Digital Dilemma

Digital dilemma.

I have very few photos from my childhood, and although I used to think that was a bad thing, today I'm not so sure. When you only have a few of something you seem to treasure them more, as opposed to having an unlimited supply of something. 

When I was in my mid-twenties I invested my tax refund into a really nice SLR Canon camera. My budget was limited so just like the stick shift Honda Accord I once owned, my camera was completely manual, and required a knowledge of F-stops and shutter speed. 

Now this was long before digital cameras, and actual film and developing were required. On my school teacher budget I allowed myself only one 24 count roll of film per month. As a result my actual number of prints was somewhat limited. Couple that with some photos that just weren't worth keeping, and I easily ended up with a manageable amount of photos. 

After my daughter was born, I switched over to a point and click camera because little ones don't sit long enough for manual settings. Again, I limited myself to a reasonable amount of film, except that when you capture about fifteen years of memories it actually becomes quite a lot just by default. 

When Brittany turned sixteen the world of digital and memory cards must have become common place. I know this because my seven year retirement scrapbook project ends in the year 2005. From then on it's really anyone's guess where the rest of my photos are as they somehow have been lost in a digital black hole. Maybe the correct terminology would be the cloud, but I'm not even sure they are there. 

I have downloaded some to CD's, others on flash drives, many to my laptop, but I think most are sitting on my i pad taking up valuable storage space as I am constantly reminded of by an insistently annoying pop up. 

Recently, I've seen a device specifically targeted to download photos off of your phone or tablet. I think this might be an expedient way for me to clear up more storage for my i pad. However, the even more looming issue is what the heck to do with them when I'm through? The task of organizing them into albums is daunting and not one I'm looking forward to.  

I love the convenience of digital, and the high quality of the camera on my i phone, but just like a lot of other things I own it's really difficult to let go of any of my photos. I'm not sure why I think I need ten shots of the same flower, but just having to make the decision as to which is the keeper makes my head swim. 

The funny thing is that my daughter has hundreds of photos of her childhood, but the sheer weight of them keeps them sitting here taking up my closet space rather than hers. I'm beginning to think my parents had it right, although I don't think they consciously were aware of it. Maybe a few well loved photos are the way to go.