Save Your Photos Month

September is Save Your Photos Month. The Photo Managers group use this month to highlight the importance of organizing your photos and saving them in a way that makes them safe from disaster. The theme for this year is “One Photo, One Story.”

Since my children are now of driving age, I’ve been thinking a lot about when I learned to drive. So I thought I would share the story behind this photo. I look pretty happy and proud to be standing next to my first car. However, the real story is that for quite a while, I was not happy with this car at all. I desperately wanted to hit the road and “do my own thing.” But the car kept me stationary, because I couldn’t drive stick shift. 

I cried, “I hate this car” as my dad tried to teach me and tears of frustration rolled down my face. I thought I made a mistake in buying it and that I would never learn how to drive it. But, after a while I regrouped and calmed down. For days I practiced and practiced. I got it into first gear and worked my way into second and then back down to first as I raced around the neighborhood circle. Then I drove out and onto the bumpy country roads and practiced some more until I got comfortable shifting into all five gears. 

I learned that driving a stick shift car could be fun but also a little scary at times. Having to wait for a traffic light on a hill with another car way too close to the bumper always put a little panic in me. But I never rolled too far back before getting it into first gear. This car and I sped into adulthood way too fast. Onto a job to pay for gas and car insurance, then to music stores and malls, and then on to first dates.

We keep our photos because of the memories tied to them. After all, what is a photo without a story? Losing a photo sometimes means that you’ve lost the evidence of the memory. As humans we don’t like how that feels. Yet, we often don’t take the time to create a backup system for our photos. They are at risk from disasters such as fires, floods, tornados or even computer malfunctions.

If you would like to better organize your photo collection, I’d love to help. We can discuss how you store your photos, figure out where they are all located, put a backup system in place and create a photo organizing system that allows you to find the photos when you want them, and share the stories behind them.