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This week I wanted to share some of the thoughts I had about why photos are so important in relation to having spent the better part of this week combing through old photos for a slideshow.

The Digital Gap

When you think about the photos you have of yourself or your family is there a huge gap between around the year 2000 and your current phone? I know this is a very true statement for me and I’ve always been the kid with the camera. I do have some photos printed from the beginning of the digital age but at some point even that dropped off and between pulling photos for my Paw Paw’s funeral and last year making an orange boat album for my dad there is a big gap.

50 – 75 Photos

Do you have 50-75 photos for a video slideshow? That is the recommended number of photos recommended by Starling Funeral Home for a good slideshow length. Think of the loved ones in your life and ask yourself…do we have this? Our family and everyone who attend the visitation over the weekend loved the photos we put up of our Paw Paw. I come from a long line of camera lovers and we are fortunate to have the memories.

Pull Photos Early

If you can…especially if a family member is sick. We started going through albums when Paw Paw passed taking pictures with our phones of photos in albums then moving them to my computer. Because my grandma and mom have so many albums from the pre-digital era we were able to pull more than 175 photos to choose our 50-75 photos from (we went with the full 75). We did have some more recent photos from our phone albums but had we started pulling earlier there may have been more opportunity for family members to find photos they have and not just mostly photos from my grandma’s albums.

Group Photos

Everyone LOVES looking at group photos – especially the large groups at reunions or parties. Even the photos we looked through that didn’t have Paw Paw in them were fun to see during this process. Seeing how everyone has changed and laughing at the clothing choices over the years brought us all together during the weekend.

Print Your Photos

PRINT YOUR PHOTOS!! PRINT YOUR PHOTOS!! Get the memo? It’s time for you to print your photos again! Now I’m not saying you need to print every photo you take digitally – I can’t imagine printing my entire camera roll but take the time each month to slide a few photos over to the corner store and pick them up after an hour. AND!!! While you’re printing your photos buy an album and store them so years from now they aren’t all laying in a drawer somewhere waiting to be tossed. You can still find photos albums especially on Amazon – CLICK HERE! to see! 

Think about 2-5 pages a month and a few extra pages for special events and holidays to make what you print and put in the album special and keep the number of albums you have from getting out of control.

Just a quick note here…the corner store is great for your everyday life photos but if you are having professional photos taken please print them with your photographer or at a lab recommended by a photographer. You are paying good money for professional quality photos – don’t ruin that with corner store printing.

Get in the Picture

Don’t want to be in the photos? Too bad – it’s not about you.

The photos aren’t about you, they are for the people you love. These photos will provide memories when you are gone and may bring your family together to sit, laugh, and remember the time they spent with you. So it’s past time to stop hiding or going to the bathroom at the moment that one family member starts getting groups together. Get in the photo, look at the camera and for bonus points give a little smile!

Enjoy a few old photos

He served 23 years in the Army and was awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and 2 Purple Hearts during his service.

Doesn’t Ada favor my sister a lot!!

I think everyone who saw this picture of my dad being led on the horse by Paw Paw laughed.

You can see the entire slideshow by CLICKING HERE! The funeral home did an amazing job taking the photos we provided and putting the movie together.

Dedicated to my Paw Paw, Ron. April 13, 1934 – August  5, 2022