Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The Loss of the Family Photo Album?

Photo_Album

Just last night I was thinking that my kids are growing up without printed photos and albums to look at. I won’t have them to pull off a dusty shelf in the hall closet so I can embarrass my sons when they bring their first girlfriends home.

This actually kept me up for awhile thinking how times have changed and my kids will have to rely on a computer to look back at our family history in photos and not the albums that we have.

Today, much to my surprise, I take a look at Dick Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter and he shares his thoughts on this very same subject and points us to an article written by Clay Barbour for the Wisconsin State Journal.

Reading both of their thoughts and suggestions really has me thinking today. As was said, photos are such an important part of our family history. At least for me, seeing a photo of my ancestor really gets me more connected to them even though I never met them.

I cannot bear to deprive our children of having those family photo albums to browse through when they get older. I haven’t told the wife yet, but we need to start printing out at least some of the thousands of digital photos we have and put them in albums. We have a lot of work to do.

Has this crossed anyone else’s mind and are you printing out your digital photos; please leave your thoughts in the comments.

Thanks for reading and keep diggin’ for that family.

Chris

Photo by: Photobunny

3 comments:

  1. This is a good question and I agree with having at least the most important photos in a physical as well as digital form. I have put off printing digital photos because we have so many. However, I have started to figure out how I am going to handle printing and presentation (have a blog post scheduled for tomorrow on the subject) and have decided on using photo books through an online service.

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  2. Greta, that is a great idea. I didn't even think about the online photo book services. Printing all at home is easy but the ink can get expensive - online photo service might be the best way to go. Thanks and I look forward to reading you post on the subject.

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  3. So agree with your post. I have printed a minimum amount of photos since going digital.
    We have to go to the computer to look at any recent family memories. You're right, I do feel a connection when I hold an ancestor's pic.
    I like Greta's suggestion on photo books. Never tried them. Going to check that out.
    Thanks for the blog post!
    Good luck!
    Cindy @ Genealogy Circle

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