Photo help

I'm dedicating this post to Kathy at Mama's Losin' It! Because we bonded over this mutual problem and overwhelming feelings stemming from it. 

So, if you're also having panic attacks in the middle of the night because, like me, you have over 5,000 photos in your iPhoto library, and they are not backed up anywhere, read on! There is hope for organization!

I'm adding this to my list of 2010 resolutions: I will organize my digital photos (and maybe my old 35mm photos too).

The Photo Archivist

Michele Bender, freelance writer and mother of two, New York City

Digital Drawers to Die For

Michele’s home-office storage includes a drawer where cords and chargers live in tangle-free bliss. Just below is her showpiece: a photo filing system that holds a decade’s worth of family shots, beautifully organized on colorful CDs. Whenever Michele transfers images to discs, she deletes them from her iPhoto library.

Payoff: “Since having kids, the number of pictures I take is ridiculous,” says Michele. “My computer was so overloaded. Now, if the school needs a recent photo for my son’s cubby or a shot of my daughter as a baby, I don’t have to click through a thousand pictures. I know exactly where to look.”

Advice for technophobes: “Do it in pieces. If you wait till the end of the year, you’ll never get to it. When you go on a class trip, come home and put the images on a disc―it takes two seconds.”

Humbled by her habit: “I love having everything in order. It gives me a faux sense of control over my life. But my family always makes fun of me. When I say the word organize, my daughter puts her fingers in her ears. If my son wants candy, he’ll say, ‘I’ll let you organize my toys!’ ”

2 Ways to Create Your Own System

For digital images: Color-code your collection by storing discs in vibrant cases (slim jewel cases, $11.50 for 25, staples.com)―blue for parties, green for trips, and so on. Use empty cases positioned vertically and marked by the year as dividers; they’ll extend about a half inch above the others.

For old-school snapshots: Mail photos to ScanCafe.com and get them back in digitized form. About 1,200 images (from 29 cents a photo) fit on a DVD; CDs hold far fewer. The company touches up images in a climate-controlled facility monitored 24/7 by armed guards. You can track your precious cargo online every step of the way, and the originals are returned when the process is complete.

{Article & images via Real Simple}