How Can I Preserve My Photographic Memories? : Photographic Memory
Article by Calandra Wright
Many of our fondest memories are stored in the photos we took and preserved. Formerly we were told to preserve not only the picture but also the negative; then other prints could be made. Most youth today don’t even know what a negative is! So what is the best way to preserve those digital memories?
First, don’t be shy about taking plenty of pictures. Since it doesn’t cost any more to take extra pictures, take many more than you want to keep. I recently purchased a 4 gig card for a new camera, in anticipation of a trip to visit friends and relatives. When I got home, it still said I could take another 10,000 pictures without running out of memory!
After collecting your numerous pictures, delete the ones that are not clear, exposure is wrong, people are frowning or in the shadows, or duplicates. You don’t have to keep every one. On the other hand, don’t be shy about keeping one that is special, though it isn’t your best shot. It doesn’t cost any more to keep it.
Photo albums can be set up with computer programs cataloging them by event, date, subject, or any way you want. Be sure to identify each picture clearly. My basement shelf contains a box of slides from my deceased parents but I don’t know the subjects. This frustration can be eliminated by adequate labels.
At this point you may feel you are done with your project. Yet, consider how fragile your preserved memories are. One crash of your hard drive and you may lose everything! Or if you have them on floppies, the media may be obsolete and they are as good as erased! Further, the presence of a random magnetic field could likewise destroy them.
Formerly we thought CDs were more secure. Nothing touched the surface so nothing needed to wear out. However, scratches, breaks, heat damage could all destroy your memories.
Start with this suggestion: store all your pictures additionally in another place and on copies in other parts of your home. That is, if you put them on a CD, make copies and store at least one copy in another home, at work, in a safety deposit box. Be sure to back up your hard drives and, if possible, subscribe to a service that backs up your data on a server somewhere else. As media changes, backup your memories on the new media. If all your pictures were on 5