Start with the Date: A Simple Photo Organizing Fix That Changes Everything

A few weeks ago, I found myself on a mission: I was trying to locate a single photo from a recent vacation. Just one! I opened up my iPhoto albums and started scrolling…and scrolling…and scrolling. I was a little embarrassed to realize that I hadn’t named most of my albums in any useful way.

There were at least four albums labeled “Thanksgiving” and a solid ten named “Christmas.” Not helpful. At all.

So I finally did what I’ve been meaning to do for ages — I reorganized. I renamed every album and photo file using a system that’s now my gold standard:
YYYY-MO-DY_Subject and Topic

And wow. What a difference. Suddenly, all of my albums were in beautiful chronological order. Everything made sense. I could find exactly what I needed without the guessing game. It was actually fun to see the timeline of my memories unfold in order.

Here’s the best part — it didn’t take long at all. Once I committed to it, the process went quickly. Just a little bit of consistency made a huge impact.

So here’s my advice to you: Start now.
Whether you’re organizing photos on your phone, your computer, or a backup drive, give every file and folder a date first. Even if you're filing inside a sub-folder like “Vacations” or “Family Events,” using the date format helps keep things tidy and searchable.

Trust me — future you will thank you when you're trying to find that one picture from a beach trip, birthday party, or big milestone.

If organizing your photos feels overwhelming, you’re not alone. That’s exactly why I started Snapshot Photo Management. I help people like you preserve, organize, and safeguard their memories for generations to come. Want to get started but not sure where? Let’s chat.

Who am I? How did this begin?

About five years ago, my family handed over many totes full of photos and family memorabilia. I had been a genealogist for about 15 to 20 years, so I knew how to handle facts, figures, dates, and familial relationships. I didn't know how to preserve these pictures and essential family documents for digital preservation and sharing with my family. This started my quest to find the best practices for scanning and archiving my family collection. My first stop was a visit to RootsTech. This was my first RootsTech ever, and it was so exciting to take all the classes. I found one class on photography that was incredibly helpful; he talked about formats and types of scanning, the kind of scanners to use, and all the necessary dimensions and resolutions. I had a place to start. Another exciting thing in that class was that he held a drawing, and I won my first flatbed scanner. For the rest of RootsTech, I walked around with the scanner and took it home to get started. After that class, I thought I knew a lot, but I realized I still needed to learn much more once I began scanning. So, I did what everyone does nowadays when facing a problem: I went to Google and searched for how to scan and store photos. I was led to a company called The Photo Managers. At first, I thought it was just a company, but I soon realized it was an emerging industry. They discussed the best practices for curating, saving, and archiving family photos. I began to research The Photo Managers more and explored some of the classes they offered, realizing this was what I wanted to do. I could help others with this process!!!! Genealogy, photos, and organization- three of my favorite things!!!  I got so excited that I joined that week.  By the end of the following month, I built a website, created an LLC, and launched “Angie’s Photo Organizing & Genealogy.”