How to Store Your Photos Safely: Archival Storage Tips
Preserving family memories is one of the most meaningful things you can do—but if your photos are stashed in hot garages or dusty attics, they’re at serious risk of damage. Whether you're just beginning your journey into photo organization or deep into digitizing your collection, here are essential tips to store your photos the right way.
Get Them Out of the Heat
High temperatures and humidity are the enemies of photographs. Never store your photos in the attic, garage, or basement. These spaces are prone to extreme temperature changes, moisture, and even pests. Instead, look for a temperature-controlled space, such as a bedroom closet or interior room, that’s free from direct sunlight and moisture.
Use Archival-Quality Boxes
To truly safeguard your photo collection, use archival storage boxes. These acid-free, lignin-free containers are designed to protect against deterioration. They provide a stable environment that reduces exposure to light and airborne pollutants, both of which can cause fading and brittleness over time.
You can purchase archival boxes online at retailers like Amazon or specialty shops such as Archival Methods. These are the same types of products professionals use when organizing and returning photo collections to clients.
I’ve personally started moving my entire photo collection into archival boxes—and I highly recommend you do the same. When working with clients, I always return their collections in archival-safe products. It’s a small investment that pays off by preserving generations of memories.
Bonus Tip: Digitize What Matters Most
In addition to physical storage, begin digitizing your most valuable photos. Focus first on the images that would break your heart to lose. Scan them at 300–600 dpi as JPEGs or TIFFs to maintain quality, and back them up using the 3-2-1 method:
3 copies of your data
2 different types of storage media
1 copy stored offsite or in the cloud
By combining archival storage with digital backups, you can ensure your family’s legacy is safe for years to come.
What Do I Do With All These Pictures? Make a Slideshow!
Have you ever found yourself staring at a growing collection of photos and wondering, What am I supposed to do with all of these? Whether they’re tucked away in a closet, scattered across old devices, or stored on your phone, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of memories we collect over time.
For me, one of the most joyful ways to bring those memories to life is by creating a slideshow. Slideshows are more than just images set to music—they’re stories. They help us remember, reconnect, and relive the special moments that make up our lives.
This week, I’m working on two different slide shows. One is for a friend’s wedding, and the other is for a youth camp I attended. Both are deeply personal, and each has reminded me of the power of photos when they’re shared in a meaningful way.
The wedding slideshow has been especially touching. I’ve known this couple for years—watched them grow up, fall in love, and now begin a new chapter together. As I sort through childhood snapshots, prom pictures, and engagement photos, I’m filled with nostalgia and gratitude. It’s not just a video—it’s a tribute to their journey and a gift they’ll treasure forever.
The camp slideshow, on the other hand, is full of energy and laughter. Turning a week of adventures into a fun and upbeat recap for everyone to enjoy is a truly rewarding process. These kids made memories they’ll never forget, and now they’ll have something to help them remember all the late-night campfires, games, and friendships.
If you’ve got photos sitting in a box, on a disk, or lost in your camera roll, consider creating a slideshow. It’s a beautiful way to share your story—whether it’s for a birthday, wedding, reunion, or just because.
And if you’re not sure where to start, I’d be happy to help. Bringing memories to life is what I do. Let’s create something that will be remembered, revisited, and cherished for years to come.
Bringing My Memories to Life with the Projector App
After spending so much time and love digitizing my family's old home movies—VHS tapes, camcorder footage, even DVDs—I wanted a way to truly enjoy them. Not just store them safely on a hard drive or in the cloud (though I absolutely did that too—hello, 3-2-1 backup rule!), but actually watch them. Relive them. Share them.
That’s when I discovered the Projector app, and it has quickly become my favorite way to watch and share my home movies.
Projector allows me to upload my digitized videos to a secure platform where I can watch them anytime, from anywhere. But the real magic? My mom can watch them too, from her house. No need for USB drives, DVDs, or trying to send huge files over email. I upload the videos, and she has her own login to watch. It feels like sitting together in the living room, even when we’re miles apart.
There’s something so comforting about seeing my grandparents in a snowball fight or watching my boys open their Christmas presents when we lived in Germany. These aren’t just old tapes—they’re moments I never want to forget. And with Projector, they’re not lost in a dusty tote or trapped in a format we can't play anymore.
For anyone who’s gone through the work of digitizing their family memories—or is just starting that journey—Projector is the perfect way to experience those moments all over again. It’s simple, accessible, and honestly, it makes watching home videos fun again.
If you’ve been looking for the best way to enjoy your family videos after digitizing them, I can’t recommend Projector enough.
Here is a link for Projector. It really is the best!
Genealogy- how do I start?
Where Do I Start With Genealogy? Start With You
I often hear people say, "I'd love to start researching my family history, but I don’t even know where to begin." My answer is always the same: Start with yourself.
Now, that might sound a little backwards. After all, genealogy is the research of ancestors, right? But the truth is, your history begins with you. You are the starting point. No one knows your life better than you do—and someday, someone will want to know your story too.
Think of it this way: in a few generations, a curious descendant might want to know what kind of person you were. They’ll dig through birth certificates, yearbooks, and maybe even census records—but those things don’t paint the full picture of you. Only you can do that.
So what does "start with you" look like?
1. Document the Moments That Matter
Start by writing down the important events in your life. They don’t have to be monumental—just meaningful. Your first car. Your favorite vacation. The day you met your best friend. These moments help tell your story.
There are countless ways to capture these details:
A simple Word doc or Google Sheet
A journaling app
Family history software like Family Tree Maker or RootsMagic
A storytelling app like Remento.
What matters most is that your story is written somewhere.
2. Choose Your Photo
Let’s be real—we're all going to pass on one day. And someone will be tasked with writing our obituary or creating a memorial. My suggestion? Pick your photo now. Don’t leave it up to someone else to guess which picture best represents you.
Find a photo you love, that feels authentic, and store it somewhere safe (digitally and physically). It's a small act, but it’s one of the most powerful gifts you can leave behind.
3. Record Your Voice
Technology makes it easy to preserve more than just facts and dates. Leave behind a voice recording, a video, or even answers to a few simple prompts. Imagine the impact of a great-great-grandchild hearing your voice or your laugh.
4. Safeguard the Memories
If you’re diving into preserving your story, don’t forget to protect it. At Snapshot Photo Management, we help people scan and archive their family photos and videos—so they’re not just saved, but preserved for generations. Whether it’s fragile prints, VHS tapes, or old CDs, we digitize and organize it all with care and intention.
The Bottom Line
So if you’re asking, “Where do I start?” The answer is: start with you.
Because your story matters.
And someday, someone will be so grateful that you took the time to tell it.
Bringing the Past to Life: The Power of Digitizing Old VHS Tapes
A couple of weeks ago, something unforgettable happened.
My mom showed me a home movie from her childhood—a 10-minute reel of family, fun, laughter, and life from decades ago. I had never seen her as a little girl, nor my grandparents as young people. And I certainly never imagined watching my grandfather, whom I only knew as physically disabled, sprinting through the snow, laughing, and throwing snowballs with his brothers.
I can’t describe how priceless those ten minutes were.
We watched together, pausing often as she shared stories about people I’ve never met and places I’ve never been. It was more than nostalgia—it was connection, history, and legacy.
This moment reminded me why I do what I do.
Why Digitizing Matters
Many of us have VHS tapes, camcorder reels, and other analog treasures tucked away in closets, garages, and attics. But here's the problem: those formats are deteriorating. Tapes lose their magnetic signal. Film becomes brittle. Heat, humidity, and time are not kind.
These memories — the sounds, the motion, the laughter — are fading. But they don’t have to.
Digitizing your old media doesn’t just preserve it; it makes it accessible. You can watch these moments on your TV, computer, or phone. You can share them with family members across the world. You can relive the joy and help others feel it too.
The Urgency Is Real
The older the tapes, the lower the quality becomes. Every year that passes means more degradation. And let’s face it — most of us no longer own VHS players.
This process is easy for me, but it's overwhelming or inaccessible for many people. That’s where I come in.
I specialize in helping families preserve their most meaningful memories by digitizing tapes, organizing old media, and creating modern, shareable archives of your legacy.
Let’s Bring Your Memories Back to Life
If you have a box of old tapes somewhere, now’s the time. Please don’t wait until it’s too late; the footage will be lost forever. Let’s protect your family's stories, laughter, and love — and ensure they live on for future generations.
Send me a message — I’d love to help you reconnect with your past.
The Truth about your CDs and DVDs
If you’re like many families, you’ve got stacks of DVDs and CDs collecting dust somewhere—boxes in the garage, shelves in the attic, or tucked away in a closet. Maybe they’re labeled with baby’s first steps, wedding footage, or family vacations. Once seen as cutting-edge storage, these discs now sit quietly, fading faster than most of us realize.
Let’s dig into the truth: DVDs and CDs aren’t forever—and it’s time we bust the myths and talk about why scanning and digital preservation are so critical today.
The Myth: “DVDs and CDs Last Forever”
When they first hit the scene, CDs and DVDs were promoted as futuristic, long-term storage options. We were told they could last 100 years—so we trusted them with our most precious memories.
Reality check: most consumer-grade discs begin to deteriorate in as little as 2–5 years if not stored perfectly. They’re vulnerable to:
Heat and humidity (attics and garages = danger zones)
Scratches and handling wear
Disc rot and data layer degradation
Even if they look fine, the files may already be corrupted. If you haven’t tested them in a while… now’s the time.
Why Digitizing is Essential
As someone who’s navigated totes full of old photos, videos, and documents, I’ve learned that preserving memories is part science, part heart, and a lot of strategy.
Scanning your media and creating digital copies ensures your memories aren’t lost to time or technology failure. It’s about giving your past a future.
Copy Your Discs to a Hard Drive—Today
Before it's too late, take action:
Inventory your CDs and DVDs—label them, figure out what’s most important.
Copy the files to an external hard drive or cloud storage.
Use modern file formats like MP4 for video and JPEG for images.
Create a media hub to keep everything in one place—digital chaos is the new shoebox.
Use the 3-2-1 Backup Rule
To really protect your digitized memories, use this method:
3 copies of your data
2 different forms of media (e.g., external hard drive + cloud)
1 copy stored off-site
Remember, even hard drives fail—especially if they’re over 3 years old. Make sure you plug them in monthly to keep them healthy.
Take the First Step
You don’t have to do it all at once. Start with your most irreplaceable files—the photos and videos that would make you cry if they were gone. That’s your priority pile.
Need help figuring it out? I’ve been there—and now I help families do this every day. Scanning, organizing, preserving, and yes, even rescuing “lost” memories from outdated discs.
Let’s make sure your legacy lives on.
Want guidance digitizing your collection?
Visit snapshotphotomanagement.com to learn more or reach out for a free consultation.
What Is a Digital Photo Hub—And Why You Need One
Have you ever spent an hour digging through old phones, email accounts, and random USB drives to find that one photo from your daughter’s first birthday—or your grandparents’ anniversary party? You’re not alone. Most of us have digital memories scattered across dozens of devices. That’s where a Digital Photo Hub comes in.
As a professional photo organizer and genealogist, I've seen it all: boxes of prints, fragile VHS tapes, and overflowing cloud storage accounts. If you're feeling overwhelmed, know this—there’s a simple starting point that changes everything: gathering all your memories into one place.
So, What Is a Digital Photo Hub?
A Digital Photo Hub is your centralized location for storing all your photos and videos—whether digital or digitized. Think of it as your personal photo vault. Usually, it’s a large external hard drive (I recommend at least 2TB to start) that becomes your master archive.
This is where you’ll copy every image, clip, or scanned document from:
Old phones and tablets
Digital cameras
Laptops and desktops
USBs and SD cards
CDs, DVDs, and yes—even floppy disks if you still have those
Why It Matters
You Finally Know Where Everything Is
No more searching through five devices and three cloud accounts. With everything in one place, organizing becomes not only possible but also easy.You Can Back Up Like a Pro
The 3-2-1 backup rule starts with having a hub. Once you’ve gathered your media, you can:Make one copy for cloud storage.
Another for a second hard drive
And sleep soundly, knowing your memories are protected.
Duplicates? No Problem.
We’ll clean those up later. For now, the most important thing is gathering everything in one place. You can’t organize what you can’t see.It Sets You Up for Success
Once your hub is complete, we can begin organizing chronologically, by event, by person—whatever makes sense for your family’s story.
Getting Started
Here’s what to do:
Buy an external hard drive (2TB minimum).
Gather all your devices, old phones, and memory cards.
Copy and paste everything onto that hard drive. Don’t worry about duplicates or messy folders yet.
Breathe. You’ve already taken the most important step.
Need help building your Digital Photo Hub or are unsure where to begin? That’s exactly what I’m here for. From scanning old prints to setting up cloud backups, I’ll walk you through every step so your memories are not only preserved but beautifully organized for generations to come.