Turn Your Photos into a Legacy Worth Sharing
Every family has a story, but without care and intention, a family’s memories can easily get lost in the shuffle of thousands of digital photos, boxes of printed memories, and forgotten videos.
Smartphones and digital cameras have revolutionized the way we capture our lives, but they’ve also created 2 gaps that we’re still learning how to fill when it comes to taking care of and preserving what truly matters.
Our most meaningful photos are getting get buried in endless camera rolls, making them harder to find, share, and enjoy.
While we’re taking more pictures than ever, we’re not thinking about how to protect and preserve them for the future.
A Legacy Collection fills these gaps.
“A Legacy Collection is a highly curated collection of your photos and videos stored in a location that is safe, easy to access, and easy to share, where there is a designated memory keeper assigned to keep your family stories alive. ”
It isn’t just about organizing your digital photo mess or sorting through the boxes and bags of printed photos and memorabilia, it’s about taking the next step to select the memories that matter most to you and your family and pass them on to future generations. It’s about sharing your values, your relationships, and the moments that defined your life.
Here's the hard truth…
“It’s unrealistic to believe that future generations will be willing or able to sift through the thousands of images that currently live in our everyday collections to find what truly matters.”
Being intentional about curating our photos and videos…and making a plan to preserve them…is essential if we want our family stories to live on.
Who should create a Legacy Collection?
The easy answer to this question is everyone. However, there are times in your life where this becomes more top of mind…
You’re ready to share childhood memories and photos with adult children;
You’re downsizing and want to get rid of the boxes;
There is a story to tell, whether it be of an experience, an event, a career, etc.;
You have a desire to preserve and share family history with future generations;
There is a life milestone – birthday, anniversary, retirement, birth, loss of a loved one;
You’re getting your affairs in order and estate planning;
You’re cleaning out a family member’s belongings;
You’re overwhelmed with how many photos and memories they have; or,
You’re concerned about losing photos to tech failures, outdated formats, etc.
So how do you curate a Legacy Collection that future generations will love and cherish?
Identify a safe and secure location to store your Legacy Collection with the future in mind. Own a copy of this collection on a computer or external hard drive, but also create an online family gallery to easily share your family photos and stories;
Choose the best of the best from your digital collection, which means sorting and selecting a defined set of the photos that best represent you and your family. 5-20 per year…at the most;
Sort and digitize your most important and treasured printed photos and memorabilia, and incorporate them into your digital collection of legacy photos;
Convert your favorite old media (videotapes, slides, film reels, etc.) to a format in today’s technology that can be easily viewed, backed up, and enjoyed and add them to your digital collection;
Capture the names of the people and the stories that your memories represent. You can do this in the metadata of the photos or by adding documents with stories; and,
Create a Legacy Plan for how your family’s stories and memories will get passed on, which includes identifying a person who will be responsible for maintaining that collection when you are gone.
How to get started…
A great first step to creating a Legacy Collection is to create a Legacy List that includes things such as:
Core values you want to pass along;
Meaningful relationships that matter most to you;
Important moments and life events; and
Life accomplishments you are most proud of.
This list can help guide the creation of a meaningful legacy and memory collection that's not just a timeline of events, but a reflection of who you are and the values you hope your family carries forward.
Curating a Legacy Collection is not only a gift to your family, but it can also be a gift to yourself. It allows you to share and celebrate the pivotal moments that shaped your life and preserve the story of who you are and the legacy you want to leave behind.
Overwhelmed with your photos? Getting started organizing your photos can be the hardest part! Grab our FREE GETTING STARTED GUIDE that includes tips for how to create a plan, how to take inventory of your collection, and provides the form to do it.
Holly Corbid is the Founder/Owner of Capture Your Photos, where we help you to organize, preserve, and share your lifetime of memories. Helping you touch hearts with your photos is our passion. We specialize in digital photo organization and work remotely with clients all over the country.
Looking for a DIY solution? Check out our series of online courses, The Photo Organizing Blueprint.
Find us at www.captureyourphotos.com or contact us here.