or 20 or something and keep deleting until I get to that amount. </p> <p>What I've been doing is creating a favs folder for each month and I go through and copy all my absolute favorite pics into that folder to use to make a yearly photo book in Shutterfly. I also upload these fav folders to dropbox (I upgraded and pay for storage), so I at least have all my favorites backed up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2050471 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 10:41:19 +0000 ktdid23 2050471@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Champagne: Thanks for the reply! I need to get moving on some chat books.... I'm about 4 years behind on family photo albums. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2050446 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 10:31:16 +0000 Espion 2050446@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Champagne: Are they printed on that shiny photo paper and bound together or more regular paper? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2050426 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 10:16:19 +0000 edelweiss 2050426@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>i try to go through my pictures on the camera every 1 or 2 weeks. i'm pretty ruthless with deleting pictures. if they're blurry or not great, they're gone (there are a few exceptions, but rarely). i email a choice few (or 5 or 10) to my family when i go through these sessions. i have yet to make an album though, which i need to do! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2050418 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 10:11:47 +0000 Mrs. Champagne 2050418@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Espion: @ktdid23: pretty good. They are paper back. The image isn't super duper sharp but I think it's good. You can edit out the captions. So my books each page just as the picture and the date it was posted. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2050242 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 08:37:51 +0000 Cole 2050242@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: shutterfly has a site called my life.com that offers the ability to star photos and it integrates with shutterfly to order prints. I like it a lot but there are storage limits for the free version. I am currently debating paying for the upgraded version. </p> <p>@78h2o: I am a photo hoarder too! I have realized though that I love having albums to look at so I am trying hard to pare down and get then done. It's helping me that I came up with a plan for my photos. I decided to do one project life album for our family each year, in the future the style may change but I want one book for the year. I am doing a photo a day of our baby and posting it to Instagram to do a set of chatbooks. I haven't ordered yet but I figured if I find like the quality after the first one I will switch gears and upload then elsewhere. I am also doing 8*8 shutterfly books of special events, her newborn photos, Christmas, vacations etc. </p> <p>It sort of sounds like a lot but the photo a day helps me cull my photos daily, I go through all of them each day and delete the blurry or otherwise awful ones. I should delete the duplicates and save only the best few but I can't bring myself to do it yet! </p> <p>The 8*8 books I see as icing on the cake so I don't fret if I don't get to them but I am glad when I do. </p> <p>One other thing I have toyed with is doing a slideshow style thing that I can share with family online and that would help me sort out the keepers from the trash too.</p> <p>Long story short, I think having s project (or five) associated with paring down helps be remember my goal and stick to it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2050238 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 08:30:20 +0000 cascademom 2050238@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Champagne: I use my IG pics as the basis of my Shutterfly calendars. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2050227 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 08:18:02 +0000 looch 2050227@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My husband purges our photos when he uploads them from the camera. He is very picky about the final product, so it helps us weed out from the beginning. And he takes a ton of photos at a time, but will end up with one or two good shots.</p> <p>I also do a traditional photo album per year, 300 photos and that is it. I find it much easier to manage than a printed photo book. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2050153 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 03:32:17 +0000 lamariniere 2050153@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I use a site called zenfolio. It's a paid site with several package options, but I have one of the smaller ones that gives me unlimited storage (so I don't delete everything). You can upload all of your photos there and organize them in galleries or however you want. They can be public or private, so you can share certain galleries with grandparents or whoever, or keep everything in lockdown mode. I've been using it for 3 years and all of my photos are there (I'm a big photography buff). They also have apps for your phone or tablet, so you can upload photos directly to your account.</p> <p>I tend to save a lot of photos that I shouldn't, but I should be more careful about deleting them before uploading them to zenfolio. I don't think there is a specific number, but from any one event, I would go through and get rid of the blurry and poorly exposed photos, then get rid of any duplicate or similar shots, and then keep the rest. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2049795 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 18:38:13 +0000 MrsMccarthy 2049795@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Here here! I am out of control! No solutions unfortunately but I am hoping to get an iPhone with more storage. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2049760 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 17:42:52 +0000 ktdid23 2049760@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Champagne: How is the quality of ChatBooks? I've been meaning to order a few... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2049741 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 17:12:56 +0000 shellio 2049741@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ugh this is such a problem for me. As for deleting, I try to go through when I see a bunch that look almost the same and delete all but 1-2. You know... when LO is sitting there eating and being really cute and most shots are blurry, several have the exact same face, etc. As for making a photo book I know it will take me so long (because I'm a perfectionist like PPs) but want to do them someday - goal is 0-6 mos, 6-12 mos, then annually for each LO.</p> <p>I am very organized about my photos but sometimes wonder why I'm doing it when I haven't really done anything with them. In case it helps anyone, I use Adobe Lightroom for my photos. I can import them from my phone, hubby's phone, iPads, and cameras. There is a learning curve but its not too challenging to get started. The program does cost money but I really like it and if you're involved in education (teacher, student) there are good discounts. Anyway I thought I'd throw that out there. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2049737 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 17:04:48 +0000 Espion 2049737@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Champagne: How is the quality of the chatbooks? I just re-downloaded Instagram just to potentially use this feature. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2049730 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 16:55:22 +0000 Mae 2049730@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My step-MIL makes like 4 scrapbooks per year still. It's too much. We never even look at them because it is just overwhelming. I would just aim for doing 1 album per year. Save what makes you smile or what you want to specifically remember. But don't try to use everything. We can't try to hop onto EVERY memory in print-- it's just too much. I like blurb for albums. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2049711 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 16:36:59 +0000 littlejoy 2049711@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: Oh, well it would actually be a computer program. I use Adobe Bridge on my laptop and Photo Mechanic on my desktop computer. </p> <p>I would guess that a standard photo editing program MIGHT have an option to rate or star photos. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2049701 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 16:24:41 +0000 Anagram 2049701@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Champagne: I have it, but I don't use it much and they are typically just iphone pics instead of the better dslr pics. I need some way to print and organize all the photos on my laptop. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2049699 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 16:23:38 +0000 Anagram 2049699@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@littlejoy: Whats the app? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2049684 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 16:04:14 +0000 littlejoy 2049684@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm a photographer, so yeah, I have 3,765.284 photos! Ha. </p> <p>I open an app that allows me to star or rate the photos. I go through quickly and give the keepers a star. Then, I pick all of the unrated photos and delete them. I don't question it, I just go with it. Otherwise, I would need off-site storage. </p> <p>Then, I do a monthly print with Postal Pix for my phone photos and a monthly print with Shutterfly for 4x6 prints from our camera. </p> <p>All prints go into a 12x12 album (for each year). I got the sleeves and albums from scrapbooks.com. The brand is Memories R Us or something cheesy like that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2049667 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 15:45:48 +0000 78h2o 2049667@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Champagne: I don't, but maybe I should think about that. It's sad, I don't even know how instagram works! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-i-might-be-a-digital-photo-hoarder#post-2049666 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 15:45:15 +0000 78h2o 2049666@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ok, one tip I just read online was that once you've shared pics with others, you don't need to save a bunch of photos of other people's kids. I have lots of pics from friends' birthday parties, play dates, etc., so I might try to narrow those pics down to just 4-5 from each event. </p>