Photo Albums

I love looking at the photo albums we have accumulated as a family.

I have just visited The Fleet Air Arm Museum as I lost my dad in June and like so many men he rarely spoke of his time in the service, especially the war years. It was so nice to be shown the archive paperwork and photos of the various aspects of his service history. I hope there will always be 'keepers' of photos reminding us of our history for what ever reason.

There is something comforting in flipping from photo to photo in an album, I just don't feel the same connection looking at them on a computer, I am sure that's just me. It's a bit like having a good old newspaper in your hand instead of flicking pages up and down on a computer.

I do worry that some of the later photos we have taken have changed colour whereas the photos taken years ago are as good as new.

I am sure I am not the only one when times are sad I get an enormous feeling of belonging and warmth when I look back at the happy, wonderful times in my life that have given me so much joy simply by looking at my albums.

Long live the album.

It's so comforting to read these posts and know that I am not the only one with boxes of photos waiting to be put into albums. I find I become very maudlin when looking at them, remembering the good times and family and friends who are no longer. I have 32 years worth stacked in old shoe boxes and each winter I promise myself that I will while away the dark evenings sorting them all out - maybe next year

I have the family archive which dates back to the century before last and as well as crates of photographs includes reels and reels of Super 8 cine film. I haven't tackled it yet.

Absent, we have just had the cine films put onto a dvd. What a success! One of the high-lights of Christmas. Tegan, I like to have a photo of myself looking glamorous, with the DGC. if you have to go into hospital you can take it with you on the pretence of wanting a photo of your DGC but really with the intention of showing what you look like when not lying in a hospital bed!
I've always done albums for 18th and 40th birthdays. DGS, 25, was talking the other day about his album which was called ''Man on the Water'' and was pictures of him from his first holiday on our narrowboat,aged 6 months, to a picture of him sailing his Dad's yacht aged 17.

I think old photos in a box has something about them...they don't need to be categorised ..it is nice just to flick through them..I did have a few attempts to put them in order but it was near impossible and some how took the warmth away..I think it's part and parcel when you just come across them in no particular order and you never know which photo is coming next.. I suppose since the digital age then it is much easier to put them in order e.g holiday to Greece etc day at the Castle etc but with older ones I think the magic and memories are much nicer just random. but that is just my opinion what ever way you like..enjoy the picture show [show]

I make scrapbooks as a hobby - its a very satisfying way of gathering memories together. I also have boxes and boxes of photos - handy tip - write people names on the back... there will come a day when you are not here to tell who they are - I inherited all my parents albums and its so frustrating !

..in pencil, not ink. Gally, it has been a sad few days, but in some ways it's been therapeutic as well. For me it was the loss of my marriage that I found painful, seeing us looking so happy together; not as bad as having lost my husband, obviously but still sad. We've also started saying things like 'remember when we...etc'

I've sorted my photographs into years and put them in labelled envelopes, sometimes two envelopes for a year, i.e. Jan - June, July - December. The envelopes are in shoe-boxes in year order - they fit well.

I've also got old cine films, some pre-war, and had them put on video tape; I suppose now that's out of date and I'll have to find a way of putting them on dvd.

Mine were in some semblance of date order until DD3 had a rummage through them to make a collage for J's last birthday and failed to return them to their rightful places. Does that surprise me; huh.

I have two file boxes with photos of various places we have lived or been on holiday, not all dated but I can usually tell by the age of the kids.
My son decided today he was going to get an external hard drive to put all the photos on from his computer and the phones and cameras.
That's because he needed to look at some photos for work and discovered the SD card they were on had been corrupted. I reminded him that we had an external hard drive, but could I find it? Need to sort out the photos more. I have lots of SD cards dated and labelled.

I also have a digital keyring, which takes up to 80 photos and I can watch a slideshow of them. Like everything else, you have to remember to recharge it, but it's easy to take with you if you go away.

My DH is an enthusiastic photographer. We have albums - and shoe boxes full of the ones which aren't as good but we couldn't throw away. My aim is to scan them into the computer and get them all printed in photo books to give to the kids for Christmas presents. It's been just that - an aim - for at least five years, ever since I down loaded the program!

Mine are all in shoeboxes, one for each decade (roughly).
More recent ones, ie digital photos are on a memory stick which I can plug into the TV and run as a slide show. It works well and the whole family can enjoy watching and sharing the memories..
I would like to scan the older pics and put them on the memory stick, but it's a bit time consuming and I haven't got round to it yet.

Having got the photos in some sort of order I've spent the day putting cd's in alphabetical order and in a different place.