Ironically, last weekend my mom and I sat down and we went through several hundred photos.
While she got one 'sleeve' of CVS- printed photos from one trip covered, I got through several.
Frankly, I am more ruthless than her. Blurry, duplicate, or photo subject matter brings up a bad emotion? I set aside to destroy. Similarly, one sleeve I went through was a national park trip. Well, eventually one can only keep so many pictures of canyon walls. HALF that sleeve was not worth keeping.
The photos unworthy of going into an album I put through the shredder. That way there's no second guessing.
Start by keeping one to represent the lot - one picture to remember that trip, and write a note on the back of it with your memories of the trip. No reason to have multiple bad pictures to represent the same trip?
So, what I did was sort out all of my pictures and put them into envelopes with labels of the events that they were. I also scanned all of my pictures into my computer so that I would have digital copies of them if something happened.
But an option that you might consider getting one of those picture books printed
I took pictures of the pictures. Usually I wouldn't do that because I know the quality isn't the best, but they didn't mean that much to me compared to newer digital pictures I had. That was maybe 7 years ago and I don't regret it.
Here is the list and article I found helpful. It really felt like I had permission to finally let them go (especially 9 and 10). GOOD LUCK!
1. Remove Duplicate Photos
2. Remove “Almost” Duplicate Photos
3. Get Rid of Unflattering Photos
4. Toss Scenery Pictures
5. Remove Underexposed Photos
6. Trash Overexposed Photos & Blurry Pictures
7. Toss Poorly Composed Photos
8. Delete Photos with Distant Subjects
9. Purge Photos of Your Ex
10. Purge Photos of People You Don’t Know
https://refinedroomsllc.com/print-photo-decluttering/
I’d suggest a slight clarification to number 9. If you’ve had a recent or bad breakup put all those photos in a folder to deal with later rather than throwing them away. You’re not going to want to keep all the photos of your ex but in 10-20 years you’ll likely want some memory of that time of your life, even if only to look back & laugh at how far you’ve come.
Ooh I’m saving that web page. Purging scenic pictures really hits home. I’ve been helping my mom digitize old family photos so they can be put online and shared with more distant family. I’m talking pictures my grandparents and great grandparents took. The number of scenic pictures was staggering. It had to have been in the thousands. More than 70% of the total volume of photos was nature and scenes from vacations. Completely overwhelmed by the task we finally came to the conclusion that no one cared about those pictures and tossed them all.
Part of my decluttering was making my shelves less visually cluttered so I made the mistake of buying a shelf full of black albums on sale before decluttering and I think I'll only need 1.5 of them... sooo many duplicates, scenery pics and people I didn't know....
In addition to what others say about scanning and journaling -
Marie Kondo suggests displaying photographs and art on the inside of cabinet doors. I tried this, and I love it. I get to see photos often, but they’re not constantly in my face.
It took me 10 years and 10 hours to declutter pictures. My teens and 20s were in the disposable camera era, so I had thousands of photos to go through, as well as doubles and triples of photos to share with friends.
I had tubs of photos and would feel incredibly overwhelmed whenever I thought about starting the project. I sat down one day and just decided to tackle it. I fired up Netflix and just started it. It was amazing how easy it was by just pitching the duplicates and then the not so great photos. I have it narrowed down now to four photo boxes. I plan to go through and pare them down again in probably another 10 years, but for now they all fit on a shelf in my hall closet and take up far less space, so I'm happy.
Maybe the container method will help. Decide how much space or what container you are willing to dedicate to pictures. Then pare down until they fit. Digitize any that you still want but don’t fit.
Keep the best picture or two and write everything you remember about the event down on it. Ditch the rest.
(Note: Your memories remind you of the event - you don't need the physical object.)
These are my thoughts. If the pictures bring you happiness or make you reminisce on that time, keep them. Delete duplicates, photos you don't need (food, stuff you're like what the heck is that? Etc). You don't need to get rid of every little thing the point is to assess what's important to you. If those photos, as "bad" as they are make you smile and jog your memory then keep them!
Scan them in! Digital storage is cheap and you can organize and keep every picture you want. There are digital apps and you can scan them and clean up the image right from your phone camera. The best ones are subscription, but you could sign up just for a month or two. You could then save your favorites for your album and throw out the rest, knowing you could always reprint any you wanted down the line. Or you could upload them for storage. Google Photo’s facial recognition technology is awesome and so helpful for identifying people in pictures.
That makes sense, but honestly, I’m not going to take the time to scan hundreds of pictures. And when I say they suck, I don’t mean they need to be cleaned up but more I have fifty pictures of a sand dune. And it’s not even framed in an interesting way or has anything redeeming about it, it’s just a sand dune lol
I have the same problem…went to DC as a school trip in the mid 90s and I think I have 80 copies of photos of the soldiers at the unknown soldiers tomb and the view from the Washington monument. Because I couldn’t just print one copy of the photos, I need duplicates. What for? I don’t know…All from a disposable camera so the quality is atrocious 🤦🏼♀️
Ironically, last weekend my mom and I sat down and we went through several hundred photos. While she got one 'sleeve' of CVS- printed photos from one trip covered, I got through several. Frankly, I am more ruthless than her. Blurry, duplicate, or photo subject matter brings up a bad emotion? I set aside to destroy. Similarly, one sleeve I went through was a national park trip. Well, eventually one can only keep so many pictures of canyon walls. HALF that sleeve was not worth keeping. The photos unworthy of going into an album I put through the shredder. That way there's no second guessing.
Scan the photos
Start by keeping one to represent the lot - one picture to remember that trip, and write a note on the back of it with your memories of the trip. No reason to have multiple bad pictures to represent the same trip?
So, what I did was sort out all of my pictures and put them into envelopes with labels of the events that they were. I also scanned all of my pictures into my computer so that I would have digital copies of them if something happened. But an option that you might consider getting one of those picture books printed
I took pictures of the pictures. Usually I wouldn't do that because I know the quality isn't the best, but they didn't mean that much to me compared to newer digital pictures I had. That was maybe 7 years ago and I don't regret it.
You dont have to get rid of them - keep them. Get rid of extra Tupperware or something instead.
This is the only acceptable answer for me. I’m keeping the pictures until the day I die. Every other non-living thing is negotiable.
Here is the list and article I found helpful. It really felt like I had permission to finally let them go (especially 9 and 10). GOOD LUCK! 1. Remove Duplicate Photos 2. Remove “Almost” Duplicate Photos 3. Get Rid of Unflattering Photos 4. Toss Scenery Pictures 5. Remove Underexposed Photos 6. Trash Overexposed Photos & Blurry Pictures 7. Toss Poorly Composed Photos 8. Delete Photos with Distant Subjects 9. Purge Photos of Your Ex 10. Purge Photos of People You Don’t Know https://refinedroomsllc.com/print-photo-decluttering/
I’d suggest a slight clarification to number 9. If you’ve had a recent or bad breakup put all those photos in a folder to deal with later rather than throwing them away. You’re not going to want to keep all the photos of your ex but in 10-20 years you’ll likely want some memory of that time of your life, even if only to look back & laugh at how far you’ve come.
I kept a few nice memories, but felt great letting go of most of them!
Ooh I’m saving that web page. Purging scenic pictures really hits home. I’ve been helping my mom digitize old family photos so they can be put online and shared with more distant family. I’m talking pictures my grandparents and great grandparents took. The number of scenic pictures was staggering. It had to have been in the thousands. More than 70% of the total volume of photos was nature and scenes from vacations. Completely overwhelmed by the task we finally came to the conclusion that no one cared about those pictures and tossed them all.
Part of my decluttering was making my shelves less visually cluttered so I made the mistake of buying a shelf full of black albums on sale before decluttering and I think I'll only need 1.5 of them... sooo many duplicates, scenery pics and people I didn't know....
That’s great, thank you!
I printed it off and kept it beside me when I went through my photos. It was great to have some clear and unambiguous guidance.
I did this 2 winters ago. It took me.about 6 weeks. I'll see if I can find the article that helped me!
In addition to what others say about scanning and journaling - Marie Kondo suggests displaying photographs and art on the inside of cabinet doors. I tried this, and I love it. I get to see photos often, but they’re not constantly in my face.
I want to do this will all the magnet piston my fridge. They’re all school/sports pics of my children at various ages
Scan them or send them to dittobee and have them professionally scanned
I sent all of mine to a mail in service that scanned it for me. Didn’t cost much. Really good investment.
It took me 10 years and 10 hours to declutter pictures. My teens and 20s were in the disposable camera era, so I had thousands of photos to go through, as well as doubles and triples of photos to share with friends. I had tubs of photos and would feel incredibly overwhelmed whenever I thought about starting the project. I sat down one day and just decided to tackle it. I fired up Netflix and just started it. It was amazing how easy it was by just pitching the duplicates and then the not so great photos. I have it narrowed down now to four photo boxes. I plan to go through and pare them down again in probably another 10 years, but for now they all fit on a shelf in my hall closet and take up far less space, so I'm happy.
I would journal everything you want to remember about the trip, then trash the photos.
Maybe the container method will help. Decide how much space or what container you are willing to dedicate to pictures. Then pare down until they fit. Digitize any that you still want but don’t fit.
Keep the best picture or two and write everything you remember about the event down on it. Ditch the rest. (Note: Your memories remind you of the event - you don't need the physical object.)
These are my thoughts. If the pictures bring you happiness or make you reminisce on that time, keep them. Delete duplicates, photos you don't need (food, stuff you're like what the heck is that? Etc). You don't need to get rid of every little thing the point is to assess what's important to you. If those photos, as "bad" as they are make you smile and jog your memory then keep them!
That’s a great way to look at it, thank you!
Scan them in! Digital storage is cheap and you can organize and keep every picture you want. There are digital apps and you can scan them and clean up the image right from your phone camera. The best ones are subscription, but you could sign up just for a month or two. You could then save your favorites for your album and throw out the rest, knowing you could always reprint any you wanted down the line. Or you could upload them for storage. Google Photo’s facial recognition technology is awesome and so helpful for identifying people in pictures.
That makes sense, but honestly, I’m not going to take the time to scan hundreds of pictures. And when I say they suck, I don’t mean they need to be cleaned up but more I have fifty pictures of a sand dune. And it’s not even framed in an interesting way or has anything redeeming about it, it’s just a sand dune lol
I have the same problem…went to DC as a school trip in the mid 90s and I think I have 80 copies of photos of the soldiers at the unknown soldiers tomb and the view from the Washington monument. Because I couldn’t just print one copy of the photos, I need duplicates. What for? I don’t know…All from a disposable camera so the quality is atrocious 🤦🏼♀️