How to decide which photos to print
1/ Think of your photos as a story
With the potential to be a great story.
When you hear a well written story, the plot is much more interesting than a linear recounting of events that have happened.
It doesn’t go like this:
We woke up
and then we had breakfast
and then we brushed our teeth
and then we did this
and then we did that
and then we ate this meal here
and then I went to the toilet
and then we got changed
and went to sleep.’
It’s about mood
and highlights
and what excites you
and who you are as people.
When you think of it this way, I think it becomes a lot easier to begin to think about that story.
Practically, how do you begin?
Let’s take an example topic and how you might tackle it:
Topic: Photos of the last year
Your brain thinks it’s logical to:
Go to your camera reel and pull out
5 best photos of January,
5 best photos of February,
5 best photos of March
5 photos of April… and so on…
It is overwhelming doing it this way, confusing and you’ll end up with the linear, dull storyline.
Instead, I would suggest that you:
2/ Grab a notebook, pencil and the calendar of the past year
Look at what was written on that calendar
What events make you smile as your recollect them?
Which were powerful moments for other reasons?
When you remember them jot them down.
This is pulling out the highlights of your year
Moments that mattered; that you don’t want to forget.
The calendar months become incidental (in 10 years time, you won’t care whether that was in Jan or Feb
Reunion with uni pals
Kids birthday
Highland trek
Leaving a job
Selling a house
Buying a camper van
Summer holiday
Yoga retreat
Bike ride
This is a collection of times that shaped you.
You’re gathering the building blocks for telling a (photo) story.
(and, just as a reminder, you haven’t even looked at your photo reel yet).
This approach works whether you’re thinking of a year or a trip or person.
A person? Note down the times they came into their own, and qualities that you love about them.
A trip? What were the great bits? The hard bits? The bits that made you belly laugh? Have a chat with those who joined you - what do they remember?)
These notes give you the compass and map for which photos to choose.
3/ Put ALL the photos that illustrate the events you’ve listed into one album on your phone
This is a fast and ruthless action.
Don’t get too bogged down in the actual photos and certainly not about whether it’s a ‘good’ photo or not.
Now you have your raw ingredients for going through and selecting which are the keepers.
Your next step will be to choose the keepers and curate that story …
If that’s too big a job for you, you can send 20 Photos your list of moments and your huge, unfiltered album and we’ll do the selecting for you.
You might be able to tell, this is what we love doing.
Other things to think about
4/ You don’t need to know what you want as prints before you begin
Adopt this approach whether one big print, an album or a calendar for the grandparents.
As you go through the process, it’ll become clear to you, how to best print these images - which moments you want on your walls, which as prints to gift or keep, which you’d like as a big photo story to walk past everyday.
ie. whether to make 2 Hero Prints and a 20 Photos small print set, or instead update your 20 Photos Big Print for the last year and hang it somewhere you can enjoy it each day.
5/ Set your own traditions and ‘rules’
Your year could begin and end, whenever you want it to- it doesn’t have to be Dec to Jan- especially as the Festive time of year can be so full of obligations. It could be birthday to birthday or Spring to Spring.
Make your own rules up - it’s completely liberating.
If you need a format for reflection on a year, I have found the Years Compass incredibly useful.
6/ Don’t be totally fair
You don’t need to ‘be fair’ with the number of photos of each person in each event - but instead look for images that celebrate who that person is and their character. You’re writing a photo story, not creating an attendance list.
That said, do be mindful if someone is consistently out of shot over time… for example in our family, I am seldom in photos (because I am always the picture taker).
A solution to this is that I now take more selfies if there is a moment I want to mark… It’s not a beautiful shot, but my face is in there annually and my presence in our family history is cemented!
