Summer is a marvelous time of year to take pictures. Hours spent at the beach weekend barbeques, or on vacation are all perfect occasions to point, shoot, and create lasting memories. But, let’s face it--in between all those fun activities we’re busy people and sometimes creating a good home for those pictures doesn’t make it to the top of our ‘to-do’ list. Don’t toss them in a plastic bag at the bottom of your hall closet! Here are a few organizing tips for preserving and showing off your treasured memories: 

• Before you drop off that roll of film, think about whether you will need extra copies of your pictures to send to friends and relatives. If so, order a duplicate set when you bring your roll in to be developed. Sometimes this service is free, or can cost as little as a dollar or two extra. Ordering ‘doubles’ will spare you from having to search through the negatives, go back to the store to drop them off and go back to pick them up (or wait over a week if you use a mail-order film developing company). 

• Take your new photos out of the envelope. Look at them once. Now look at them again and decide which ones to keep and which ones to immediately place in the ‘circular file.’ Pictures that are blurry, unrecognizable, or not up to your ‘photographic standard’ fall into this category. Gather all photos that have been shoved in drawers and held hostage in your basement and do the same. Once you have purged your piles of pics and have kept only what you like and what is important to you, you’re ready to move on to the next step. 

• Before everyone gets to ‘Oooh’ and ‘Ahhh’ over them (and get their fingerprints on them)--label the back of your photographs. You can be as specific as you like (“Carrie, Ellen, and Maggie at Maggie’s 5^th birthday party”) or more vague (“Maggie--5”). It’s an easy activity to accomplish while on the telephone or waiting on line at the supermarket. If you have young children, have them describe to you the ‘who-what-where’ of the pictures while you label them. Not only is it a fun way to spend time with your kids (especially if they’re in the pictures) this activity contributes to the development of reading readiness. 

• Don’t forget to include the date! Or, if you prefer, many cameras have a time/date stamp feature that imprints the month/day/year on the front of your photo. You need to decide whether you like how pictures look with the date in the corner. If aesthetics are important to you, you may want to shut this feature off when shooting a landscape or important event and instead, write the date on the back. Seeing ‘11-04-02’ printed on the side of a national monument or a bridal gown may not be your idea of a beautiful photograph…

• Decide whether you would like to keep your photos in boxes or in albums. There are pros and cons to both types of photo storage. Photo boxes are an easy storage option but it is more difficult to show off your pictures. Photos can easily fall out of order (if you choose to have them in a certain order) or destroyed from excessive handling. Photo albums make the presentation of photos fairly effortless. There are fewer chances of getting fingerprints on them and pictures can be arranged (along with momentos such as invitations, ticket stubs, etc.) to tell a story. The downside of putting together an album is the fact that it can be a time consuming task. Both albums and photo boxes can be purchased with acid-free pages or lining which preserve the life of your photographs. 

• Once you’ve decided between using an album or photo box, it’s time to figure out how you would like to organize your photos. Some options are organizing them by event, (all weddings in one album, all family vacations in one separate box…) by year, (1978-1980) or by child/family member (Michael’s Photo Box). Label the inside or the outside of the album/box for speedy photo retrieval. 

Organizing your photographs will take some time but it is time well spent. Enlist the help of family members or friends––offer to barter your time and assist them with organizing THEIR photos! Once you’re finished, take pride in your efforts and show off your hard work. You’ve just organized and preserved your most treasured ‘moments in time’ for the next generation to appreciate.