I've been there.
And it is horrible.
My kid practiced for weeks for this performance. The lights go dim and the performers file onto the stage. I pull out my phone to capture a few pictures before they start to sing. My stomach sank as the disheartening notification flashed on my screen.
My storage was full.
And it wasn't as easy as deleting several crappy photos and videos. That never seems to work.
A lot of phones are now boasting infinite storage. But it seemed wrong to just upload the files to my spaghetti of a file system. I would never be able to find them. Especially with infinite storage. My computer and cloud were where my digital files seemingly went to die. I could never find them again if I wanted to!
So I made a plan. I found out what worked for me and now I can find the pictures to print, share with family, and find when I need them. And I don't want this to happen to you. So here is my process to storing digital files.
5 steps to storing & organizing digital photos
Step 1. Decide your plan of attack
The most important step is to decide how you want to store your files. This step will determine the trajectory of the remaining pathway and whether or not you will follow-through on keeping your photos organized. I'll give you a few options and then let you know what I do.
1. Keep the files on your computer. This is what I started with, and it worked for years. However, digital photography and smartphones didn't hit mainstream until I was in college. Now that we photograph everything and files are larger, my computer can't store the number of photos that I've accumulated through the years.
This IS a viable option. You just have to consider how many photos you have. However, at the same time, I have had a computer crash so I would highly suggest an external hard-drive or a cloud service.
2. External hard-drive. This is what I currently use. I like mine, the WD Cloud, because it connects to my computer wirelessly while I am home. I have another much smaller one that I use when I am spending several hours at my local coffee shop.
I use the WD Cloud as long-term storage. Once I have finished a session, I move my photos there. So while I think it is perfect for a long-term storage option, I really wouldn't suggest it as something where you are constantly going through and using it as your computer filing system for everyday use. My experience is that it is a little too slow for that.
I've enjoyed it. I'll continue using it for long-term storage for my sessions.
3. Cloud option. Google, Microsoft, Dropbox and Amazon all provide the option for you to store files in their clouds.
Google gives you 15 GB for free and charges for anything over that. (1TB for approximately $120 per year)
Microsoft gives you 5 GB for free (1 TB for $70 per year)
Dropbox allows 3.75 GB for free (1 TB for $100)
Amazon (with a Prime account- around $80 per year) offers unlimited storage
{Nope. nope. nope. See following paragraph.} I've decided to move my personal photos to Amazon with my prime account. Why, when I already have my own WD Cloud? Honestly? Ease of use. My session files often include videos, raw, and photoshop files that Amazon doesn't support so I'll still need to use my WD Cloud for long-term storage and my portable hard drive for current session editing. However, for personal use, Amazon will be more convenient provided that the app & cloud service are not glitchy and run well. I only just learned of Amazon Photos after starting to write this post. I'll continue testing it and let you know if I don't like how well it runs.
Update on 1/24: I don't like the Amazon system. The unlimited storage doesn't include video. I don't know why I didn't think of checking on that. I quickly filled up the entire allotted amount and still have quite a few more videos that didn't upload to Amazon. SO, I'm going to go back to what I was doing before: upload to my WD Cloud once or twice a month.
Step 2. Organization System
I've researched several options when it comes to how exactly to organize photo files. Some include tagging locations, people, events. Those systems didn't seem to work long-term. I would have to remember way too much when going back to find pictures. I decided that a date system would work best for me and the way my brain works. We tend to organize our society around time and events, so I set my system to match that.
On my computer then on my external hard drive, my system is set up like this:
photos -> year -> month -> files [example: 2017 -> november -> files]
or if there are a couple of large events in one month (for instance, we got married and my husband graduated in the same month. I want to keep my professional wedding pictures separated from Uncle Bob's and keep those separated from the graduation pictures)
photos -> year -> month -> event title -> files [example: 2008 -> may -> graduation -> files]
So your top folder would be photos. The next folder is year (so 2016, 2017, 2018). The next folder would be month (so 01 January, 02 Feb, 03 Mar). Computers typically arrange by number and alphabet. Because I am a tiny bit OCD, I want my months to be order. Who named our months? In my opinion they should be in alphabetical order! So I put 01, 02, 03 in front of the month so that it is in order and easy to read. The next folder would either include the files if it is a slow month or the event title if there were a couple of major events that month.
If I picked dropbox, my filing system would be the same. However, Amazon Photos only allows for 1 level of filing, so I will name my files by year & month and title by event if applicable
2017-11 Thanksgiving or 2017-11 (for all the random November photos).
Step 3. Delete
I'm bad about this. I'm a mom! I'll take 12 photos of the same thing and keep them all. But seriously I don't need all of these:
I can delete the photos of her blinking, not looking, or blurry. Set aside time once a month or so to delete photos from your photo that are blurry or not of good quality. Delete those 100 picture sets where your kiddo found your phone and put it on burst. Who needs 100 pictures of a nose shot?!?
Does this happen to just me?
Ok.
This applies to photos from your digital camera. Don't save everything. Just save the best and your favorites.
Step 4: Decide
I've given you a few options. Go through and decide what systems you like. Spend a little time working through each. Look at what you have and how you want to use your files. Then, decide and stick with it!
Step 5: Get it done!
Set aside some time each month to organize your pictures. Put on your favorite movie, grab your favorite beverage and organize your files, delete the bad ones, and free up space on your devices.
