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Taking Family Photos is Great…Protecting Them is Even Better
- by Andy Marken
Jennifer is typical of most Generation X new mothers who balance her marketing career, family life and enjoying her 10-month old daughter, Amy. After Bill (her husband) had accidentally overwritten the memory card with the digital photos and videos of their two-week visit with Amy’s grandparents in Maine.
Because it is so easy and economic to capture photos and videos on the 4MB cards they use in their digital camera, she estimates that together they must have taken more than 100 photos and 45 minutes of video of Amy, the parents and family mayhem.
“It wasn’t as though we had lost a year or two of Amy’s antics and progress,� Jennifer said, “and Bill is the first to admit he isn’t a great detail person. We can never recover those family photos and we did try -- software programs, recovery strategies �" nothing worked.�
That was when Jennifer decided that she was going to take on the task of “managing� the family’s video moments and memories.
Documenting BabyIn the 10 months since Amy came into the world Jennifer estimates she has accumulated more than 1500 photos and six hours of video on her notebook hard drive.
“They say you tend to shoot photos and video of everything the first child does and I think we’ve kept up with the neighbors,� she said with a smile. “I really think of the photos/videos as family heirlooms.�
When she first started chronicling Amy’s life Jennifer noted that she did little more than fill flash cards and file them away.
“Problem was whenever I wanted to look at the photos or show someone the cute things she had done I’d haul out the camera, find the right flash card and then find the photos or video,� she recalled.
But it didn’t take Jennifer long to find out there was more she could do with her digital family content.
First thing she did was move all of the photos/video to her notebook hard drive. This enabled her to email some of the best family photos to friends and relatives.
Next she bought an inexpensive software package that allowed her to crop photos and do color balancing as well as turn the shots into video slideshows complete with audio soundtracks, titles and exciting transitions and special effects.
Learning SourcesAccording to Jennifer the loss of the Maine family vacation content made her think more about the family content and being more proactive in storing, sharing, archiving the priceless digital files.
In the course of her online research she found a number of excellent informational and resource sites including PhotoStorageGuide.com. The website was created to provide consumers with a trusted source of information on sharing and protecting digital memories as well as helpful ideas for doing more with their photos.
The site also gave her an overview of her storage/archiving options.
PhotoStorageGuide.com provides a single site for all of the latest information on enhancing their digital photo experience. Designed with remarkable visuals that will inspire creativity, site visitors will find it easy to navigate from the home page to special sections on Archiving, Backup and Printing digital photos. Each section includes information on the various choices available, step-by-step instructions that walk the user through the procedure and links for more information.
“The site helped me determine how I wanted to set up and manage our family visual life before the volume of photo and video folders became overpowering,� She noted.
In addition she discovered how to design and produce unique digital scrapbooks for friends and family. “The great thing about digital files,� she noted, “is that you can animate the still shots by zooming in/out, rotate them and make them move across the screen. You can even insert videos so the entire project is fun, interesting and something you really want to watch and keep.�
Bill overwriting the Maine family photos was a wake-up call for Jennifer to think about how fragile the digital photos really were.
“It’s remarkable that you can almost produce a Hollywood-style movie with the stills and video content featuring rich soundtracks, audio control, slick transitions and special effects,� Jennifer noted.
Rather than chance losing photos, videos or digital scrapbooks again Jennifer said she followed a lot of the recommendations at PhotoStorageGuide.com.
Because the high definition photo and video files were taking up so much space on her laptop computer (average volume according to the Consumer Electronics Association is 38 percent), she began using an external 160GB hard drive for the family video files.
She noted that this keeps her personal files completely separate from her business files and her personal files.
Online OptionsWhile she stores photo and video files with online storage providers such as Flickr, Facebook and PhotoShelter, Jennifer admits she is less than completely comfortable with what they call cloud storage.
“It probably is up there,� she joked. “Just not certain exactly where ‘there’ is at or who can access our family heirlooms.�
She finds it more reliable and more economic to make multiple optical disc (CD or DVD) backup copies of the family photo/video library.
She keeps on one disc copy at home and one in her office and sends one each to Bill and her parents.
“They get a chance to see how Amy has grown and what we’re doing which is a fantastic way for them to keep in close contact,� she said. “In addition, we have archived copies of our family moments and memories in two different outside locations just in case something happened to our computer.
“It’s a win-win situation for everyone in the family,� she added.
About the Author
Andy has worked in front of and behind the TV camera and radio mike. Unlike most PR people he listens to and understands the consumer’s perspective on the actual use of products. He has written more than 100 articles in the business and trade press. During this time he has also addressed industry issues and technologies not as corporate wishlists but how they can be used by normal people.
