taking pictures of kids

Organizing Pictures of Your Kids

October 28, 2010 at 3:09 pm , by Sue Erneta

In this age of digital cameras, how many pictures do you take of your kids each month? I got my first digital camera right before Sophia was born and I was taking about 150 a month right away. Now? Some months I hit 1000. (Blame my beloved Nikon D-5000 that Santa brought last year. It’s so easy to use and I never have anything to delete. Click here, if you want to know more about how I get good pics of my kids.) So, what do you do with all those pictures after you’ve uploaded them to your computer. I’m no pro — just a mom who loves taking pictures — but this is what works for me:

1) Upload everything to a photo sharing site. For me, it’s all about Shutterfly. I can keep as many pictures there as possible and they always store them at the highest quality — for free!

2) Keep them organized. On Shutterfly, I make folders within folders — one for each year, with folders for each month inside plus special ones if we go on a big trip.

3) Take time to pick favorites, crop and correct red-eye right away. OK — so maybe I don’t always do this right away but it is important to not let it build up. (I know because I just spent an evening editing 3 months’ worth.)

4) Make virtual albums and e-mail them to family and friends or post on Facebook. Let’s face it…is there anything your parents want more than pictures of their grandkids? I didn’t think so.

5) Make physical photo albums — one for each year. I started doing this when Sophia was born as a cop out to actually creating a real baby book. You can make it as detailed as you want by changing layouts, fonts and backgrounds (that’s my way!). You can make a basic version or even just have Shutterfly create it for you. Seriously — with some crazy new thing called Simple Path, you can pick the pictures and they’ll lay out your book in minutes. This is definitely not the option for someone as overly particular as I am — I need control! — but it’s certainly a good starting point for someone who just wants a little help.

5) Make prints! I know we all forget to do this — I certainly do sometimes — but when it comes to decorating my house, I’m not shy. Though I’m not a fan of posed portrait-studio pics, I do love putting my own handywork on the walls especially when the subjects are the two cutest girls in the world.

I know I sound like an ad for Shutterfly but it’s just because I love them! Check out the site right now, where you can get up to 50% off on photo books until November 3rd.

Photo of Thelma and Louise Lily and Sophia by me!

So, tell me…what you do with your pictures after you take them?