School picture day can always be a challenge. Smiles are awkward, hair is askew from having just played a sport, children often have food on their face or clothing, and the shots that are captured are the best the photographer could get. When I was in third grade, I had just cut my own hair, so my mom had to scramble the night before picture day to figure out a hairstyle that covered up my handiwork!
Most of us have years of school portraits from our childhood, and many of us have continued the tradition of keeping all of our own children’s portraits. These photos aren’t always the best representation of us at our best, so why do we keep them in the first place? We think we should because they represent interests and academic history during those formative school years. Nevertheless, we don’t know what to do with them and are afraid to do anything, so those photos end up crammed in a storage bin taking up room in our attic or garage. Most people do not look back at those memories because they are cluttered and jumbled…until they find Picture This Organized.
What to Keep
When we get started on a project, it is vital to rate the photos in a collection, discard duplicates, and narrow it down to the photos that are significant to you. We will review all print photos with you and help select the best ones of a given series. Keep in mind that this is not the only year from which you have school portraits, so it is best to narrow it down to your favorites from each year. We can also rate digital copies for you to review or keep them all in an organized archive.
There can be a large variety of portraits that accumulate from all of the activities children participate in throughout the year. Posed portraits often include individual shots and group shots and can be purchased as physical prints or digital downloads. (Note: If you purchase digital copies of your child’s portrait, be sure to download the photos onto your computer because the links to access those photos will often expire). Some print portraits will come in a matte frame with a combination of the group and individual shot. No matter what the format is, we can scan all prints and make selections from the single and group images. Even framed portraits can be removed from their frames, scanned, and archived. If you would still like to keep your framed photos, we can always replace the originals back into their frames.
While posed portraits are a nice snapshot, candid portraits are a fun addition to a photo collection to capture the real moments of different school activities and events. We’ve all taken countless photos and video footage of our kids playing in a game or performing on stage. It often takes lots of attempts to get a great photo, but it is important to go through and rate all of those shots later so you end up with only the best ones. We can assist you in selecting the photos that clearly showcase your child so that you don’t have to squint to find them. When looking at portraits, remember that this is likely one moment of many captured over the years, so be willing to let us select only the best. We involve you along the way so if you disagree, you can adjust the selections.
Preserving Your Photos
Knowing the best way to preserve your photos can be a daunting task. We will help you digitize a copy of your photos and store the originals so you have peace of mind knowing your photos are safe and you always have a backup! To digitize your photos, we will scan all of the prints so you have digital copies and can keep everything in the same place. Most children have several sports or hobbies they’ve participated in during their school life, so we recommend organizing your folders by child and by sport. When anyone wants to view their favorites, they are easily found by browsing the corresponding folder. For physical prints, we use archive boxes. These boxes are a great way to prevent the deterioration of photos as well as keep them organized so you can easily access your prints.
Sharing and Enjoying Your Photos
The best part of an organized photo collection is having the access that allows you to share and enjoy all of your memories! When we organize digital photos, we add keywords for the child, grade, teacher or sport, so each photo is searchable for easy sharing. Framing your favorite pictures of each child to showcase in their room or shared space of your house can be a great way to celebrate them. A gallery of Mixtiles allows you to display a variety of photos in one space. You may also choose to create a school years album for each child. This is a great way to encapsulate favorite memories from each child’s school years all in one place!
We Want to Help!
While your photo collection of your children’s school years can seem overwhelming, Picture This Organized is here to guide you every step of the way. We love helping our clients rediscover beloved memories, make them accessible, and share them with the people you love. If you need help managing your photo collection, contact us and we would love to get started!