More photos are taken in now than ever before in history , but less and less of those photos are being preserved. Most of us click it and forget it, occasionally posting to social media, but rarely organizing and setting aside our favorite images. What a tragedy it would be if the most photographed generation, had the fewest of their memories in photographs to look back and reminisce on?

I found this great article speaks in depth about how we're "leaking memories". 

So, what can be done about it? I know that you don't have the time to sort through and print out 100's of photos a month. Luckily for us, we live in an age of convenience...and there is an app for that.

Starting out, I want to introduce you to this excellent tool for digital online photo organization and storage. It's hard to foresee internet photo storage becoming outdated, but perhaps it's conceivable. For now, it's close tot he best thing we have got, and with facial recognition, and allowing multiple people to access it, this is a great way to store, organize, and save your best memories. 

Backing up your photos to a hard drive is the current standard for safely backing up your images. But admittedly, it's hard to know whether or bot this technology will change over extended periods of times, and it's not the most convenient. This is coming from someone in their 20's who has already endured saving images to cd's, then to usb's, and now hard drives. Also, RIP to all my high quality emo photos fading away on Myspace. 😂 Truth be told, I have external hard drives AND old phones and computer sitting around for no other purpose than for me to "get all the photos off of" which may or may not ever happen. 

Additionally, there is the small chance of them being damaged in the same way that prints can be...lost in a move, or in a natural disaster such as flooding, fire, or kids. This is worst case scenario, but something to be considered when saving your most precious images. Let's use wedding photos as an example. I highly recommend  having them beautifully  displayed around your home to enjoy, or making and album to show off but I also suggest having the files saved to a hard drive that's in a fire and waterproof safe, or back them up with a digital service like the one I mentioned before, and don't forget your password! 

This seriously  intense external storage is best rated for video and photo pros. For everyone else, this more affordable options from Amazon is also great quality and good reviews. For personal use, I recommend  culling through your images and then only backing up the ones that you hope will last forever. Really make it worth puling out of storage one day. 

Hands down, the best way to enjoy your photos every day and hand them down to future generation is the one method that has long withstood the test of time. PRINTS.

Printing has evolved, and there are limitless ways to enjoy your favorite photos. Form having them etched into glass, carved into wood, turned into an art illustration, or displayed in a digital frame that you can update periodically.  My go to for all my prints and photo products has been Mpix for years. I  love them for the combinations of best quality, wide range of products, great customer service, and affordability. Yes, you can find some items more affordable at other places, but for the combination of the things I just mentioned, Mpix is unmatched. 

If you want to go the extra mile for yourself and your extended family? Create a family tree with everyone's recent family photo session (hey, if you need to update yours, you can book with me here!) Research your families history, and put together photos of past generations and recent family gathering into an album. My Grandma did this, then printed copies for all the grandkids. It is one of my most prized possessions. 

Easily one of my favorite inventions of all time, is Chatbooks. Thank goodness for entrepreneurs  that see a need and fulfill  it well. I am convinced  that any mom who isn't using Chatbooks, simply just doesn't know it exist.  Initially you will need to invest 20-30 minutes downloading the app on your phone, and setting up your profile. After that, the process is gloriously  automated. You can choose to have it synched with your instagram, or camera roll favorites. All you have to do after snapping photos of your kids all day, is favorite the photos in your camera roll that you want printed. Chatbooks will put them all together in a small chronological photo book, and ship it out to you every time you hit a full book (60 images). You can order books for special occasions like "Summer vacay 2021" You can also add notes or captions to your book before it ships, or delay shipping if you need too but what I love is that if you don't want to have to do any of that, then you still get your photos in print and my kids love to sit down with our pile of chatbooks and go over all their favorite memories together. 

Last suggestions. Set up an email account, or even a private instagram account for your kids (I'm betting we can depend on e-mail lasting longer than social media platforms). Send photos and littles notes of big milestones or special moments to that e-mail account, and give them the login information on their 18th birthday. Since most of us have left our handheld camcorders in the past, I think this is a wonderful gift to give all the kids who will be missing out on watching terrible quality home videos one day. 

I hope that this answers all the queries you had about storing and printing your images, but if you have more questions, leave them in the comments! Do you have a friend who would love these photo storage ideas? Please pass this post along to her.