I went to "Malam Yayasan Anak-anak Yatim Sultanah Haminah" (YAYSH) Dinner at Shangri-la Hotel, Kuala Lumpur last Sunday. It was a charity dinner to raise money to support this foundation. There were a lot of important people and some politicians were there to support this foundation.
One thing I noticed was almost all of the attendee took photos using their smart phones. It got me thinking and wondering what did they do with all the photos taken and exchange through Whatsapp? I bet that one month from now or one year from now these beautiful photos and memories taken during this important and meaningful event get lost through time and be over taken by other memories and events.
When I asked some people or some of my friends what did they do with all the photos, they said shared them using WhatsApp and that is all they did to the photos. Or some that is adventurous enough they share them on Facebook or Instagram.
I really believe that it is about time that we do something with all the photos taken with our smart phones. Other than sitting quietly somewhere in the jungle of digital fortress, we need to get them out, showcase them and give them proper home where we can enjoy them any time we want.
I have been a memory keeper for as long as I can remember and that is a long time. I learned a lot over the years. Here I would love to share with you some of the things that I learn to preserve those memories. Forget about scrapbooking in traditional sense, think more about memory keeping instead.
5 things that you can do with your cellphone photos
#1. Get them out of your phone - a.k.a have a backup copy of the photos somewhere else
The first rule of have digital photos is to backup them. Technology fails and so does your phone. It is very very very important to back up them regularly.
I usually backup my cellphone photos once every two weeks and upload them to flickr every month for backup purposes.
#2. Invest in a good photo printer - It might be a little bit expensive compare to printing them professionally at the store but it convenient to print at the comfort of your own home. Select a few beautiful photos from your collection, print them out and put them in a frame. I highly recommend Canon Selphy CP910 and Instax Share Printer.
#3. Make a photo book - Right now is so much easier to send your photos for printing on a photo book. I have been using the service from Photo book Malaysia and I am totally happy with the results.
#4. Give scrapbooking a chance - Yes definitely! If you want to got a head and give scrapbooking a chance. I am 100% agree with Elise on this one. There are so many ways to scrapbook, Project Life system is one of the easiest way to scrapbook.
#5. Don't be afraid to journal - One thing that is lacking in cellphone photos is the story behind the photos. It's about time we make the time to journal. Now more than ever the tools to help us journal is available in our hand. Yes, our cellphone can be use to journal also. Invest in a journal app to help you organise your thoughts and document your photos. I used Day One app because of the simplicity and the ability to print my journal into pdf format.
Now you have a basic idea what to do with your cellphone photos, why not start now. Get those photos out of your phone and play with them a little bit.
