GET MYLIO

Topics

Subscribe

Subscribe

Want to hear about the photo world, new Mylio features, and useful tips and tricks? Sign up for our emails!

Tags

adventure apple black & white black and white bnw data family family photos Google Photos history how to inspiration Instagram iPhone landscape life lifestyle love memories Mylio nature nature photography organization Organize organize photos organize pictures personal project photography photo management photo organization photo organizing photo protection photos photo series photo sharing photo software photo storage portraits social media technology time-lapse tips tips and tricks travel world travel
  MYLIO.COM LIFE IN FOCUS
  • Tech Today
    • Trending
    • Privacy
  • How To
    • Photography
    • Mylio Features
    • Productivity
  • Memory
    • Postcards
    • Time Travel
  • Inspiration
    • Field Notes
    • Mashups
    • Things Organized
  • Case Studies

The Online Magazine

 GET MYLIO WHAT'S MYLIO? MORE

How to Preserve a Family Photo Collection

Organization
April 6, 2021April 6, 20216 minute readby Mollie Bartelt
Scroll this

Here’s how one family spent an afternoon creating more than just a family photo album—they came together to share stories, laughter, and memories that will last a lifetime.

By Mollie Bartelt

I help my clients create family photo estates, and Mylio is one of the tools I recommend. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with JC Figueroa about managing family photo collections with Mylio. As the Customer Champion for Mylio, JC believes in the power of photos to bring families closer together. Not long into our conversation, I could tell we have the same mission in life—preserving family legacies.

Preserving Family Memories Together

To demonstrate some of Mylio’s newer features, JC showed me how his photo collection was organized. As he did, what caught my attention was not just the photo library, but the story he told of how creating it brought his family together.  

JC had a collection of pictures from 2019 where at least a dozen close relatives were helping his 85-year-old mother preserve family photos. As a photo estate planner, I knew this was a very special day. Not many families take the opportunity to do this together while their elderly parents are alive.

In his photos, I could see JC’s extended family scanning photos, tagging photos on an iPad, and more. For example, the younger generations were enjoying the time-honored tradition of looking through old print photos with JC’s mom and aunt. You can imagine how connected the generations were feeling that day. There was a lot of laughter, and there were some tears.

Family in the living room preserving photos

Commemorating a Life

JC’s father, Gilberto, had passed away only two years earlier. For some people in that cozy living room, this was the first time they were seeing pictures of Gilberto as a young man. One particular picture included Gilberto graduating with his Master’s degree, a major milestone. Wouldn’t it have been great to talk with their father when he was alive about this moment and so many others?

Gilberto's graduationGilberto joins the military

Instead, when Gilberto passed away, the family had to make do in a hurry. In the rush, they could only find a few photos to celebrate his life at his funeral. At the time, JC worked for a different company and had not yet found Mylio. It was a stressful time to try to track down photos and compile them into a slideshow to share. Therefore, he considers it a blessing and privilege to work for Mylio, where he creates tutorials to help other people preserve their family memories.

Today, JC has an automatically generated album for every important family member or friend in his life, including close to 500 photos of his dad.

All of dad's photos preserved in Mylio

Coordinate Your Own Family Memory Preservation Day! 

Whether you have older family members left in the family or not, the time to celebrate your family photos is TODAY! A picture is only worth 1,000 words, but only if there’s someone to tell the tale. That is to say, too many memories are being lost, and stories are slipping away.

I highly recommend organizing a family photo day like JC did. Here’s how it played out for JC’s family as photos circled around the room:

  1. Various nieces and nephews went through the boxes of photos, pulling out the good photos for review.
  2. JC’s sister Nydia, his mother Brunilda, and his Aunt Lucy reviewed the photos to make sure they were important to save.
  3. JC used an Epson Fastfoto 680 scanner to speedily scan the photos. Those photos were automatically added to his Mylio account and synced to a nearby iPad.
  4. His brother-in-law used Mylio on the iPad to start adding descriptions and tagging people in the scanned photos, asking for help if he didn’t know who someone was.
  5. On the flight back, JC used that iPad to change the dates on the scanned photos so they would appear in the Mylio Calendar view correctly.Preserving the Family Legacy
  6. When all was completed in Mylio, JC’s sister Nydia was able to identify which photos she wanted during a Zoom call. JC then exported the photos she wanted and sent her a link to download them.
  7. JC’s mother and aunt (who lives in the same retirement community) can enjoy looking at the photos on her iPad. She also now has the neatly organized boxes of printed photos to look through when she’d like.

Bringing the Generations Together

JC told me he wished every family could have this experience together. He pointed out that he and his siblings—Nydia and Gilberto, Jr.—had quite different interests in life, and sometimes finding common things to do together was difficult. But, he said that everyone got invested in this photo preservation activity and that, “It really brought us closer, especially the younger generation.” It was especially meaningful to watch as the kids could see how the family came together and connect to life in Puerto Rico, where JC’s family grew up together.

Creating a Family Photo Estate 

In my work at Pixologie, I help people create their photo estates, an organized collection where you can enjoy and share the photos while preserving your legacy (or someone else’s) with modern technology. Therefore, I recommend Mylio to people who are looking for a digital photo management program to bring it all together.

JC and his family completed his parent’s photo estate together even though they didn’t call it that at the time. I’m certain that day will be long remembered by everyone who was there. 

If your family is not in a position to work on creating a photo estate together, here are some steps you can do on your own. 

  1. First, gather all of your photos in one place.
  2. Organize once by decades, and then break the decades down by years.
  3. After that, throw away unnecessary and repetitive/duplicate photos.
  4. Scan your photos (on a high speed scanner or find a place to have someone scan for you).
  5. Import into Mylio or wherever you store your digital photos.
  6. Back them up—one copy in the house and one copy outside of the house.
  7. Share, celebrate and enjoy!

While the steps here are simple, I know the process can be long and emotional. But, the rewards are immense, and it can be appreciated by family members now and for generations to come.  

Consider these four points:

  • Photos connect generations
  • Pictures inspire people
  • Photos strengthen families
  • Photos celebrate life

When you think about the power of photos, I hope you’re inspired to help preserve your family’s legacy. JC put it best in our conversation:

“As humans, we are losing the opportunity to preserve our family legacy. This is one of those things in life you just have to make time for.”

Special thanks to JC for letting me share his story! And, if you’d like to learn more about preserving your family’s photo estate, visit Pixologie, where we have helped our clients preserve millions of memories.




As Google Cancels Free Photo Storage, Mylio Steps Up

AUTHOR:

Mollie Bartelt

Mollie Bartelt is a photo estate planner who works at Pixologie. She writes about photo organization and preservation.

RELATED:

#family photos    #family reunion    #organize photos    #Photo Collections    #Preserve Family Photos    #Preserve Photos

INSTAGRAM

“This picture may not look notable to most peopl “This picture may not look notable to most people. But for me, it evokes a rush of memories and emotions.

That’s me in my 1979 Buick LeSabre noodling through downtown Hollywood traffic. I’m on my way from Phoenix, Arizona to Seattle, Washington — a place I’d never been. It’s late 1990, and my brother and I have decided to get together and head West, to see what we could see. It was the beginning of many positive and dramatic changes in my life.

This unassuming photo brings up strong feelings of adventure, hope, and friendship (we were visiting a college chum living in Hollywood), mixed with the unknown and exciting opportunities that lay ahead of me. And still do.”

❤️ Shared by Chauncey Williams

Do you have a picture that reminds you of an adventure? We want to see it! Share your story in the comments below or tag us in your post.
“Okay, so I’ll just set the timer for thirty s “Okay, so I’ll just set the timer for thirty seconds, then I’ll run back over to that rock and sit on it. And… oops! Okay. Well, maybe thirty seconds isn’t long enough. I didn’t really want a picture of my back. Let’s try one minute. …Nope. Almost the same picture, only this time I’m climbing instead of running. Why don’t they make a longer timer for my camera?! Don’t they know I drove for more than three hours, then hiked another three hours-plus —  at a 3,400-foot of elevation gain —  to get here?

Eventually, I set the timer for the max delay, and managed to run and scramble up to my spot. If you squint, you can see me perched way over there. And despite the clouds, despite being barely able to see a few hundred feet down the mountainside, it was all well worth the effort: to sit, serenely, on top of Mt. Townsend.”

❤️ Shared by Polina Sharabarina

What lengths have you gone to in order to capture the perfect shot? Tell us in the comments below or tag us in your post!
How many hours have you spent looking for that one How many hours have you spent looking for that one photo from the family road trip you took way back when... Was it in ‘93 or ‘94?

Mylio’s calendar and event features helps you track down photos based on when you took them. If you remember the day, month, year, or even the decade you took a specific snapshot, you can navigate through the calendar to find that specific memory.

⚡️Pro Tip: Link an online calendar to mark important events like birthdays, anniversaries, or special trips in your calendar. Mylio will then automatically create and highlight those events for you.
_ 
Download Mylio today to quickly find pictures from past adventures. Available on all your favorite devices.
Happy World Backup Day! Today we are celebrating w Happy World Backup Day! Today we are celebrating with @seagate by spreading awareness of the 3-2-1 rule. ⁣
⁣
Backing up your photos in more than one place prevents you from losing memories that are important to you. When your data is properly backed up, you can rest assured knowing it’s protected forever.⁣
⁣
Seagate and Mylio have partnered to help you backup your media memories. A Seagate drive stores them, and Mylio consolidates, organizes, and gives you access to them anywhere!
Losing meaningful pictures is downright depressing Losing meaningful pictures is downright depressing.

Never worry about losing a photo again. With Mylio, you get two levels of protection:

🔸FIRST LAYER 🔸 The Vault. 
This is how Mylio stores your original, full-sized photos. 

🔸SECOND LAYER 🔸Photo-syncing. 
Mylio syncs your photo originals across multiple devices so even if something happens to a photo taken on your phone, you’ll still be able to access it on your computer.
_
✨ICYMI✨ We’ve teamed up with @seagate for an epic giveaway. You could win a Surface Pro 7 (with accessories!), a Seagate external hard drive, and a full year of Mylio Create. Visit the link in our bio to find out how to enter or visit mylio.com/giveaway for all the details.
The Power of A Picture: “This photo was taken t The Power of A Picture:

“This photo was taken the last time I saw my grandfather before he passed away. We hugged each other. I said goodbye, and walked out the door. I never saw him again. I forgot about the picture.

One day, I was visiting my Mother, and she mentioned she had something to give me.

When she pulled out this photo, I just sobbed.

When I look at this picture I see all the love that my Grandfather and I shared. I see all the early morning chats we had over canned pineapple juice. I hear all the wisdom he passed down to me with his stories about WWII. I feel his embrace.

This picture is a moment of unconditional love between a Grandfather and his Granddaughter. I treasure it. It reminds me that while our time here together has passed, our love for each other will live forever.” 

❤️ Shared by Meghan Rosen

Do you have a picture that carries unconditional love? We want to see it! Share your story in the comments below or tag is in your post.
Have you digitized your photos yet? We all have t Have you digitized your photos yet?

We all have that shoebox or album full of old photos hidden somewhere, probably collecting dust, maybe lost amid other cluttered possessions. They’re full of cherished memories, and holding them in our hands only amplifies that sense of nostalgia. But what if our photos were accidentally destroyed? With the passage of time, our photographs become more susceptible to destruction. From rips and tears, to fingerprints and fading, they’re in constant risk of deteriorating. 

This spring, we challenge you to round up all the shoeboxes and albums you have laying around and digitize the precious memories they hold inside. It’s very simple with an at-home scanner or scanning software. Let Mylio help you with the rest. Once your physical photos are scanned, we’ll make sure your memories remain safe, secure and easily accessible at all times. 

Visit mylio.com to learn more about the benefits of preserving your precious photo memories. And don’t forget to visit the link in our bio to enter our giveaway with Seagate!
Need to manage your photos while on the move? My Need to manage your photos while on the move? 

Mylio puts you in control of everything, even when you’re on the go. Use the Mylio app on multiple devices, and your photo library stays synced, even without the internet. That’s right, no wifi or cloud services necessary. You can enjoy your photos anywhere, anytime. Whether you’re on a mountaintop, on a plane, on location, or on the beach, your photos are always at your fingertips.
_
Don’t forget to visit the link in our bio for a chance to win some exciting goodies from Mylio and Seagate!

📷  by @felipealves
Keeping your photos organized may seem like a daun Keeping your photos organized may seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. All the photos you have scattered across your hard drives, phones, tablets, and social media can be consolidated into a single library. Here’s how to do it in five simple steps:

1. Download and install Mylio on your desired devices. We’ve got a handy setup wizard that will help you with your first import.

2. Sign in with your account on all your devices.

3. Open the ‘View Menu’ in the top right. Hint: It’s the icon that looks like three vertical dots.

4. Click ‘Settings.’ Then ‘Import.’

5. Select your photo source.

Voila! Now just sit back and let the magic happen. We do the hard work for you so you can spend more time making memories and less time keeping track of where they’re stored.

Tag a friend who needs some help getting all their photos organized ⚡️
HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR PHOTOS FOR A SLIDESHOW WITH M HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR PHOTOS FOR A SLIDESHOW WITH MYLIO ✨

Whether you’re creating a photo slideshow for a birthday, wedding, memorial service or to show-off a past trip to Greece, sifting through thousands of photos can get overwhelming. Mylio can help. Here’s how to do it:

1. Collect photos from family and friends. A shared #Dropbox folder is a simple way people can collaborate and add photos. 

2. Find the best photos. Use Mylio to sort through all the submitted pictures. You can integrate your Dropbox folders with Mylio and easily keep track of your favorite photos using stars, flags, and labels within the app. Try searching through your collected photos by when or where they were taken and even the people in them. Having a hard time deciding which pictures to pick? Look for the photos that tell the best stories. Candid shots create more impact than posed group photos. Never underestimate the impact of genuine smiles.

3. Sort your photos. Create folders to organize your photos by theme: family, travel, solo, etc. Or use the Life Calendar feature to automatically organize your photos chronologically.

4. Determine the story you’re trying to tell. If you’re simply displaying your slideshow in chronological order, you can skip this step. But if you’re trying to tell a more dynamic story, dive in a bit deeper to create a more intimate experience for your viewers. If the slideshow is for a memorial service for example, tell the story of who this person was and how they felt about the world. Show the different chapters of their lives: where they grew up, the people they loved most, the things they enjoyed doing, etc.

5. Bring in the beat! Put together a playlist to accompany your slideshow. You can choose the subject’s favorite band or create a playlist that will compliment the mood of your selected photos.

6. Compile the slideshow. Now that you have your photos collected, sorted, and organized, and your music picked out, you’re ready to create your slideshow. 

Make sure to save this post so you can easily access these tips once you’re ready to start building your next photo slideshow!
CLOSED (winner will be announced soon)✨ Giveaway CLOSED (winner will be announced soon)✨ Giveaway ✨ To celebrate World Backup Day on March 31st, we’re partnering with @seagate for a giveaway. ⁣
⁣
We’re giving away a Surface Pro 7 with accessories, a Seagate external drive, and a full year of Mylio Create. One lucky person will be the winner of all these goodies! Swipe left to see the full prize pack. ⁣
⁣
To enter, click the link in our bio and follow the instructions there. This giveaway closes March 31st at 12:00pm PT. The winner will be contacted via email shortly after and announced on our page.⁣
⁣
This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, nor associated with Instagram.
If you dig deep enough through your great, great g If you dig deep enough through your great, great grandmother’s trunk of vintage photos, you might find some stiff, unsmiling portraits. Times were certainly different then, but people weren’t the sphinx-like siphers portrayed in those pictures. The photography back then was limited because of camera technology; as the technology progressed, candid snapshots became possible. And among the starched collars and petticoats we start to see...is that...goofiness? Tomfoolery? Plain old fun?

Swipe to see some of our favorite candid vintage photos that spark nothing but joy.

Tell us which photo brings the biggest smile to your face in the comments below.

📷 via @vintage.everyday_
Your pictures are already perfect, but if you want Your pictures are already perfect, but if you want to make them... well, a little MORE perfect, we’ve got a full range of editing tools at your disposal. From one-tap filters to precision treatment sliders, our editing tools will surely make your images shine. 

See the difference Mylio’s editor makes for yourself. 👉 Swipe to see the original photo.

Let us know which version you prefer in the comments below!
Five important lessons from award-winning photogra Five important lessons from award-winning photographer, Josef Scaylea:

1. Choose a really great subject. 
Scaylea emphasized this over technical knowledge. He refused to photograph common items or familiar settings. Scaylea’s favorite subjects were the true locals, the Northwest Native Americans. He spent years cultivating a mutually respectful relationship with members of some of Washington’s 29 federally recognized tribes, culminating in the portrait above, which he considered his Mona Lisa.

2. You have to go to the picture; it’s not coming to you. 
Scaylea was known to make u-turns on the highway, climb over barbed wire, and walk knee-deep through mud to get to his pictures. Before capturing the portrait above, he’d gotten a tip that one of the nation's oldest native elders had been invited to the Governor’s mansion to report on the Eastern Washington Indian Wars, which she’d witnessed as a child. Scaylea dropped everything and broke every traffic law in the book on his drive from Seattle to the State Capitol in Olympia so he could meet Kiona, and propose taking her picture.

3. Give your subject dignity. 
Treat them with respect. Scaylea built a deep and mutually respectful relationship with the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest by being courteous, always following through with his word, and making sure his photographs brought dignity to each subject.

4. Be able to recognize a great picture with just your eyes. Look for patterns. 
Scaylea encouraged students to work beyond their tools, look with the naked eye at what the environment has to offer, then find where to go to get a better shot. For this photo, Scaylea chose an outdoor location near the Governor’s Mansion, where horizontal stripes of siding made for a dramatic effect; notice how the mathematical order of the planks contrast with the weathered roadmap of the centenarian’s face.

5. Give your work a mood. 
Having a consistent mood helps people recognize your body of work, and implies a deeper story. Scaylea worked in both color and black and white. He said that color photography tells a story, but black and white is more dramatic.
A picture may be worth a thousand words...but only A picture may be worth a thousand words...but only if you can find it!
 
Did you know you could use Mylio to find photos based on HOW they were taken. For example, if you have a bunch of photos from a recent trip, but only want to see the ones you took with your Nikon, you can choose just that camera and filter out all the smartphone shots and tablet videos. Access this easily from the Dashboard or use Search Modifiers to look for specific camera models. 

You can also find photos based on where and when they were taken and who’s in them. Head over to the link in our bio to learn more about the many useful tools Mylio has to offer.
 

MORE STORIES

  • mountain-range-mobile-photo One Trillion Photos in 2015
    Tech Today
  • carribean-colors-fort-demarigot Caribbean Colors: It’s Not About the Camera
    How To / Photography
  • ruined-photo-not-restored Protect Your Memories: A Cautionary Tale
    Tech Today
  • lost generation landscape photo The New ‘Lost Generation’
    Tech Today
  • delicate-arch-night-stars-landscape Moonstruck in Moab
    Field Notes

TOPICS

    • Tech Today
      • Trending
      • Privacy
    • How To
      • Photography
      • Mylio Features
      • Productivity
    • Memory
      • Postcards
      • Time Travel
    • Inspiration
      • Field Notes
      • Mashups
      • Things Organized
    • Case Studies
  • |Jobs
  • |Reviews
  • |Media
  • |Terms
  • |Privacy
© 2013-2021 MYLIO, LLC.