Where are your photos?

Photos – you may take them with a digital camera, but probably mainly with your smartphone. And then what do you do with them? Do you connect the camera or phone to your computer and put the photos into a folder? Or do the photos go into in a ‘Photo’ program? Both Windows and Apple have a program ‘Photos’ that may contain your photos without you knowing or making a decision. Or do you – like many people – use a cloud service, such as Google Photos or iCloud, whereby you don’t actually have to do anything – because the photos are automatically accessible everywhere. The convenience of not having to do anything and unlimited storage is often the reason why people opt for a cloud service. But the danger is that all those photos stream in and you no longer keep a grip on them. And the danger is also that you think that the cloud is a backup, and that is not necessarily the case. It can be an extra backup, but it is mainly a synchronization aid.

What is also possible is that you keep your photos on an external drive, so as not to overburden your computer. Then, if all goes well, you regularly put photos on that drive (via your computer). You can easily make an extra backup of that drive, something you should also do if your photos are on your computer and/or in a cloud.

Photos you receive from others, for example via WhatsApp, email or Dropbox: make sure you add the photos you want to keep to your own collection by downloading or transferring them.

Know where your photos are, and consider whether you find that satisfactory. Do you want to look at your photos often or do you just want them stored tidily? A photo program gives you the opportunity to collect, edit, view and have some fun with your photos in all kinds of ways, such as photo films. Or is that not for you, are you more into organized folders in Microsoft Explorer or Apple Finder.

 

Digital CO₂ footprint

If you use a cloud service, your photos are continuously synced to and from your computer, phone and any other devices. This happens in large data centres, with huge computers that run 24 hours a day. These data centres guzzle energy and emit more CO₂ than air traffic. For example, 100 GB stored in the cloud means 200 kg of CO₂ emission. And 100 GB – that’s about 25,000 photos. The same applies to e-mails that are stored in cloud servers; a single e‑mail can be responsible for 5 to 50 grams of CO₂ emission.

If you still want to use a cloud service, realise that every photo costs energy. So the fewer photos you store, the smaller the CO₂ emission. And you can imagine that videos cost even more energy.

So start by clearing up and reducing the numbers of your photos and videos. For example, if you delete duplicates, you can already make a difference of 20%. And there is a rule that 20% of your photos contain 80% of your memories. Do you really need all of the 80% of your photos containing the remaining 20% of memories? Cleaning up has many benefits; you have a better overview, you can find photos faster, the photos take up less space, and you reduce CO₂ emissions.

I personally make minimal use of a cloud service. I use iCloud for my contacts only (address book) and I use Dropbox for work files so that I can access them both in my studio and at home. I have many files, including all my photos, on a ‘Studio’ disk, which I can carry around with me. I take my photos with my iPhone or sometimes with a camera and put them on my Apple computer via a cable. There I organize them in the ‘Photo’ program and I have backups on external drives. It feels right and works well for me. I retain the photos on my iPhone that I like to carry round with me. When I have transferred them to my computer, which I do regularly, I delete a large proportion of the photos from my phone. I take quite a lot of pictures, and I want to keep them tidy on my phone. If I’m a bit behind with that, I’ll sit down and take the time for it.

The digital possibilities are endless, but just as with air travel, we have to take a step back and reduce our CO₂ footprint. And every little bit helps. Let’s do the same with our photos. And then enjoy them in an organized way!

If you have any questions, or if I can help you with any step, send me an e-mail.

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Around ten to fifteen years ago I had several old video tapes and Super 8 films converted to DVDs. This was because the Super 8 projector broke and was disposed of, and we understood that video tapes did not last for ever. These conversions saved the family films and travels from oblivion.

In the meantime, it has become clear that DVDs don’t last forever either. It was time to move on to the next level: convert everything to digital files. According to the experts, mp4 is the best format able to deal with any future changes.

Now that I am a professional photo organizer and am often confronted with this sort of issue through my clients and my membership of The Photo Managers, it has become a small step for me to take on board such a conversion project.

First, I made an inventory of everything. What have I got, what is the medium, and what is on it? If the latter was not evident from, for example, a title on the cover, then I used an old Super 8 viewer (that I had saved for that purpose) and an older MacBook with a DVD reader to inventorize everything. Luckily, the video tapes had titles, and some had already been converted to DVD.

The next step: determine which films should be ‘saved’ for future generations. Which are really worth the effort, such as the images of our life in Mozambique (even though they are a little blurred) and what not, such as a short film showing only well-known buildings in Florence. Old films are usually no longer of high quality, but old family films, however blurry, are worth keeping. Especially if they feature old street scenes. Images of earlier city trips are only fun if they feature people so that you can see how life was then. That was not the case with my Florence film.

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The digitization

When it was clear for me which films should be digitized§, I took several video tapes to Trigger in Amsterdam, my professional partner for digital conversions. During the last conference of The Photo Managers, I met fellow photo organizer and conversion expert, Becky Ball. She was prepared to help me with the DVDs remotely. I was able to convert the DVDs to mp4 files using the appropriate programs. Trigger could have done that, but I like doing small collections myself, if it at all possible. I don’t want to become a conversion specialist, but I think that it is important to know what is needed and what is possible.

I am very happy that I have finished my own project. Everything has been examined, and the most important images are ‘safe’. All my mp4 files are now stored on an external hard disk that I have called ‘BeeldBank Massaro’ (Image Bank Massaro). And of course they are also stored on two back-ups.I have thrown away most of the old video tapes, Super 8 films and DVDs. I have saved only a few as ‘vintage’ examples.

I have still got two large reels of Super 8 films that I had previously not had converted to DVD. I was not sure then that I wanted them converted. They feature a trip around the USA and a trip to Egypt (all the cultural locations). I think that they are a bit boring because at that time I was trying to make real ‘documentaries’. And besides, I’ve also got nice photo albums (scrapbooks) of the trips. I will firstly review them with a Super 8 viewer, and then decide whether they can stay, and let Trigger convert them to mp4 files.

So … do you still have:

• Old (family) films: 8 mm, 9,5 mm, 16 mm, Super 8?
• Video tapes: VHS, S-VHS en VHS-C, Video 8, Hi8, Digital 8, miniDV, DVD?
• Professional tapes such as V2000, Betamax, Betacam, Digital Betacam, DV large, HDV, DV Cam, XD Cam, Umatic, DVC Pro 25, or DVC Pro 50?
• Slides (in frames or not): 24×26 mm, 16×24 mm, 6 x 6 cm, 4 x 4 cm, or glass (lantern) slides?
• DVDs with films or photos?
• Negatives: 35-mm (24×36), APS, 16×30, pocket 13×17, half frame (16×24), glass plate negatives, Instamatic negatives, Kodak disc negatives or flat film negatives?

If so, then I would be pleased to help you sorting out what should be digitized! And taking care that that actually happens.

By the way, I also bring large collections of analogue photos to Trigger for digitizing. Small numbers I do myself with a special photo scanner, but for large collections or a client’s large album I go to the professionals. Do you want your photos digitalised and do you still have most of the negatives? Consider having the negatives scanned. They are after all your negatives. Small numbers of negatives I can do myself, but larger collections and unusual formats I let Trigger do.

I am going to have the negatives of our time in Mozambique scanned, where the photos have all gone brown. Then I can make a beautiful photo album of the photos in their original colours.