Press Article from
OPUSalbums.com
Are
you going to let your most cherished memories rot?
or Make your Photos Visible
By Daniel Roberts,
OPUSalbums
Summary
We look forward to going back over our photographic memories. Our photo album collection is the most
accessible. Boxes of transparencies,
photo prints, videos are not – and will be ignored. The same applies to the digital age. Photos left on computers, CD’s and online
services are as invisible and subject to commercial failure and technological
obsolescence. Only an easy computer
printed photo album is secure. With
modern software and supplies it is so easy and effective
Article text
We spend our lives building up a file of memories – some
good – some bad – some to be relished – some to be learned from. In photography we have found a technique for
recording them so that we can go back over them ten, twenty, forty years
later. In retirement, when one may have
more time to reminisce and less strength to go on adventure, what better
pastime can there be than going back over our photos and thinking “That was
when …” – “I’d forgotten about him – I wonder what’s he doing now..”, or
“Wasn’t she an amazing lady”.
That presupposes one thing.
That those photos are readily available and capable of being read.
Go back 40 years.
Chances are that you have some regular photo albums, a few shoe boxes
full of uncatalogued photos, several dozen canisters of transparencies (for
that projector that has long since gone) – and a few hundred little plastic
boxes full of the transparencies that they came back from Kodak in. I am not going to talk about those unreadable
super-8 films and a pile of VHS video tapes.
May I suggest that there is only one of the above media that
you are going to look at regularly – the photo album. Why – because they are visible and
accessible. The shoeboxes of prints
probably come next – a poor second.
Is history repeating itself?
The number of photos taken has risen exponentially. Indeed we spend some of our most cherished
moments viewing that unforgettable moment through a viewfinder or LCD. Then what?
View the thumbnails – select the good ones – and what next?
- Leave
them on the computer. Sort of
visible for a time – but awaiting a hard disk failure.
- Transfer
them to CD/DVD – invisible (therefore as inaccessible as the old trannies)
– and who knows when your computer will no longer be able to read a
CD. (In my loft I have a box full
of 5¼” floppy disks full of valuable information).
- Upload
them to Flikr or another on-line service.
These services come and go with monotonous regularity. Do you really think they will be round
in 40 years time? Those memories –
not only inaccessible – but LOST!
So – what’s the answer? Back to the old photo album. And using your computer it’s so much easier.
Take your photos – select the
best and assemble into a story.
Edit the photos if necessary –
and lay them out into pages (we recommend Fotoslate4) – and add text.
Print them at home on your own
inkjet printer (quicker and more flexible than an outside photo book service).
You have a neat, accessible
permanent book, which you can label and file to look at whenever you like. Quick – easy and effective.
URL: http://www.opusalbums.com/dontletmemoriesrot
For more information please contact
Daniel Roberts
OPUSalbums.com
PO Box 561
Rochester,
Kent, ME1 9DF
England
Or c/o Booksmart Inc, Rochester, NY
Tel +44 845 408 9427, +1 408 627
4077
e-mail Daniel@opusalbums.com
About OPUSalbums.com
www.opusalbums.com
OPUSalbums.com is a leading supplier of print-your-own photo
albums, creative and digital photographic papers. It also supports a wide range of photo album,
editing and supportive software and backs its offerings with a resource of
guidance, tips and ideas, second to none.
Based in Rochester England and Rochester NY, USA we are able to support
professional, amateur and hobbyist photographers worldwide.
About Daniel Roberts
Daniel Roberts is a leading figure in the imaging supplies
industry. Formerly director of planning
at Memorex, he has been involved in inkjet cartridges and paper since 1990,
having introduced inkjet refill kits to Europe and later running Europe’s largest master distributor of compatible inkjet
cartridges. Currently a senior
consultant with Excelsis Enterprises and Managing Director of Incartek he
consults to the industry and to the wider community on company strategy,
M&A’s and market development. His
company owns a number of web businesses including OPUSalbums.com,
U-PRINTIT.co.uk, Photo4.biz
Graphics attached
(Download by clicking on text or picture)
Higher resolution pictures available on request mailto:daniel@opusalbums.com
© Daniel Roberts, OPUSalbums January 2008
May be reproduced, e-mailed to
your friends or quoted freely so long as the author and company is acknowledged
and, where possible, a link provided to www.opusalbums.com
Keywords
Photo album, transparencies,
photo prints, super-8, 35mm, technological obsolescence, 5.25” floppy,
trannies, flikr, Kodak, opusalbums, accessible photos, memories, visible
photos, accessible photos