While our access to photos has increased with cell phone cameras, it seems like our value for the photos we snap with our cell phones has decreased.  It quickly becomes overwhelming to sort through the chaff and we find ourselves increasing our data storage with that irksome feeling that we’re wasting our money for a cloud full of out-takes.  I’ve noticed this with myself and I’m certain I’m not alone.

After a while, I feel a bit anxious that I’m not doing enough to document our family and I solve this problem in two ways.  First, I go through my images, month by month, and select the best, then trash the rest.  And each year, I print that year’s worth of best images as 4x6s and put them in an old-fashioned album and back them up to an external hard drive.  It can be overwhelming, but I wait until my slow season and add a month at a time to my to do list until they’re all printed and preserved in an album.  And when I’m done, I feel so good!