5 tips to stay organized as you head out on vacation

Do you take a lot of photos on vacation?

If you are like most of my clients, you take a lot more photos while on vacation than you do the rest of the year. And a larger percentage of these photos are photos you actually want to keep. The sheer volume of vacation photos can be overwhelming.

Here are five tips to organize your photos while on the road.

Your first post-vacation photo goal should be to have all of your trip photos in one place. You may be thinking - they are already in one place, they are on my phone! True, but 3, 6, 12 months from now how easy will they be to find? Before you even hit the road, create an album on your phone that you will use to collect your vacation photos.

If you know you have just taken a great photo, favorite it right away. Otherwise, take some time in the evenings, or while traveling to your next destination, or on the car ride or plane home to favorite the best photos - these are the ones you may want to share, or create an album, or even print to put in a frame. Have 10 photos of a grizzly bear in the exact same pose because your phone was on burst mode? Identify the best one. Add these to your album.

While you are still on the road, identify photos that may not be “the best” but are still photos you want to keep. Not all photos are “the best.” Often the biggest category of photos we save are those that help to tell the story of the best photos. Scenery, a series of funny faces the kids make, activities, additional shots of that grizzly bear from tip #1, etc. These can be used to bring color to the best photos, and often make up the bulk of a digital album or printed photo book. Add these to your album.

This may sound like an obvious tip, but most people never bother to delete photos from their phones on a regular basis. I can guarantee that not every photo you take on vacation is a keeper. The virtual “to delete” pile should include fuzzy photos, duplicate photos (for example group shots - you may take 5 trying to get everyone to smile, do you need to keep all 5?), and the “why did I take that” photos. Delete them before you get home or you may never do it. Don’t worry if you make a mistake, most phones keep deleted photos for 30 days before permanently deleting them.

Adding captions to your photos can provide value later on down the road. They allow for easy searching. They allow for some commentary about that particular place or event. If you share the photos or create a printed album, they can serve as headings or add to the story you tell about your trip. And if a year from now you are looking at those photos, they will help you remember the where and why of the photo.

If you find yourself wanting to make a photo album but don’t have the time or don’t know where to start, give me a call. If you find yourself with too many photos, I can help you thin the herd.