How to keep photographic memories
alive Written and Photographed by Robert Simon
Now that the vacation is over, your flash card is full and you
have picked up all your pictures from the lab. What do you do
next to preserve your precious memories? If nothing is done, they
can be forgotten similar to the breakfast you had 3 years ago
on the 21st of May.
Unfortunately, at most times, printed photographs stay in the
envelopes they came in and eventually end up in shoe boxes stuffed
in a closet. Flash cards get loaded onto your hard drive, rarely
to be seen again, and let’s not even talk about a hard drive
crash!
Due to a lack of time in our busy schedules, organizing photographs
sometimes falls by the wayside. Life and home issues always happen
at the most inopportune time and precious photographs are put
on a back burner until a free moment arrives.
Photo albums have been around for many decades, but unless they
are put together immediately, with notes and captions, many of
the accompanying fond thoughts eventually fade away, lost forever,
only to be questioned in the future. "Was this in Belgium
or Denmark? Was this our 2003 or 2000 trip? Is that the Thames
or Rhine?"
Digital Photography is a wonderful asset for Travelers. Imbedded
within each photograph are the dates pictures were taken. Just
this fact alone can help eliminate some future questions. But
still, storage is the issue. Photo Albums work, however they are
bulky and photographs can fade over time. There is also the issue
when you show your family and friends those wonderful photos……..all
500 of them!
Here are a few words of advice from someone who has seen too
many albums:
• Put together 2 albums - one for yourself and one to share.
The sharing album should contain the highlights of your travels,
but try to keep it to a minimum.
• One hundred pictures should be plenty to experience the
vacation, without overdoing it.
• If they wish to see more, take out the full album.
Digital Photos have many more options than prints. Yes, they
can be printed. Alternatively, they can be put on a disc for easy
storage. The downside however, is that they are still static pictures,
without any information bringing them to life other than a file
name and a date.
Our digital age allows for some very intriguing types of digital
albums. There are many free slideshow programs that allow you
to place your photographs in a timeline order and add captions
to the pictures, background music, clip arts and many other options.
One such program is created by Roxio - Photoshow.
• You can organize your pictures and add music, wipes and
fade transitions
• Share your photoshows online with your friends and family
and
• If you wish you can order a DVD for yourself to view your
“album” on TV.
• The program is FREE, the DVD’s are $20.00 ea.
Corel software offers a similar digital slideshow along with
many others.
For those of you that do not wish to spend the time to download
and learn a new program to do it yourself, which could take up
to 10 hours, there are still additional options:
• Custom Slideshow services are available that will take
your photographs/images, and burn them onto a DVD for storing,
sharing and re-living.
• Keepsakes Remembered is a Custom Slideshow Service. They
will take your digital photographs or even your printed pictures,
scan them and create a digital slideshow for you at a very reasonable
price. Their slideshows start at $59.95 for a “No Frills”
50 image slide show. The all inclusive packages offers music,
captions, speech and thought bubbles, clip art, movie style transitions
from image to image, and provide you a DVD for you to watch share
and re-live your adventures.
• Options include but are not limited to providing your
own captions or words for your speech and thought bubbles, pick
from a variety of different genre’s i.e. humorous, serious,
G or R rated. You can allow them to create the captions for you
based on the pictures or a combination of both.
All told, a digital slideshow will allow you to not only store
and share your favorite vacations, but you will be able to re-live
them in great detail The only issue then will be: “When
are we going to do this again?”
Robert M.
Simon
Robert's passion for photography began as a pre-teen, in 1968
with the building of his first darkroom. His photographic
expertise has propelled him into the world of Digital Photography,
creating Custom Digital Slideshows for about 7 years. His
Profession as a Home Improvement Contractor, has given him
the ability to travel and continue with his passion, creating
countless digital keepsakes for others.
