5 Simple Ways to End Photo Clutter

I’m going to go out on a limb, and assume that if you are reading this blog, you have photo clutter that you would like to get under control.

Here are 5 simple tasks you can complete on a monthly basis to get your photos under control and streamline your photo library.

It doesn’t matter where your photos are stored - iCloud, Google, SmugMug, Forever, OneDrive - this process will work with any photo library.

So here we go - my 5 simple ways to end your photo clutter. Do this on a monthly basis to get your photos under control and keep them under control.

1. Delete the duds.

This is an easy one! Do you need photos of parking spaces or photos that are out of focus? No! Delete. Trust me, you take many photos you do not need. Did you take a screenshot of something to send to a friend? Delete it immediately after sending, don’t even let it get to your camera roll. Did you go to the store and take pictures to send to someone asking if that’s what you should buy? Delete right after sending.

2. Mark your favorites.

Did you go to a party or on vacation where you took a lot of photos? Go through and mark your favorites. You can then delete the others (see #1) or just leave them for now. Added bonus: if the time comes when you want to create a project using photos, you will have already identified the best ones.

3. Delete the “similar but not quite as good as” photos.

Now that you’ve looked at your favorites, take a look at the photos around each one. Did you take 6 selfies trying to get the right shot? Delete the ones you did not favorite. Did you take 10 photos of the lion at the zoo? How many do your really need? Find the best one and delete the rest. You’re later you will thank you.

4. File photos in albums

Albums are the greatest single way to organize your photos, and the easiest. Do you have a lot of photos of recipes? Make a recipe album. Do you have photos of “to do” items? Make a to do album. Some of my favorite albums:

1. Favorites of each family member

2. Favorites of my whole family together

3. Favorites of my dog (this is probably #1, but don’t tell my kids)

4. Books I’d like to read

5. Travel - my favorite photos from each trip

6. Headshots for business

7. First day of school

8. Photos I might need for a specific project

Your list of albums will be different from mine; think about what photos do you constantly look for? Make an album for them.

5. Take fewer photos!

The number of photos we take each year has skyrocketed with the ease of the camera in your pocket. Way back when you only had 35 photos per roll, you took 35 photos and you thought more carefully about each one. These days you might take 35 photos a day or more. Think about the photos you take. Do you often take multiple photos of the same thing? A year from now you won’t want 10 photos of that flower or birthday cake, you will only want one. As you went through your duds in step 1, what types of photos did you delete? Wouldn’t it be easier if you didn’t take them in the first place?

6. Bonus Tip: Use Keywords and Captions

If you’ve been following me at all, you know this is one of my absolute favorite ways to organize photos and remove clutter. See this post and this post for more on adding keywords and captions.