That's followed by the endless hours of editing, tweaking, education and skill development to coax it into perfection.
And let’s not forget the small fortune we’ve poured into procuring the toys and tools that fill our multiple camera bags to help make that perfect shot even possible.
So we’ve captured the images — lots of them, if we’re lucky. And they’re gorgeous.
Now what?
How can we move them beyond our computer monitor and out into the world? How might they help enrich the lives of our friends and families and those in our community?
And how can we ensure our photographs — the product of our time, passion, creativity and cash — will outlive us and become a legacy for future generations?
My grandfather was a career engineer at Kodak who helped develop its technology. He left behind thousands of color slides of his large family and from his world travels. But a half century later, his images are nowhere to be found. They slipped through the hands of second, third and fourth generation descendants who were busy doing other things.
There isn’t much I wouldn’t give to recover those visual assets and his stockpile of Kodak one-of-a-kind gear. It’s put me on a mission to make sure my passion for image making doesn’t evaporate into thin air when I’m no longer able to share my work.
There isn’t much I wouldn’t give to recover those visual assets and his stockpile of Kodak one-of-a-kind gear. It’s put me on a mission to make sure my passion for image making doesn’t evaporate into thin air when I’m no longer able to share my work.
Here's my strategy (and bucket list, as it turns out).
Chase that one memorable photograph. Treat each day like it’s your last and make images that encompass your overall personality, your outlook, your ethos. Few of us will capture the “one shot” that will make us famous, but we can create photos that will speak for us long after we make an exit.
Inspire others. Teach photography to a friend or family member, be a mentor/coach one-on-one. Offer instruction at a local school, at a church or through a scouting program or 4-H club. Start a blog, share on social media. Be open-handed with your tips, techniques, insights, contacts and experiences. Our legacy doesn’t live on through our images alone. It lives in the passion we ignite in others.
Document history. Photographers can be such effective historians. Why not photograph your own home, your kids, friends, family, neighborhood, community or group? Paint a wordless picture of where you live, what it means to grow up in your world, this moment in time. Self-publish a book using Blurb.com, Shutterfly, Snapfish or any one of a number of reasonably priced online sources. Submit a small collection to the local paper, host a blog and link to social media, create a gallery for your website, historical society, library or social media.
Capture personalities. I dream of compiling a “Faces and Places” book of Canandaigua’s best loved people at work and play, quietly doing what they do best. It will be a who’s who of colorful and beloved characters on the front line and behind the scenes, in their natural surroundings. I hope the self-published volume will embody the essence of this area’s greatest living assets.
Capture relationships. A few years ago I forced myself, camera in hand, into my mom and dad’s daily activities over the course of a month. They didn’t love being photographed and couldn’t figure out why I was so insistent, but I tried to ease their minds as we went along. The next Christmas I presented them with a self-published book of their life and love in images. It brought so many smiles and tears and secret looks, and later became especially precious when my dad died suddenly of acute myeloid leukemia. They’re by no means the best images I’ve ever captured, but they are the most important, to date.
Remember, when you’re documenting the life of a loved one, images should be natural and captured in their own environment. Embody their essence, their personality through facial expressions, interactions, tighter shots of their hands, profiles that show body language and attitude, details of their surroundings, sacred objects and daily rituals. Shoot some "big picture" images of their surroundings to act as backdrops or scene-setters. Tell their story without words.
Curate treasured collections. Mom’s mountain of colorful quilts, Dad’s menagerie of exotic percussion instruments, my sister’s stunning handmade stained glass, miniature tea sets, Nantucket baskets, colorful sneakers, guitars, surfboards, cooking gadgets — whatever you and your loved ones cherish and collect deserves to be artfully photographed for today and tomorrow.
And what a wonderful gift to give to future generations: a self-published volume featuring images of “what we made and loved.” If you think of those objects as an expression of life and passion, it’s easy to capture them as a portrait of their creator, either in a still life, mass assemblage, or pop art piece.
This way of creating a legacy calls out to become a self-published photo book or printed and framed as wall art. Long after the actual collections have been broken up to give away or be sold, a printed record will tell the collector’s love story.
An online repository might also be a great option for your family. Members can contribute, download or even digitally “thumb through” virtual photo albums of vacations, daily life, major life events, heritage photos or anything that defines your tribe. Sure, you could depend on social media for that, but a private, interactive gallery for your family with multiple contributors could be so much more fun! Be sure to communicate when and how the repository will remain accessible as technology advances.
A word of caution: If you don’t establish an online repository, at least designate a family historian to be in charge of your family’s heritage photos, and let your family know who that person is. People need to know who has the digital and printed photos and where they’re being stored. And if you are using a library system or a shared site, you also need to make sure someone is maintaining that system. The family historian or the person responsible for the estate needs to keep things current, and be aware if a site has become obsolete.
Framed prints, wall calendars, mugs, etc. deserve a mention, as well. These are essential at our house, as we LOVE seeing the faces of our grandchildren every day on the wall calendar hanging in the kitchen. It’s a snapshot of this moment in time and a fresh reminder of how blessed we are. I didn’t create the calendar, but I’d be lost if my daughter didn’t gift us every year with one.
Share your travels through travelogue presentations at libraries and senior centers. Show off your best images of parts unknown and the world travels with you while you relieve your adventures.
Document history. Photographers can be such effective historians. Why not photograph your own home, your kids, friends, family, neighborhood, community or group? Paint a wordless picture of where you live, what it means to grow up in your world, this moment in time. Self-publish a book using Blurb.com, Shutterfly, Snapfish or any one of a number of reasonably priced online sources. Submit a small collection to the local paper, host a blog and link to social media, create a gallery for your website, historical society, library or social media.
Capture relationships. A few years ago I forced myself, camera in hand, into my mom and dad’s daily activities over the course of a month. They didn’t love being photographed and couldn’t figure out why I was so insistent, but I tried to ease their minds as we went along. The next Christmas I presented them with a self-published book of their life and love in images. It brought so many smiles and tears and secret looks, and later became especially precious when my dad died suddenly of acute myeloid leukemia. They’re by no means the best images I’ve ever captured, but they are the most important, to date.
And what a wonderful gift to give to future generations: a self-published volume featuring images of “what we made and loved.” If you think of those objects as an expression of life and passion, it’s easy to capture them as a portrait of their creator, either in a still life, mass assemblage, or pop art piece.
This way of creating a legacy calls out to become a self-published photo book or printed and framed as wall art. Long after the actual collections have been broken up to give away or be sold, a printed record will tell the collector’s love story.
An online repository might also be a great option for your family. Members can contribute, download or even digitally “thumb through” virtual photo albums of vacations, daily life, major life events, heritage photos or anything that defines your tribe. Sure, you could depend on social media for that, but a private, interactive gallery for your family with multiple contributors could be so much more fun! Be sure to communicate when and how the repository will remain accessible as technology advances.
A word of caution: If you don’t establish an online repository, at least designate a family historian to be in charge of your family’s heritage photos, and let your family know who that person is. People need to know who has the digital and printed photos and where they’re being stored. And if you are using a library system or a shared site, you also need to make sure someone is maintaining that system. The family historian or the person responsible for the estate needs to keep things current, and be aware if a site has become obsolete.
Framed prints, wall calendars, mugs, etc. deserve a mention, as well. These are essential at our house, as we LOVE seeing the faces of our grandchildren every day on the wall calendar hanging in the kitchen. It’s a snapshot of this moment in time and a fresh reminder of how blessed we are. I didn’t create the calendar, but I’d be lost if my daughter didn’t gift us every year with one. 
Share your travels through travelogue presentations at libraries and senior centers. Show off your best images of parts unknown and the world travels with you while you relieve your adventures.
On social media: Create slideshows and publish them on YouTube. Post photo collections or collages on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter. Create Shared Albums in iCloud, or share your photos via Dropbox or Google Photos.
ORGANIZE YOUR ASSETS
ORGANIZE YOUR ASSETS
Gather your photos into one location. This will help you “assess the mess,” organize and eliminate duplicates. That means uploading from each device you’ve used to take a photo. iCloud (if you use it) will sync across all your devices. Gather print photos, as much as you’re able, into one location, too.
Breathe. It’s going to feel overwhelming. But you can bring order one small step at a time.
Check for duplicates using PhotoSweeper for Mac or Awesome Duplicate Finder for PC or Lightroom. You could also view your files manually. Obviously, check digitals before spending time scanning prints — you may already have an image in both formats.
Purge. Choose your best photos and get rid of your worst. Grit your teeth and delete anything that’s technically off, then take another pass and choose the very best of each specific subject or event. Delete what’s left.
Organize. Some prefer to sort by year and date, but I prefer creating categories like people, places, wildlife, landscapes/nature, events, night/astro, travel, holidays, portraits, ICM, drone, clients, etc. Subfiles have event/location/subject names and the year, like Christmas 2020, and all the images inside have been renamed to Christmas 2020_1.jpg, etc.
Multiple print photo boxes work for organizing prints by event or catagory. And what a great job to tackle with a few family members!
Back up. If catastrophe strikes your laptop, device or prints, you’ll be prepared. Scan prints (or have it done), keep original prints for back up. And backup digital images twice on a second 1 TB or greater external hard drive AND the cloud.
Create multiple backups, including making digital copies of analog photos and printed copies of digital photos, storing images in the cloud and one complete set of your image archive on a hard drive. Use the three-copy rule: you should have three digital copies of your photos, at least one at an off-site location. Systems that make at least one automatic backup without a manual prompt from you are Apple Photos, Google Photos and Backblaze. Also share important digital and printed images with family now. If your copy is destroyed, someone else can help you recover it.
Sound like overkill? It does until you lose an irreplaceable original.
Maintain the sort/purge/organize ritual every time you upload images to your computer. Schedule a time each month to continue curating the best of the best.
Keep up with technology changes. Digital file formats change, so keep file formats current so they can be read by current equipment and software. Home movies and tapes should be converted to digital files.
PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE
This is where it all starts to get real.
Where and what next? Write down where all physical photos, videos and memorabilia can be found. Also write down instructions for what you would like your family to do with all of these physical and digital memories after you are gone.
Online inventory. Make a list of all the online places where you’ve stored photos, videos and personal blogs. Record all the online user names/passwords of sites where you keep photos and videos, including social media. Keep this list updated in a password-protected spreadsheet, put handwritten copies in your safety deposit box.
Assign a digital executor, someone to execute your final wishes with your photographs. Do you want them scanned and distributed? Do you want your online accounts to be disabled or deleted? Facebook now allows you to name that person in advance and give them administrative privileges.
Your digital executor also needs to know the access code to unlock your digital devices (phone, tablet, computer) which will hold your most recent photos.
Keep all of this information in a safe location such as a locked file cabinet or safe (if written), in a password-protected file on your computer or a hard-copy held by your lawyer or trusted family friend.
Now’s the time to unleash your passion and creativity to enrich the lives around you today and tomorrow.
Now’s the time to make sure your images have a voice for generations to come.
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