Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Professional Photo Organiser?
Just as a Professional Organiser transforms lives through skills that lead to a decluttered, organised and well-maintained home, Professional Photo Organisers help you take control of your photos. Services range from teaching clients how to use their existing programs right through to taking away hard drives and computers and bringing back a clean and organised photo hub. A photo organiser not only does at least some of the work for you but we also love to teach clients how to look after their photo collection by themselves.
Why not just use a Professional Organiser to help me solve this problem?
As a certified Professional Photo Organiser I am constantly attending further training and professional development to stay up to date, especially with the fast developing new technologies. What sets me apart however, is my background is actually as a Professional Organiser! I decided to specialise on photos because I simply love the impact of beautifully sorted photos and have seen first-hand how powerful a good photo storage system can be. You can find out more about me here.
I’m not in Melbourne - can we still work together?
Whilst I am based in Eltham, a beautiful Melbourne suburb not far from Victoria’s Yarra Valley, I service most suburbs of Melbourne. Of course, thanks to technology, I work with people across Australia and internationally.
What happens at the first VIP program session?
We start all of my VIP programs with a thorough assessment. We discuss your current situation as well as your vision and goals. From here, we develop a plan and costings against this. This can be delivered in your home in Melbourne or virtually.
Do I need to buy products? Do you sell them or do I have to go buy them first?
Often, clients have everything they need to organise their photos. My intention is always to work with what you have, such as external hard drives, software or storage for physical photos. I will advise you on products that work for your situation.
Do you throw out my photos?
No, absolutely not! You are the one who ultimately decides what stays and what goes. I will remove duplicate photos but will keep them in a separate folder if you don’t want me to delete them. In fact, I don’t even delete what’s considered bad quality photos; you have the choice to delete them or invest time and resources in retouching or editing.
Do you do the work for me?
The short answer is it depends!
The long answer is I provide as much support as you need. By the very nature of what we’re doing, there will always be times when we work together. We’re sorting your visual memories, after all. I do 99% of the work for you in my VIP program, leaving you with a beautifully organised photo hub. Of course, at the end of the process when I bring you back your new, organised photo hub I will show you how to go from there so you can maintain your photo collection in the future.
If your project involves the sorting of printed photos, we’ll work together, side by side to organise your photos.
What results can I expect and how long will it take?
This very much depends on your situation. It’s simply not possible to clean up an extensive collection of digital photos in a couple of hours, but after I assess your photo situation I can give a good estimate of the timings involved. Photo organising projects are often quite big and can take anything from a few weeks to even months. Other, smaller projects can be done in one or two sessions.
What do I have to do?
To get the most out of your new digital photo hub, it’s important that you’re committed to the process, open to change and also willing to develop new habits. You might have to invest in some hardware or programs, depending on your project. For digital photo organising projects, we often need additional hard drives to set up a backup system. For printed photos, we might need boxes of archival quality to store the precious prints.
What is The Photo Managers (former APPO) and is it important that you are a member?
The Photo Managers, formerly APPO (Association of Professional Photo Organisers), is the international industry body. As a member of The Photo Managers, I adhere to a Code of Conduct and Ethics, designed to protect clients. I also have access to further professional development very specific to our industry.
How much does your service cost?
Different people have different levels of chaos in their photo storage, which is why I quote against individual projects. Contact me, and I’ll be able to give you an initial estimate.
What’s the first step of the process of working together?
Simply pick up the phone, or email me and we’ll have an obligation-free, complimentary chat! Just reach out.
