This past weekend I finished a very long project that I started over a year ago, scanning and digitally archiving every 35mm slide in my family’s possession. First of all, I come from a family of crazy photo takers. On top of that every photo from about 1967 to 1984 exist mostly as slides. All in all there were just under 3000 slides. I have an Epson scanner and Photoshop and embarked on the task of scanning all these slides to preserve them and to finally be able to see and enjoy what was on all of them. It was a very time consuming process but so completely worth it.
I started my mission by first locating all the slides that were completely disorganized all over the house – in the basement, in drawers in the office, in boxes with print photos, still in slide projector carousels even though we no longer have a slide projector – You get the picture. All these amazing treasures of photos and memories had become clutter. Yikes! That’s the kind of state they were in…complete chaos. So I started scanning, and scanning, and scanning. Anytime I had some spare time I’d scan. I can scan 4 at a time and it takes a few minutes for each tray to scan. So with almost 3000 slides you get an idea of what a project it was. After when I was all done with my insane project, or so I’d thought, I’d find more slides and more slides, and right before I moved I even found a few hundred more. I brought that last bunch with me to complete the project.
This weekend was truly the last all the slides. Phew! I can’t believe I actually finished and I can’t believe I even started it in the first place. It was one of those someday/maybe kind of projects but once I got going I was on a mission. It was so much fun, and so meaningful to discover what was on so many of the slides that we had all forgotten or in many cases had never even seen. Stored on my external hard drive I started taking my disk around to different family member’s houses and showing them iPhoto slideshows of all these amazing photos. I burned DVDs and took them on my trip to the former Yugoslavia this summer and shared photos with my aunts that took them back 25-30 years and they just loved it. I’ve made prints and enlargements and shared with other family members. It was totally worth it.
In recent years, with how cheap computer storage has become, I’ve really gotten into digitally archiving old analog and print media. I’ve transferred old Super 8mm films to MiniDV, finished my crazy slide project, and next I’ve been scanning old black and white photos that have no copies or negatives, where the only copy in existence is that ONE photo.
I know many of you out there also have ambitions of getting all your family photos in order and would like to do something like I’ve done to preserve the old stuff. I’ll address these topics in more detail in upcoming posts. Today, I just wanted to share my accomplishment 
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Congrats! A tough project! I actually wanted to start doing this for my family as well. It is good to know someone can make it through the mounds and mounds of pictures!
Thanks Nicole! Yes, definitely do it. You’ll be so happy you did
OH! I have tried! Believe you me! My Mom is a complete pack rat. There are NEVER ENDING boxes of photos. Not to mention, the bags she has of film rolls from the early 90′s. She it not even sure what is in them! Sheesh.
I am the production manager at http://www.FamilyMemoriestoDVD.com, a website that is mentioned in this posting. I would like to thank OdetoSimple.com for mentioning our services! When it comes to old tapes, reels, and slides, there is no substitute for converting them into a digital format. This can come in the form of a DVD/CD, or a data file on a computer.
Family Memories to DVD has been producing quality conversions for years and is about to roll out our sleek new website in the coming weeks. Please check out our services if you are in need any any transfer work! We have been the exclusive vendor for many MotoPhoto franchises in New Jersey and New York, and we also provide services for many others. Please don’t hesitate to call us at (908) 789-1005. Thank you!