Photographs are very important to many of us. They serve as a reminder of happy memories in our pasts. They can also be quite difficult to properly care for. They can get damaged quite easily, and if you don’t have them backed up, or if you don’t have extra copies, there is no way to retrieve these memories again. The following provides helpful photo storage and preservation techniques that you may want to take into consideration:
Sunlight is Your Enemy
Storing your photos in direct sunlight can be incredibly damaging to them in the long run. Archival Methods explains “over time, it can lead to your photos degrading beyond repair.” Also, it is important to avoiding storing hard drives and flash drives in direct sunlight or anywhere that gets hot because this can ruin them. Overall, you should try to find a safe, cool, place out of direct sunlight to store your photos in order to preserve them for many years to come.
Never Stack Your Photos
Stacking photos on top of each other without some sort of non-stick buffer is asking for trouble, and heartache in the future. All Storage Online explains, “when storing photos, it’s tempting to grab a shoebox, pop a few stacks of photos inside and call it a day. Don’t do this. It may seem like a space saver, but you should never store photos in stacks. Even in a climate-controlled storage unit, there’s still the risk of these photos sticking together. This risk becomes even greater if you store photos in stacks for a long period of time.” Therefore, you will want to find a safe way to store your photos. If you’re looking for ideas on storing your photos, photo albums is a great storage method. They are designed to keep your photos separated and in good condition. Lastly, you should also avoid stacking hard drives, flash drives and memory cards. If they fall over, this can break or damage the devices.
Beware Water and Humidity
Water and humidity should also be strictly avoided. It is important to remember to always use protective sheets over photos, such as those found in photo albums, as well as the appropriate storage containers and boxes. Lastly, it is important to remember to store your photos and photo storage devices somewhere high off of the ground. This will help to protect them in case your home is flooded or if there is a storm.
Back Your Photos up
Lastly, you should ensure that you have your photos backed up. The previously mentioned devices, such as flash drives, hard drives and memory cards are great options. If you only have physical copies of your photos, you may want to scan them and upload them to your computer so that you can put them on one of these devices. Also, it is important to remember that these devices are prone to damage. Therefore, you may want to also store photos on a cloud service, which will allow you to store them safely online and access them from any of your devices.
Overall, your pictures are a very important and valuable possession. You should try to take the best care of them possible. The previously mentioned methods are great ways to preserve your photos and make sure they last for a very long time. You will be grateful later on in life that you took the extra time to care for your photos correctly, because they will give you memories to look back on.
If you haven’t had your big day yet, and you’re looking for a photographer, get in contact with us! We have many video and photo packages that will help you remember this big day for years to come.
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