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Adam Pratt, founder of Chaos to Memories and author of Declutter Your Photo Life

Founder of Chaos to Memories and author of new book Declutter Your Photo Life (Rocky Nook)

http://chaostomemories.com

Tips:

-Organize by date: Correct date and time settings on your camera make chronological organization a breeze. If you mostly take photos with your smartphone, you can skip this step because your phone always knows the accurate time based on the cell towers in your phone network.

-Stop taking the same picture more than once: capture your photos on the phone or camera of your choice. After you’ve deleted thousands of duplicates and duds, I suspect you’ll compose more thoughtfully and shoot more purposefully than before.

-Remove the extra step: Many people copy their digital photos to their computer with other apps, and then import those photos to Lightroom. That two-step process is unnecessary, so skip the slow line and import directly from your device to your Lightroom catalog.

-The importance of back-up: A good backup strategy protects against human mistakes and technical failures, so I recommend making a backup right away, especially if you don’t have time to organize.

-End goal: The goal is a curated archive of your favorite photos, not a cluttered collection of every photo you’ve ever taken.

-Share, share, share! One of my clients told me that a recipe gets better the more you share it, and I feel the same way about photographs. It could be as simple as a text message or as beautiful as a canvas gallery wrap, but there are many thoughtful and creative ways to share your photos.