There’s no doubt that digital cameras make picture taking easier… we can see the images instantly.  Well, at least you can view the images on the camera, but they’re still a long way from making it to print. In fact, many people don’t ever print their images.  We have a couple things to say about that…

1st, What are we thinking?! Why limit our view of photos that make us smile? (I say “we” because I was one of the culprits - that’s why I started Memory Lane Designs). I had to ask myself, “Why do I take photos in the first place?” I really needed to enjoy the memories I captured rather than squirrel them away in hopes of someday making time to “do something” with them! (Sound familiar at all?)

And the 2nd major issue - We’re just setting ourselves up for never enjoying our photos. Cramming our computers and compact disks with images is certainly not going to make the process of  ”doing something” with our pictures any easier.

So, what to do… what to do?  Well - I wanted to be able to find certain images, create hardbound photo books, personalized photo art, and other photo products that would make me smile every day. To do that I really needed to get my digital photos organized. I found that to be the biggest obstacle - so I thought I would share some basic steps that may offer a bit of help.

1. Gather all your photo disks, jump drives, and memory cards
2. Download all the images from your disks, jump drives and memory cards to a central location, like the My Pictures folder on your computer. (If you know the timeframe or event each photo grouping was taken, you may want to create a sub-folder to reference later.)
3. Determine how you want to categorize your images. To decide, think about how you want to reference your photos and keep in mind there’s no right or wrong way. A few ways to consider - by date (year and month), by event, by child, by trip. Also, depending on the space you have on your computer, you may want to organize by year and month, and then copy images by other categories based on how you use them. An example of this is to copy all your birthday photos to one folder, and categorize them by child.
4. Create folders for each category, such as the year, child’s name, or event.
5. Create sub-folders under each category; months, ages, years
6. Move images to the appropriate folders

That’s it! Once you have your photos all sorted, it will be much easier to do more with them.  So - get going; create slideshows, displays and photo products. And let me know what additional help or products you want - that’s why I’m here!

 Many smiles!

Lisa

Yes, it’s true - a product intended to help you enjoy and share your favorite photos can share a virus with your computer.  Some of the 10.4-inch Insignia digital picture frames sold exclusively at Best Buy have been causing computer problems for customers. Of course, when we heard there may be a problem with some digital photo frames, we researched the topic immediately. There’s nothing more important to us than providing our customers with the highest quality products - with the added bonus of no viruses! 

So after extensive research, we are pleased to report that this problem does not extend to any products sold by Memory Lane Designs - digital or otherwise. For those of you shopping around for digital frames, the problem seems to have been contained - Best Buy has issued a statement that they pulled all of the offending frames and the manufacturer has discontinued that model. If you believe you may have one of the frames, check out this article to learn more.

A few more take-aways from all this?

• We recommend that you buy a digital frame that uses a memory card - then there’s no need to connect it directly to your computer or camera.
• When it comes to electronics and most things that matter, the cheapest is rarely (if ever) the best quality.
• Checking out customer reviews of products and talking to the company to learn all the details can definitely be worth the time - especially for electronics, safety equipment, and anything for kids.
• Viruses (and other undermining events in life) happen, so backup, backup, BACKUP! We recommend taking the disks and guess work out of it too - just use the incredible, automatic backup service offered by Carbonite. For an amazingly reasonable price, this online service will back up select files or your entire hard drive - no limits, no extra fees. Then any photos or files you change are automatically backed up whenever your computer is on and able to connect to the internet.

You can weigh in on this subject or anything you like by commenting here or on our forum. Email works too - we love to hear from you!

CustomerService@memorylanedesigns.com

When I heard talk of Polaroid ending production of their instant film, I had to see it in writing for myself. As the New York Times reported, Polaroid film will only be produced to meet the expected demand through 2009. This news is not shocking - it’s certainly more often that we see someone holding up their mobile phone to capture the moment versus a Polaroid camera. But isn’t it strange how we believe some things will just always be?

For most people, the passing of this photo legend is the mark of a simpler time passed by - although there are other, more committed fans, who are certain to mourn the loss of this 60 year old iconic product for months. There’s something to be said for such an unrivaled technology - it should be respected as an elder in our techno community and appreciated for being the one that made us smile…instantly. In fact - thinking of the way people waved the developing images around as they slowly came into focus still makes me smile. So, thanks to you Polaroid for your many years producing this truly enjoyable product.

Welcome! Thanks for visiting my weblog. I’m the founder of Memory Lane Designs and have started this blog to share thoughts and ideas about photos. Many people ask what inspired Memory Lane Designs, so that seems like a good place to start…

Several years ago, I was invited to an after work scrapbooking party. I was busy with graduate classes and a full-time job, but I’ve always loved art and photos, so I decided to go. As I cropped photos and debated which embellishments to purchase, I started critiquing the design I started. To be truthful, I was also thinking, “It’s getting late and I really need to get some things done”, “Why did I just cut that photo into a circle?”, and “I don’t think I should be spending so much on scrapbooking supplies”. All these thoughts led to guilt - I had so many great memories to honor and yet I was less than enthusiastic about scrapbooking. There had to be a better way, and that’s when the idea for Memory Lane Designs began.

After doing a little research, I realized that not everyone had the time, creativity and desire to dedicate to scrapbooking. For those people, custom designed photo products would offer upscale, unique display options without all the time and supplies. My goal is that the Memory Lane Designs’ products will inspire people to get photos off computer hard drives, out of boxes and disintegrating photo albums and out for all to see. I truly believe that photos can inspire people to live a better life, take an annual vacation, and simply smile more often! So, take a little time to review the photos on your computer and pull out those pre-digital prints and enjoy!

Be inspired by your life.

Lisa