Joe Paich

A friend asked me if I would copy all of his slides on a CD. He used the slide projector and said setting up the screen and projector. I did and he and his family were thankful. I also have copied photos and had given them to my friends of 50 years; just the other day my wife told me that the wife decided to throw out all of their photos before moving to California. I copied over a hundred B/W photos of a friends Father’s relatives and Conrad said that since he did not know anyone he was going to throw them away. Every now and then I will email a photo or photos many years old to some that I know have not either remembered them or have not seen them. I know and have accepted the fact that all the photos that were personal to me will be cast aside…thrash container. I share some photos to some.

colinc1 Loc: Goleta, California

I am in the process of reducing my photo and slide collection. So far I have tossed out about 1000 slides and maybe 500 pictures. At some point you say would the kids like these! Probably not so why save them. I only saved maybe a 100 pictures that have meaning and about 400 slides. I hope this give you the fortitude to do some deep cleaning.

dyximan

Yeah the nude portion has some crazy people. I didn't know it was the nude portion when I went there about a month ago. I didn't expect to see a 70-year-old man standing on top of the rocks barking and yelling at a dog while doing for? Directly in the line of sight for taking the best photos of the bridge. Luckily he left as I don't know how to take unwanted images out of my photos in postproduction LOL.

James Slick Loc: Pittsburgh,PA

Yep. A story can turn even a mundane photo into an historic record. Some of my most treasured photos are ordinary old family snapshots that I know story behind. My personal best landscapes,while pleasurable for me to take, will be ordinary "post cards" to anyone in the future, but family photos,well documented will more likely be preserved.

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

If their is something I have learned by being a videographer in recent years is to shoot what you want to cover and then shoot some options.
Don't overshoot everything. Take more time getting the shot as most pro photogs do.

I worked in advertising and have been working with images for years.
I can edit outs the takes and the backup options and purge the rest. I usually dump all the
photos into Apple photos and get rid of the outs immediately. Take the rest to photoshop.
If I shoot raw sometimes I will go process of tweaking in lightroom which I don't like.
Develop an eye for the winner(s) and scan for the outliers that might have value. And that's it.

Video editors/producers want xtra shots for coverage. But too much footage is overwhelming. That said
I tried to scan my slide collection and never finished. Too many photos. It is on my mind that are family
has so many memories of sailing and traveling and the crazy things of life but not one print.
Hope to get to that. Someday.

Rebel 1 Loc: Woodbridge, New Jersey

I have over 40,000 pictures I would not get rid of any they are all history in a place and time long forgotten but which I can still live by looking at them.

bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.

my wife inherited her xhusbands photo albums. There is no one left in the family except her two sons.we went thru the books and most of the pix didnt have anything written under them or on them. No idea who the people were or the places they were taken. We threw away about 90% of them, its a shame. We tried to donate them to a group that collects pix but they had tohave info on them so they just went in the garbage. Since then Ive beengoing thru my family photos and filling in missing info for my kids in the future.

ajpag

Taken the same day as the bridge shot ...

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Like thousands of shots just like it.
Who, following the initial topic, really will give a hoot about this photo? Yes it means a lot to you, as you took it. But to family or others absolutely no personal value.

Douglas Betts

"Things change. The current storage methods are at best temporary, including the cloud. Photo and social media sites come and go. Phones are replacing computers with the younger folk. Technology evolution will continue, if we don't destroy ourselves."

I note that history repeats. As the world we know changes ever more rapidly nostalgia could become 'the next big thing'. For example: old movie classics, clothes fashions, records and tape music players are back (and so are full beards-for better or worse!) It is not inconceivable that imagery in some form will become valued by succeeding generations. But we ought to be selective about what we keep.

I agree with others that appropriate documentation adds value. Just check out the value added to items on the BBC's 'Antique Road Show' which come with provenance data!
Cheers to all
Sandgroper

duane klipping Loc: Bristow iowa

All of mine are on dvd stored as data files. I am over 100,000 now and include contact sheets. I create best of discs and store them labeled as such. I do not cull files as what is interesting to one may not be to others.

Will anybody go over each file probably not but pdf contact sheets may help them find an image of interest. I see photography as a record of time and each image I capture is a record of my short time here, my life, moments I held enough passion for to record.

jesmason

I have 66,000 photos roughly categorized as 'family' and at least that many 'art'. It's impossible to plan ahead. Maybe all my photos will be lost. Maybe all my children will have copies. What I HAVE planned ahead is editing out the dreck and putting my photos into meaningful, cascading folders so my kids can't miss what's important to them -- Christmas photos, trip photos, people, locations, etc. I think they might enjoy flipping through a folder of 10-20 photos some time in the future. I also have a lot of 'art' photos important to me. If those are lost, not a big deal. The very best are in frames. But the family photos show a history that may be important to my kids.

My younger daughter is one I feel sorry for. She takes high-burst photos of her family and retains them all. Will anyone want to sort through every twitch and nod of a five-minute photo shoot? She also shoots video, another pass-along problem because viewing time is long and quality in often low and in need of editing. Wish I could peek ahead to see what is really important. My guess is people and family history.

art pear Loc: North Dakota

Pick out 12 photos for every year. Do them a favor and delete the rest.

jesmason

Harsh! Very harsh! I've discovered some photo truths as I look back through my photos. Every year we take a picture of the family at Christmas. Flipping through these to see the growth and aging is a special treat. We also photograph the presents under the tree. The number grows and diminishes as time goes on. Same thing for members of the family, birthday cakes, the gardens. I don't want to lose the ability to flip through a life and appreciate its history.

art pear Loc: North Dakota

The book idea someone said earlier is a really good idea. We do that ever year and with snapfish or shutterfly it is usually cheap if not free.