The Downside of Digital

[corky441]

This past weekend I was doing some organizing in one of our closets.

As I was pulling things out I found 2 large shoe boxes just overflowing with pictures and it dawned on me that I have very few vacation pictures from the past several years ...

why?

Well, that's when I got digital. First came several of those nice little pocket cameras. Each one getting smaller and lighter as the years went on. The one thing they all had in common "NO FILM" every picture I took was on a memory card. After vacation I would upload them to my computer, look at each one with fond memories and then GONE - lost in a maze of photo files that barely get looked at again.
Now - the pictures I take I take with my cell phone. Looking at them on that tiny little screen occassionally but for the most part GONE

So instead of continuing to clean out the closet - I sat on the bed and looked at my memories. I found pictures of vacations taken as a child with my grandparents. Pictures taken at dance recitals, football games, the zoo etc etc etc
I found pictures of my parents when they were dating and then married and then when they moved to Orlando to retire.
I found pictures from WDW when there were only 2 parks. And the pictures went on and on and on . . .

I remember coming back from vacations with roll upon roll of film. I remember not having enough $ left to get them all developed at the same time, but looking forward to every call from the photoshop telling us "your pictures are ready"
Those pictures were taken more selectively too. I remember getting 36 pictures on a roll of film at most. We didn't waste shots or just take a picture that wasn't important to us.
Now I can blow through 200 pictures a day if I want to and of that 200, maybe only a handful will ever be what I'd call special.

Sometimes new & improved just isn't ..

 

[mikelan6]

I'm happy with digital photos. I cam take as many photos as my memory card will hold and not worry. I also don't have to worry if the photos will come out or not.

If you're missing prints, you can always print the ones you like, or even have a photo book printed. Those make great memories.

 

[sayhello]

I think it really depends on what you do with those digital pictures! Yes, I take thousands of pictures, of which only a couple of hundred ever see the light of day. But I'm free to take all the pictures I want, and never worry about missing that special one because I'm out of film, and the spare rolls are back in the hotel room.

For the last few years, I've done Trip Reports on a few of the different sites I post on, and use the best couple hundred of those photos. I was actually just in the middle of browsing back through the Trip Report of my Med cruise when I took a break to check the DIS, and came across your post.

I also bought a digital picture frame, and loaded 200 of the best photos from my ABD Alaska trip from 2009, and whenever I'm in the mood, I turn on the picture frame, and let it cycle through a slideshow of the photos while I'm doing things around the house.

I went back and posted a bunch of my digital photos to my facebook account, and friends and family who never would have seen a photo album have now seen photos of my latest couple of vacations.

Just like you take digital photos, load them to your PC, then never look at them again, I know people who took tons of film pictures, stuck them in a drawer, and never, ever looked at them again. I loaded up tons of my digital photos to my iPad, and can sit anywhere, with anyone, and "flip" through any photos I want to. I've bought a scanner, so that I can slowly scan those old photos into a digital format, and share them with folks through email and social media and my iPad.

I think any technology, old or new, is what you make of it! You couldn't pay me enough to go back to film!

Sayhello

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I totally understand. All of our Disney photos, our wedding photos, etc., are all on my camera. We got a frame as a present for Christmas and didn't have anything to put in it. We had to print one.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I print mine. Usually 200 or so. The kids and I look at our pictures regularly. I just had them going thru all the photo albums looking for pictures of their Aunt who is turning 40 so I could make copies for a scrapbook I did for her 40th birthday.

I used to also have them scroll across my computer when it was in rest mode but I can't remember how I did it so when I got a different computer, I couldn't set it up.

I have a 2 collage frames that I put pictures into that hang in my living room. They are nearly full now so I need to come up with my what next item for pictures. I don't have anywhere to put a digital picture frame.

I like to have pictures out where we can enjoy them and I have fun printing them on my little photo printer. I do a few a day after a trip.

I am a fan of digital media even if I mess it up sometimes.

 

[parrotheadlois]

I know what you mean, I recently printed out probably 200 pictures too. Some were duplicates, some were terrible. But I thought like you did, in the "old days" we took them to be developed, threw out the bad ones (maybe) and put them in an album (maybe) or a shoe box. I want to start that again.

I still have more to go.

I also found that I had put some on Photobucket thinking they were at least in a safe place, but when I wanted to print them I either had to pay Photobucket, or when I copied them back to my computer, they ended up being really small.

It's all a learning experience.

 

[sayhello]

I used to also have them scroll across my computer when it was in rest mode but I can't remember how I did it so when I got a different computer, I couldn't set it up.

What operating system are you using on your new computer? If it's Windows XP, Vista or 7, I tell you how to set that up again!

Sayhello

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

What operating system are you using on your new computer? If it's Windows XP, Vista or 7, I tell you how to set that up again!

Sayhello

It's Vista.

Thanks for the help. It would be nice to see more of my pictures every time I'm working at my desk.

 

[sayhello]

It's Vista.

Thanks for the help. It would be nice to see more of my pictures every time I'm working at my desk.

My work PC is XP, the Vista one is at home. I'll post the answer to you when I get home, so that I'm sure I give you all the steps correctly.

In the meantime, you can try the steps at this link:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/...rsonalize-your-computer-with-digital-pictures

If it doesn't work for you, I'll give you more detailed instructions when I get home!

Sayhello

 

[safetymom]

You also don't get those double exposure shots with digital. Some of them were quite funny.

You really should print out some of your photos. That way future generations will be able to see them. They may not be able to view them from your hard drive or memory card.

 

[sayhello]

It's Vista.

Thanks for the help. It would be nice to see more of my pictures every time I'm working at my desk.

OK, so here's what you want to do.
Right-click on your desktop.
Select "Personalize" at the bottom.
Select "Screen Saver".
Under the "Screen saver" drop-down, select "Photos".
Click on "Settings".
Select "Use pictures and videos from:" then Browse to find the folder that has the Photos you want to use for the screen saver.
You can then select the theme you want to use for the slideshow, the speed, and Select to "Shuffle contents".

Then Click "Save" and "Apply". You can then hit "Preview" to see the results. When you're satisfied, hit "OK", and you should be good to go!

Let me know if that works for you or not!

Sayhello

 

[bkoehl]

While I agree it is so nice to just take a bunch and not worry about wasting film I too miss just sitting down and going through boxes of pictures. Yes I could (and should) be printing them into photo books but I never seem to do that! Film you HAD to in order to see what you got. And always found it fun when you would find a random roll of undeveloped film in a drawer from ????? Turn it in and get a surprise!

 

[WaltD4Me]

I totally understand what you are saying. I held out getting a digital camera for a long time. Once I finally got one I made sure to upload the pictures to Snapfish, then I order prints, I like having the actual picture, not just the file on a computer. I don't always order them all, but most of them.
As reluctant I as I was to get a digital camera, now I love the darn thing. You just gotta be sure to turn the digital images into real pictures that can go in a shoebox.

 

[safetymom]

I can remember trying to decide if a shot was film worthy. You had to factor in the cost of the film and developing. I think most people know take pictures of things they never would have with film. I love my digital camera. I used to use a lot of film and then throw it in a drawer and a year later I could get them developed. Now I instantly can see my pictures.

 

[k5jm]

I love my Digital!

I can get instant gratification of vacation pics!

 

[Cherinva]

I hear what you are saying, but I have to admit, I love my digital camera. After a full day, I look at the pictures and delete the ones that didn't turn out good or I just don't like. Once home, I can print out the ones that tell the story of our trip and put them in a photo album.....ok, so I have 2 trips that I haven't done that for yet....when I get the time I will.

 

[rotlex]

I've been shooting digital for years now. I would never, ever, ever think of wanting to go back to film, or have only prints of my photos.

I shoot thousands of pics per year, 10's of thousands in some cases, and other than really, really bad shots, I keep them all. I find myself USING my digital photo's more than I ever did my film prints. I keep them organized in albums on the computer, which syncs with my Apple TV for family room viewing. I print the best of the best for "real" albums, scrapbooks and frame display. Hundreds of the in betweens go up on the family web site for sharing.

Why anyone would want to go back to the days of the shoe box in the closet with hundreds of photos no one ever really looks at is far beyond me. Embrace digital, think of the things you can do with it, and you will be amazed at how much more your photos are enjoyed!

 

[MomlvsGoofy]

OK, so here's what you want to do.
Right-click on your desktop.
Select "Personalize" at the bottom.
Select "Screen Saver".
Under the "Screen saver" drop-down, select "Photos".
Click on "Settings".
Select "Use pictures and videos from:" then Browse to find the folder that has the Photos you want to use for the screen saver.
You can then select the theme you want to use for the slideshow, the speed, and Select to "Shuffle contents".

Then Click "Save" and "Apply". You can then hit "Preview" to see the results. When you're satisfied, hit "OK", and you should be good to go!

Let me know if that works for you or not!

Sayhello

Thank you! I didn't know how to do that either. Now i can see my pictures whenever I want. The kids will be happy to see this on the computer when they get home. Now can I have directions on how to make a movie type thing out of my pictures...lol... I have been working on it the last few days but its not easy.

 

[cathcuc]

Digital photos are great since they can be shared with so many people in different ways. I am a huge fan of digital scrapbooks that you create on your computer and then send away to be printed. I love Creative Memories Storybooks because I have been a paper scrapbooker for many years and these give you the same variety of backgrounds and embellishments that you can get in your favorite craft stores. But, even a simple book from Snapfish, Shutterfly or even your local CVS or Walgreens is a great keepsake.

One thing I haven't heard people mention on this thread is backing up your pictures! It's great to download them from the memory card to the computer but make sure to back them up to another source such as an external hard drive, CDs or DVDs. In the event of a computer crash or malfunction you don't want all your memories trapped on the machine.

Enjoy your pictures!

 

[Lease]

We take tons of pictures at our house even when we are not on vacation. I sometimes miss getting an envelope of photos, but now I don't have to find a place to store the ones not worth displaying.
Recently I went through all of our digital photos (from the last 8 years) and picked out about 50 to print and frame. We are putting up a photo wall, as our kids get older we'll print new pictures and rotate out the older ones. We also have a digital frame that will cycle through photos and videos. We store our photos in an online gallery and I share some on my blog. This means I see at least some of the ones not printed everyday.
It helps that I also scrapbook, or at least I did when I had spare time. Someday I'll get back to it.