Organize your photos now!

By G.F. Mueden
This item appears on page 18 of the June 2016 issue.

As a nonagenarian, here is my advice to photographers.

Edit your collection while your eyes are still good and before your equipment and software go out of date. Put the photos on the most modern medium.

I waited too long to organize my photographs. The dates have faded beyond recognition, and I can’t read my own writing on the file guides.

I have glaucoma and AMD [Age-related Macular Degeneration]. While magnifiers compensate for poor acuity, nothing can be done about poor contrast sensitivity and I miss the shades that distinguish features; things go gray.

My move to assisted living required me to dump the carefully saved paperwork from my trips and guides that would have identified the places. (Also, extension cords are prohibited.) All those duplicate photos, which I kept to make sure I had what I wanted, had to go. Downsizing brings painful losses. Start organizing before it’s too late! 

G.F. MUEDEN

Providence, RI