How many photos are on your phone’s camera roll right now? (Who dares to share in the comments?). Are you ever looking at your photos on the phone? I mean, really looking at and enjoying them? We all have more photos than ever. We take them and, often, we are never actually looking at them, let alone curating them. Yes, there are of course exceptions and if you are one of them, this post might not be for you because you already do what I will suggest. If not, please read on and find out how we can get those photos off the phone and into our life!

Having constant access to our photos on the phone is something many of us have gotten used to. Admittedly, it is great to have such easy access to our memories. However, enjoying photos usually doesn’t really happen via a tiny phone screen. Plus, having the photos on the phone only is of course a huge risk. It’s way too easy to lose them and then you can’t enjoy them anywhere anymore. Let’s see what we can do to avoid this and how we can find more joy in our photos.

1) Have a Photo Hub

Having a digital photo hub on your computer – or on an external drive if the computer’s internal storage is too small – is key to getting your photos off the phone. Your computer is the home of your photo collection. Your phone is the camera, it should not be the photo storage place! An advantage of having a photo hub on your computer is that your phone photos might not be the only ones you have. You might have other sources like multiple phones or tablets and cameras. If so, it makes always sense to gather and add all those photos to one place. It will then be easier to choose the ones you actually want to keep and also the best ones to use in projects. Learn more about how to create a photo hub in this podcast episode or read why it is beneficial in this blog post.  

2) What projects have you got in mind?

If you know what you want to do with your photos, everything photo-related becomes much easier. Do you want to print and frame your best shots? Maybe you want to create photo books or photo gifts? Or simply send your favourite photos to a digital photo frame? Have a think and brainstorm for a moment. This will then give you the answer to the next point.

3) Be creative using your photos

 

Once you know what you want to do with your photos and how you want to have them in your life, there is an endless list of projects you can tackle. Some options:

 

Wallart

If you have free walls, what stops you from choosing your best photos, having them printed and framed? Or maybe you’d like to create a lovely collage to hang on the wall? Here are some inspirational pins for you.

 

Digital photo frame

I just loooove my digital photo frame. In my view, this is the easiest and most versatile way to bring my photos into my life. I just send a photo to the frame and voilà, it pops up in my living room. No printing, no holes in walls, no looking at the same old image year in, year out. Love it! You can find more about my Nixplay experience here.

 

Photo books

Photo books are probably the most popular way to display and share photos. At least everybody wants to create them. Not so many actually do it because, admittedly, it does take some effort. I find it not too bad once you have chosen a printing company and if your style is rather minimalistic. If you prefer lots of embellishments and scrapbooking, it will take much longer to create those pieces of art. But then you wouldn’t mind because it’s your hobby. Here are some tips about how to create a book in 5 easy steps.

 

 

 

Photo gifts

There are lots of photo gift offerings that are – quite honestly – completely unpractical and ridiculous in my personal view. But hey, each to their own. There are of course some gifts that are awesome, and that people will love. I’ve written about how to choose a gift in this blog post.

 

Screensaver

Another rather easy way to enjoy your photos is to use them as your screensaver or background. That way, the photos will rotate, and you don’t have to wallpaper your living room wall with photos to display them!

 

There are of course other things you can create with your photos, but I think those listed are the most popular and common ones. Choose something you find easy to start with and get those photos back into your life! I’d love to hear what works for you, what you’d like to try or what you have already done and love – please share in the comments!