Picture Display Movement. Step 2. Load and Back up.

{Click here for Step 1 of Project Picture Display}

After I am focused on taking more photos, the next step is to get them on my computer.

I'm really good about doing this with my dSLR, but horrible about doing it with my phone.  Some pictures sit on my phone for months before I ever put them on my computer.  And a lot of the pictures I take these days are with my camera phone for convenience/logistical issues.  (I'm still busy just trying to keep track of the four little humans I usually have around me and all the "stuff" that seems to accompany them).  And without that handy camera phone, I'd miss pictures like this.  Of my kid hugging a mannequin.  Not weird at all.

Here's the key to the rest of The Picture Display Movement.  There HAS to be a system and it has to be SIMPLE or it will never get done.  So find a system.  Schedule a consistent time to do it.  And keep it simple!!  We schedule time to clean.  Time to do laundry.  Time to exercise.  We should DEFINITELY schedule time to organize, print, and display our photos.

Here's the system that works for me.  This will have to be tweaked for each family just like chore charts have to be tweaked for each family (still working on fine tuning our chore/money system), but find something, anything, that works for you and stick to it.

I load my photos directly into iphoto.  When I plug in my camera or phone to my computer, iphoto automatically pops up and the pictures go straight in there.  The pictures automatically sort by date.

Once the pictures are loaded, I make sure they are backed up onto an external hard drive.  You can get those at Costco.  I just bought a 3TB external drive for about $120.  Worth every penny if my computer hard drive crashes.  This is a step that should never be skipped.  It's not hard and only takes a few extra minutes.

I also back up my computer on an online site.  I researched several online storage companies and finally settled with Backblaze because it is unlimited storage for a really affordable price ($5 per month) and it allows me to back up all my external hard drives as well (as long as I plug them in every 30 days).  I have 7 full external hard drives and a nearly full computer hard drive.  I see the "your startup disc is almost full" message more times than I care to keep track of.  I need a lot of storage space.  I have also heard good things about Carbonite and Mozy.

Step 2.  Load 'em and BACK THEM UP!!!

Click here for Step 3.  ORGANIZE those Photos.

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