ms havachat and the quest for creative, online photo albums

Do you leave them on your phone? WHY???????????

Do you upload them to your laptop and have them play in an endless cycle when the laptop is in sleep mode? WHY?????

Do you have them printed and make photo albums?

Do you create on line albums?

I used to make photo albums with real photos. I'd design the page layouts, and create headings, have the photo's developed then sort them out into chronological order before placing them into the albums to be admired and appreciated for years to come.

Then I switched to making them online - cheaper, quicker, more creative options, fabulous coffee table quality.

Then, the online company I was using decided to no longer be compatible with Apple (or maybe my new MacBook Air is the issue) either way I haven't made an album for quite a few YEARS and I'm freaking out.

This hasn't happened overnight.

I've been looking for what seems to be ages for a replacement online photo album company, but none of them seem to have the range of things the one I was using had - and I would love so much to be able to have it all again.

About 4 years ago, I used a different company as a comparison and didn't like the result. The quality of paper was different, there was no option for a flat-spine, so the perfect-bound spine is all cracking and you can't open the book flat to see the entire photograph.

We've done several holidays since, and all the photos are sitting on the laptop waiting to be made into albums.

I guess my issue is simply, I am years behind in my photo albums which is simply not like me at all and I'm wondering does it matter?

No one's asked to see them photos.

No one's gone looking for the memories.

Maybe one day they will ....... or not.

I believed taking the photos and creating the albums was important family documentation. One day, I won't remember or I'll be gone and MissM will go to the album, relive the memory because I spent time writing the story of the photograph for prosperity. She'll be overcome with emotions - happy ones I hope (cos who puts sad photos into albums?) and her expat kid life will be there is a pictorial diary, readily available.

Which house?

What year did we go to (insert place) for holidays?

Where were we when (Insert visitors name) did (????)

In grade 3, my friends were ..............

At (insert school) I went on (insert field trip)

I turned (insert birthday) (insert house)

The list goes on.

We're all so caught up in taking photos on our phones and uploading them to social media - has this replaced the urgency and desire to have them printed and seen in albums? We can create online albums on our FB pages, give it a title, and add pics any time.

Random FB photo page found on Google Images.

When we travel, we have the photos on our phones plus the ones on the 'big camera' (which I have to admit we don't always take with us anymore cos the phone camera's are so good). Is the impetus to 'see' the pics removed because we've commented and shared them already?

Camera phones are so convenient and the technology is great!

A friend, who is single and has no kids does not take photos. She travels A LOT and has been to many amazing places and still does not take photos. WHY, she asks me? They are 'my' memories and I'll remember them. No one wants to have to clean out decades of memories.

I have always thought that's sad.

Maybe that's the case with us.

Maybe, deep down, MissM doesn't want the albums either.

Maybe my not being able to find a reliable, creative online album company is a message that I'm to not bother.

On days like today, when I'm home with nothing specific to do, I know I could very simply work on the albums. Then I get stressed to the max trying to make them work ...... then give up (which so isn't in my DNA).

Maybe when the MacBook Air dies, I'll make sure my next laptop is compatible with the online software I prefer then I'll spend months going back over years of photos filed away, creating albums.

Gosh I hope I remember where we were!

With friendship

x

The Tree Is Up

Are you a real tree family or prefer the decorative plastic kind?

Maybe the more correct initial question should be do you celebrate Christmas, and if you do, HOW do you?

We 'do' Christmas and Chanukah. We have a tree and all the trimmings, but we don't go to church. We light the Menorah and play with dreidles, but don't go to Synagogue (tho I did as a child).
MissM participates in the school Carol Service, and we love going to hear the kids sing, but we don't participate in the religious aspects of the service.

It surprised me then, that a few ladies didn't participate in the Christmas Lunch last week because they 'don't celebrate Christmas'.  I still find that hard to understand ...... Diwali isn't my festival, but invite me along to participate or observe and I'm there!!!!!!!!! Chinese New Year, Japanese New Year,  SinterKlaus you name it. What's the point of living in a multi-cultural society if not to participate in different celebrations, especially when invited to? It's not a judgmental thing, just a why-not thing.

MissM's school in Winchester and here in Dublin have Carol Services in the local Church. In Winchester, it was a private service in Winchester Cathedral! How exciting!!!!!!!!!!!! We don't participate in the religious aspects of the service, but we respectfully stand when asked. It was a wonderful experience, even if we didn't get the full meaning of the service.

We didn't celebrate Christmas as kids; I don't feel like I missed out on anything. It just wasn't done in our home but we did celebrate it with friends. Love a good Christmas Carol.

Like a lot of people, the true meaning of Christmas, and Easter has been lost to companies like Hallmark and retailers. There's a competition in the air to have the best decorated house, or be invited to the most parties. And do not get me started on the stress associated with the right gifts for people.

You can probably gather I'm not religious, tho even I get angry at the lack of spiritual and the huge amount of material this time brings. Several close friends are religious, and this is a very important time of year for them. It's always very touching to be invited to share time with them and their families over this period, and we relish the opportunity to do so.

But I digress.

The TREE is the topic of conversation.

Our very first real Christmas Tree is up and decorated. The plastic one which we have decorated every year since MissM was born, bar one (it was still on the boat coming over to Japan from Ireland) is still in it's box in the attic.

We started to focus on tree decorations when MissM was born. I bought G one that said 'Daddy 2004' and MissM one with her name on it and 2004. Didn't think to buy one for myself with Mummy 2004 .... so when MissM went to hang all 3 together this morning she was surprised there were only two. When I explained why, she said, typical. Not really sure what that meant, and didn't ask.

If we've been chatting together for a while you know we left Sydney for Dublin in 2006. We had 2 fabulous years there. Made a lot of friends and a few really good ones who we are still in touch with and see when travel plans allow. Taking their gift decorations out of their boxes always takes time as we reminisce. 

I bought this stunning bauble (above) from Waterford Glass factory when Mum and I toured there. Along with all the sparkly silver Newbridge ornaments, it's a favourite from 'the first time we were here'.

From Dublin we moved to Yokohama. While Japan doesn't celebrate Christmas (generally speaking), the Japanese fully adopt and LOVE any thing to do with a party, decorations, and gift giving/receiving, so Christmas in Japan was as festive as ever, without the religious aspects on display.

We had a Christmas craft fair at school as a fundraiser and some of the creative Japanese ladies made these amazing baubles from pieces of Washi Paper. They also decorated eggs with Washi Paper.

From Yokohama, we moved to Winchester, UK. Winchester was the capital of England, and Winchester Cathedral is the centrepiece of the city and Christmas. The Christmas Markets are held in the Close, around an ice skating rink. We had a great Christmas when my brother, SIL and kids joined us from Sydney.

Not sure if these are supposed to be on the tree, but that's where we have them, alongside an London Bobby (policeman), a Royal Guard from Buckingham Palace, a London telephone box, and a double decker bus, along with the Harrods green shopping bag and Bear (which I bought in 2006 on my first visit to London with MsJH).

The other wonderful thing about our tree is that each year SIL buys MissM and I an ornament, and I buy her and the kids one each. I always try to make ours something memorable from our travels, while they choose to do a Sydney/Aussie theme or a ballet theme (for MissM). One day, each child will be able to hang their ornaments on their own tree. It'll have to be a huge one for all the decorations they'll have collected by then.

We also hang our wreath, a gift from Mr & MrsH and family. It arrived as part of a HUGE Christmas hamper one year and we treat it with kid-gloves so it lasts.

And that's how traditions are borne, and continued.

They keep us rooted to where we're from, and where we've been.

We look forward to December every year for all of the above reasons.

For all the Christmas' past, and all the Christmas' to come.

What's hanging on your tree?

What special memories are there?

What traditions have you adopted from friends or places you've lived?

If you don't celebrate Christmas, what do you do at this time of year?

Memories Are Precious

How many photos do you have sitting on your laptop?

I have 8,325 (currently) in 135 events. Goodness knows how many are sitting on numerous CD's in the drawer of my desk in my office.

But not ALL of them are found there.

We have 18 Creative Memories albums (12x12) and 14 albums created online using either mypublisher.com or via iPhotos with us. Can't remember the number we have in storage in Sydney. The one's we have with us are 11 years of memories, starting when I was pregnant with MissM. No way they were going into storage!

We love reminiscing. We laugh. Retell stories. Relive the events that make us the family we are.



Where are your photos???????????????????

We all take more photo's than ever before as our mobile phones are more camera than phone these days. We snap and upload to FaceBook or Instagram all the time.

I often wonder what's happened to retail camera sales. You'd be right if you said they are decreasing, rapidly.

We still use our fancy camera. The array of modes available far out preform our Samsung phones, but the Samsung's camera is pretty awesome! Admittedly, the majority of photos that get printed into albums are from the camera. There's still a way to go with the phones camera in terms of this, and I can't remember the last time we had actual prints made.

All these instant pics on Facebook and Instagram are just that - instant 5 seconds of sharing.

But what happens to the REAL memories, the one's you want the kids to have when they leave home for college, or the one's you want your grandkids to see as a means of getting to know their family heritage.

When we're out'n'about, and see people with cameras, I wonder what do people do with all the photos they take?

What's the point of taking photo's if NOT to print them into an album to be ultimately shared?

Many years ago, I was a Creative Memories consultant - the first global company selling photo-safe products, guaranteed not to fade your photos. We preached 'living memories' to the converted; we instructed clients on the importance of 'every picture tells a story and it's your obligation to tell it' (Creative Memories called it journalling). Clients undid old, unsafe albums saving their precious memories from fading (unless they had already started, the proof was obvious), or salvaging boxes of photos from the attic/garage/cupboard/under the bed and sorting the years of accumulated memories.

Aside from the American fanfare that accompanied the monthly consultant meetings, the philosophy of creating photo albums bursting with memories resonated with me, and many others.

I was the worst consultant! I seldom embellished my pages with stickers'n'paper as to me, it was all about the photos and the journalling (and still is); the fancy schmancy pages detracted from the photos. My clients agreed, so I sold lots of pages and albums etc, but not much of anything else.

Sadly, but for obvious reasons, CM no longer exists.

It's all online publishing now.

Personally, I love online publishing, especially with my magazine and newspaper experience. It's like laying out a publication! I'm probably too organised, with my double page spread approach, and the need to have photo's in chronological order, or albums themed.

G throws his eyes to the ceiling when I ask him to proof read yet another album prior to ordering it. I know he secretly loves them!

May I share some helpful hints with you about creating your albums?

• As you download photos from your camera or phone to the laptop, create a file for the album (create title) and choose the pics you want in the album as you go as this saves time when you're ready to start the album and ensures you have ALL the photos for the album you want.
• Once the pics are in the album file, edit them. We take pretty good photos, and I'm lazy, so all I do is crop the pics
• remove unnecessary sky/grass/footpath/road/people
• focus on the main image of the pic as much as possible
• leave curious symbols from the era - cars, signs, buildings etc will one day be 'old fashioned' and be an important part of your history
• ensure the pics are in the order you want the to appear in the album
• Grab a pen'n'paper and count each 'group' of photos and start to work out your layout or how the pics will flow in the album.
• Some themes to consider:
• An annual school album for each child celebrating all that happened that year. This gets harder as they get older as you are not at school as often, but while you can make the most of it
• photos of first day school year,  
• class room, 
• teachers, 
• friends, 
• sports days, 
• concerts,
• art - OMG, photograph all the artwork that comes home!
• projects/assignments
• last day of school
• I also include MissM's ballet, drama etc in her school album as it helps to fill it up as her last few schools weren't so keen on parents being around taking photos.
• Holiday's
• Not every holiday demands a album to itself, but special holidays do.
• Reunions
• Special Events
• an album created as a gift is a truly stunning thoughtful gift
• A '0' birthday
• Anniversary
• Engagement/Wedding
• for the above albums it's nice to invite guests to send you good quality pics to be included in the album,
• depending on the stock used, (in terms of what ink pens you use) you can leave some of the text boxes blank and ask guests to sign the book
• An ongoing annual album
• Our main albums are simply a compilation of all we get up to (other than the event albums)
• As we take photos, we download them and choose the ones we want in the album and file them into the 'Dublin January '14 - ?' file til it's got about 300 pics, then we create the album. 
• We've 3 albums from the time we lived in Winchester and they are called, Winchester Book 1, Winchester Book 2 and, you guessed it Winchester Book 3.
• Filing as you go saves so much time!!!!!!!!!!!
• it allows you to write notes so you remember where you were (sometimes castles, temples, ruins, churches look the same after a while) and what memory you might want to include

I use mypublisher.com these days (but there are many more out there)  It's creative, easy to use, flexible and the company is constantly emailing offers to save money! I create the albums, G proof reads them and they sit on my laptop til a good deal arrives. 

The only downside to this is that we don't print photos anymore. Mum and my in-laws miss out on hard copy prints; we email them photos all the time so they know what we're up to, but they often ask for printed pics. It's something we just don't think about doing. 

SIL is the same. Which is sad, cos we don't have records of the kids growing up and doing stuff other than what we see on FB. When I was doing CM it was easy to leave pages blank and fill them with hard copy prints when SIL sent them .... and I did the same for her, so we could include each other in our albums. Now we both print online, it's harder for some reason to do this. 

Gosh, we don't even download to CD's anymore, it's all on the hard drive.

I'm about to sign off now and find a couple of CD's and pop as many pics on it as I can and post it to Mum, SIL and inlays tomorrow. 

What do you do with your photos?

Where are they?

Are you inspired to create an album online?

With friendship

x