Does LA Need Photo Help?

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This past week, I had the opportunity to take Pixologie on the road to LA for Craig Duswalt’s Rockstar Marketing Bootcamp. We love talking about photo organizing and thanks to seeing Craig at our national conference back in March, Pixologie produced its first book, A Simple Guide to Organizing Your Family Photos (more about the book in another post!) We thought we would have a blast attending his full conference.

Our booth at the conference

Here’s what stands out . . .

  1. Visiting with a statistician on our plane ride to LA – Susan explained that she really didn’t think she cared about saving her photos, wanting to look forward instead of back. Our conversation led us to a description of her antique family scrapbook albums from the late 1800s. When we described how we would save the photos that mattered (identifiable people, situations, etc.), she was horrified at the thought of disassembling the album. She admitted she cared more than she thought.
  2. Meeting a woman who lived not far away from our conference – her house had recently burned down in the wildfires that plague California. Fortunately, her family is safe, having been evacuated from the area prior to the fires getting to her home. However, the evacuation process was fast and allowed for no time other than getting the family and dog out safe. She said, “We were given 30 seconds to grab what we could. Taking the photo albums was not an option.”
  3. Considering our host, Craig Duswalt’s own story of lost photos from decades ago. As the Personal Assistant to Axl Rose and touring with Guns N Roses, Craig experienced a world we can only imagine. He was fortunate enough to attend an event where he could get pictures with musical legends . . . but he accidentally left his camera at a restaurant with all of those amazing moments gone forever. Now, back then, the camera was loaded with film, but we know how it feels in today’s digital world what it is like to lose priceless photos.

We thought this would be a fun time and it was! And, yes, the people we met while in Los Angeles have photos they need to sort and get back into their lives – as do people everywhere we go!

Darla DeMarrow, HeartWork Organizing and Melinda Hartman Hollis, Out of the Box, joined us in helping to talk about saving photos.

 

 

 

Do you need help with a place to start organizing your photos? Give us a call (414) 731-1881 or email us here – contact@pixologieinc.com . . . we’ll send you our QuickPix Guide to Organizing Your Photos & Media!

Pixologie – www.pixologieinc.com

Follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/pixologie

 

Setting An Audacious Goal – 250,000 Photos Saved!

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By Ann Matuszak

Goals. We all have them, personal and professional. Goals. We set them frequently, achieve them more sporadically. If you have truly set a goal, then you don’t quit until you achieve it and if necessary you bring in the support you need to make it happen.

Pixologie is known for setting big goals, in fact, we call them Audacious Goals. On the cusp of Save Your Photos Day, Pixologie and Friends is inviting everyone in the Photo Organization, Family Story Telling and Photography world to join us on achieving a truly Audacious Goal. In the next 10 days, we want to save, preserve and protect 250,000 photos by scanning and digitizing them.

As reported by Gary Pageau in PMA, a recent study by Kodak Alaris found that fully one-third of British smartphone users have lost photos and that 46% of them are worried about accessing their photos in the future. As members of the Association of Photo Organizers (APPO) and one of the founding members of the Save Your Photos Alliance, we are committed to offering solutions for these realistic fears. We all know that photos matter. Photos connect, inspire, enrich and celebrate lives.

With the power of our Kodak Alaris Picture Saver Scanner PS50 and PS80, we are ready to get to work. Well, to be honest, we have already done 20,000+ but we are just getting started!

We are thrilled to have Pixcel, PixologieCarolinas, PixologieTeam and E-Z Photo Scan already committed to sharing their numbers. Want to be part of an Audacious Goal? Join in by scanning a photo, back it up in two places, save it to offsite storage like Reflectera or Forever and then get on board by sharing your scanning numbers using #Audacious Goals in your social media posts or emailing me – annm@pixologieinc.com!

We will collect numbers thru October 4th and post the total on October 5th. Scan a photo; save a story. Scan 1,000 photos; save a family history. Every single one matters. Ready to blow the lid off an Audacious Goal? Let’s start scanning!

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It’s Time to Save Your Photos This Saturday!

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Check Out Your Local Partners in Preserving Your Memories!

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On Saturday, September 26, 2015, we are thrilled to be hosting our second annual Save Your Photos Day event with Rely Local. Come to our Open House . . . 

  • Hear about the importance of saving your memories for future generations
  • Visit different stations to see how Pixologie saves old photos and media
  • Learn more about how to organize and save your photos
  • Check out Rely Local who will be there also with a very fun guest!
  • Get 50 FREE photos scanned – bring in your photos (8×10 or smaller, flat and no copyrighted portraits) for free scanning.

RSVP on Facebook, by calling 414-731-1881 or email us at contact@pixologieinc.com

Working with a local photo organizer provides much reassurance to families who want to digitize their pictures so they can share the memories with other members in their families. We handle your treasured photos and materials with care and expertise, most of the work is completed right in our studio, so you know your memories are safe. With a  local option  available, there is no reason to be overwhelmed by a photos mess!

Research suggests that the sheer volume and lack of organization of digital photos for personal memories discourages many people from accessing and reminiscing about them. (Linda Henkel, Psychological Scientist)

Rely Local is helping us to spread the word – they know that supporting local businesses helps stimulate our area’s economy especially in their focus area of city of Oak Creek and counties of Racine and Kenosha, Wisconsin – and creates a stable and vibrant community. We are grateful for their help in promoting our event.

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Not in Southeastern Wisconsin? There may be a Save Your Photos Day event near you. Click here to learn more about the Save Your Photos Alliance and other locations of SYPD events.

Want to know about our other Pixologie Locations? Click here.

Check out our website!

Follow us on Facebook

Learn about the Photo Organizing Field!

Visit Rely Local!

Feel the Memories Coming Back . . .

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And Grab a Kleenex!

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We had two of our clients cry this week . . . the emotions of really looking back at their photos caused tears to well up and overflow. Kleenex anyone?

I can empathize . . . See the photo up above – that’s me, my dad, sister, mom and Grandma along with the family dog – Duchess. I honestly don’t even remember this day but we were having some fun! To see us all from over thirty years ago, young, alive together makes me want to grab my own kleenex and blow my nose.

Amazing the power of looking back. Here’s the low down on the client tears this week:

  •  a 70 something grandma watching a digitized 8mm film from 1962 – when she saw her dad walking her two-year-old on the computer screen, she put her hand to her mouth, sucked in her breath and her eyes glistened. Long, long gone memories instantly bringing about feelings and emotion.
  • a 30s mom with her two little children in the studio – scanning photos for a project for her husband’s 40th birthday and then editing them for a Pinterest project. . . just saying “he’s not going to believe I did this” and she teared up as she looked at the memories in their photos.

What photos bring tears to your eyes? It’s natural to have these feelings, after all, photos connect generations and celebrate life. When you haven’t seen those memories in years, sometimes, decades, the photos can have a powerful effect on you. Don’t let a mess of photos stop you from looking back. We would be happy to help get you a starting point for your memories.

More of my own reminiscing – see the photo below – that’s my dad sending our lab down a slide. Thank goodness Duchess seems to make it down without flipping over the side!

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Lastly, a couple more photos from the few taken that fall day in the park with our grandma. . . For many reasons, I’ll take those tissues again!

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Three Reasons Why You Should Make a Photo Slideshow

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Here’s mine from Mother’s Day . . .Okay, now if you’ve watched the simple two minute video above, you have seen me, my sister, my dad and my mom in all our glory in our younger years! Well, we’ve had some rather dramatic changes in the thirty years since our childhood photos. (Let’s just say, I’m so not that thin anymore, and my sister who was thin, gained weight and now is thin again!)

Every family celebrates their moments in their own way. For my mom, just watching the video was all she could do, commenting upon the photos that played.

Photo slideshows are relatively easy today, especially if you simply use the digital photos you already have. Here’s three reasons why you should make a photo slideshow.

  1. You CAN do it yourself with a computer or smartphone – and the simple software is either free or inexpensive. (PC – Photo Gallery, Windows MovieMaker; Mac – Photos, iPhoto; Smartphones – search the App Store – there are lots of choices.)
  2. You ARE taking time to reminisce about the good times with your family and friends. We are so busy in the moment these days, sometimes we forget to celebrate days gone by . . . and those who are no longer with us. Yes, for some of us, kleenix is definitely recommended. When you add some music to the photo flow, its easy to become emotional.
  3. You DO see the world runs differently today than it did years ago. If we don’t reflect back on the years we grew up, where we experienced our family’s traditions and a society that seemed to get along better – it’s going to fade away. Who knows what our children’s children will have to look back at?
  4. BONUS Reason – other people enjoy watching your photo slideshows which can be shared in a whole number of places!

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Using Photos amazing slideshow feature, the video I made above, took me about fifteen minutes. (Yes, I waited til the last minute to put it together before going to my parent’s on Sunday!) Here’s our Challenge because we know you can do it too. Make a photo slideshow and post it to our Facebook update for this blog. We may use it in a future post!

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Find us at www.pixologieinc.com

Email: contact@pixologieinc.com

Phone: 414-731-1881

The Secret to Organizing Your Photos While Exercising!

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Oh the joy of killing two birds with one stone!

I really hate that analogy because I have never willingly killed a bird (just accidentally with the car.) Okay – on with what has to be one of the first times ever someone has organized her digital photos while exercising!

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Seriously, this is me this morning with my iPhone 5 and my trusty elliptical. (Sorry you aren’t getting a photo of me running on the elliptical organizing my photos – lol – I have some dignity!)

About a month ago we started testing a new photo organizing solution called Mylio.

Mylio is a photo management software system that works both on the desktop and as an app on phones and tablets. Mylio helps you gather, organize and access all of your photos across all your devices, anytime, anywhere. Mylio is available via annual subscription

I have Mylio installed on several of my devices including my laptop and my iPhone with an account dedicated to our Pixologie photos from our studio and our events. This means all my Pixologie photos are synced between my devices. When I make a change on one, it will update on my other devices. I needed to do some catch up sorting photos from the last month which I hadn’t gotten to yet.

While I was running on my elliptical this morning and playing my Bonnie Tyler Pandora station, I thought, how am I going to get through the next half hour of boring exercise? Then it it hit me, I could organize those photos waiting for me. I picked up the iPhone started up my Mylio app and sorted over 200 photos and deleted ones I didn’t need. The time flew by!

Then, when I went to my laptop sitting on my kitchen table, I could see that my updates from my phone had already synced to my laptop. See the screenshot below.

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This is my Pixologie Mylio account with 1800 photos in it. My personal Mylio account has 17,000+ photos in it.

Unbelievable! Two tasks that sometimes seem like a chore (exercising and photo sorting) – when combined was amazing, beautiful, wonderful!

If you have photos on multiple computers, tablets and/or iPhones, you might want to learn more about Mylio. We are excited to be offering it in person at our studio and online at our Pixologie Store. For clients who purchase it through us, we offer a complimentary Open Studio Time to get you up and running comfortably with it!

Want to learn more about Mylio? Check out their website at www.mylio.com.

Happy exercising & photo sorting!

Three Photo Tactics to Get Through Your Daughter’s Teen Years

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Wow. . . my thirteen year old (going on 30) daughter really has mastered the art of the attitude. It has been a real surprise for us because she literally reached 10 before she ever talked back to us. But, now the attitude is with our family every day, maybe not 100% of the time, but every day.

PLEASE NOTE: I love my daughter who is a straight A student and fantastic girl when the attitude is hiding!

Last night, my husband asked her to help make spaghetti so she sporadically stirred the noodles with her headphones on. When he realized the spaghetti sauce was sizzling, he asked her to turn the heat down. Hannah replied, “How many things do you expect me to do at once?” He asked what she meant and she said, “I’m stirring the noodles, listening to my music and daydreaming.” When he laughed, she was offended in the way a teen can only be.

Hannah told me this morning I was disrespecting her when I asked her about it, perceiving me to be teasing her. Sigh.

Here’s what I know, in order to get through these tough teen years, I am going to have to rely on cherishing the good moments, celebrating memories and planting seeds for her future.

Here’s my mom advice on how to get through these teen years using your photos:

  1. Pull out the photos of when your daughter was younger and oh so adorable . . . and didn’t know what sarcasm was. Even better, share those photos with your daughter to laugh together about some of the things she did when she was young.
  2. Take a photo of your daughter or several – selfies do not count here. Really think about the background and enjoy a few moments with her. Then get that photo printed.
  3. Organize old photos and digital photos with your daughter. The time spent together accomplishes several things – memories are saved and celebrated, special moments without teenage friction are shared and generations are connected.
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Cute photo of Hannah on Thanksgiving Day – those years we fried a turkey in half an hour – so good. Maybe we’ll try that again this year!

And I am not alone in seeing the value of photos as a parenting tool. The Association of Personal Photo Organizers reports in their Insiders Guide to Photo Organizing:

Studies show that photos have a positive impact on families by connecting generations and reinforcing positive values. In fact, many experts agree that photos have a significant impact on the emotional wellbeing of children. Parenting and youth development expert, Doctor G (Deborah Gilboa, MD) says that “organizing and displaying photographs connects children to our families, our values and our life goals for them.”

Here’s some resources for you in this journey of watching our children grow up!

Doctor G – Parenting Expert – For parenting help!

Pixologie, Inc. – For help with photo organizing!

Top Three FAQs About Family Slides

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We wrote about the importance of families looking at their slides a few weeks ago. Here’s some frequently asked questions about getting slides converted at Pixologie.

Question: I have thousands of slides and have heard it is pretty expensive. How much does it cost?

Answer: We have two main options for our clients to have slides converted to a digital file.

  1. WE DO IT – Slide conversions cost 59 cents each and include color correction, dust removal and digital organizing.
  2. YOU DO IT – Our clients are welcome to come to our Open Studio Time which is $15 for three hours. You can use our simple Wolverine Converter at no extra charge and scan your slides yourself. We will be there to help answer any questions and assist with technical difficulties.

In either case, we can work with clients to prepare a quote that meets your needs while ensuring your memories are ready to digitally save and share.

Question: I think there are way too many travel scenes from my parent’s vacations with nobody in them. Do I need to save those?

Answer: We believe that the best slides are pictures of people you know – families doing things together, celebrating milestones and growing up. With that being said, we have seen that many, many slides have been taken of landscapes. We recommend perhaps saving a few of the very best landscape shots to keep with the family vacation photos.

Question: How do I save the digital files of my slides with my other photos?

Before answering this, we need to mention that we recommend saving all your digital photos on your computer in one place (free options include Pictures folder on a PC and iPhoto on a Mac). Here are some naming recommendations for your files of digital photos:

MAC – Save your slides as an event in iPhoto:

  • 1970s Slides or
  • 1960 to 1980 slides

PC – Name your folder as follows: YYYY-MM-DD Description.

Examples of this on a PC include:

  • 2010
  • 2010-01
  • 2010-02-17 Valentine’s Day

And then, so your folders will fall in date order, name your slide folders with the date first:

  • 1970s Slides
  • 1950s to 1975 Slides

If you are feeling ambitious, you can subdivide the folders into months and family events.

We’d love to help you get your slides converted now! There are too many family lessons and stories to be told from those memories to wait any longer. Here’s two ways we can help:

NUMBER ONE – COMPLIMENTARY SLIDE PICK-UP!

In February – FREE SLIDE PICKUP! We will come to your home and meet with you to pick up your slides. Please contact us to arrange this (within 100 miles of Milwaukee) at 414-731-1881 or email: contact@pixologieinc.com.

NUMBER TWO – OPEN STUDIO TIME TOOLS

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Come into our studio, for three hours, it’s only $15. Use our slide projector, slide sorter and more to figure which slides you want to save. Then you can use our Wolverine scanner to convert them yourself or have us professionally convert your slides for you!
No matter what you decide, it’s time to get those old slides out of their carousels and back into life to celebrate and share the memories!

website: www.pixologieinc.com

Three Reasons to Save Your Kid’s Kindergarten Pictures Now!

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Your Photos Can Be A Powerful Parenting Tool

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Okay, you have piles of your children’s photos in boxes, envelopes, tucked in bins in the closet – or on your computer, different camera cards, smart phones and on Facebook! We know . . . you’ll get to sorting the photos out someday. Well, we have some reasons why you might not want to wait.

If you are wanting to raise happy, well adjusted children, your photos can be one of the BEST parenting tools you have. Nationally recognized parenting expert, Deborah Gilboa, MD, (aka Doctor G), recently presented a webinar to the Association of Personal Photo Organizers on how this could be.

Gilboa believes that photos impact the three R’s of parenting. In her experience, photos:

  • Teach Respect
  • Show Responsibility
  • Build Resiliency

Here’s a quick example of how we see some kindergarten photos touching upon Doctor G’s three R’s.

1. Teaching Respect– In this photo, we see a teacher with her student. Looking back at the photo, we can help remind our children that our family does respect adults and that respect matters in life.

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2. Showing Responsibility – this photo of the student giving her baby brother a bite of desert is great. A moment was caught where she was helping her grandmother. Anytime you can point out in a photo when your child is doing something helpful or responsible, you are subconsciously helping to build their character.

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3. Building Resiliency –  The kindergarten students each had to speak in front of the large group of parents and relatives who attended their graduation. Many adults get anxious when having to do presentations. Taking time with your child to look at accomplishments like this is a great opportunity to talk about the importance of overcoming difficulties and fears.

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Imagine all of the memories throughout your photo collection that can be teachable moments for your kids. It’s time to get your photos sorted and back into life to celebrate, share and help grow strong children.

We are thrilled that Doctor G has weighed in on the importance of photos in a family’s life. Watch for future blogs about why your photos matter in raising your children.

Our website: www.pixologieinc.com

Ask Doctor G’s Website: www.askdoctorg.com

Three Reasons to Haul Out Your Slides Today!

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Back in 2004, my in-laws pulled out the slide projector and carousels of slides to go through. We had all the family over – twenty of us watching memories from the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. It was the one of the last times we were all together before my father-in-law passed away from cancer, and one of my favorite family gatherings.

Here’s my three reasons to haul out your slides today!

  1. It is the winter and a great time for family get togethers. How much fun is it to look at photos of you or your parents growing up?
  2. Reconnect with and celebrate your family traditions and memories. Today’s world operates by a different set of values, morality and norms. It does us all good to reflect on how family life has changed since the 1950s and 1960s. (See the Christmas group photo below – the whole family dressed up for the holiday, bow-ties and all!)
  3. Life flies by and before we know it, we can lose a loved one. Celebrate those memories together now when you can hear the stories aloud, instead of when it is too late. I know that Sunday afternoon, ten years ago, with my father-in-law will stand out in mind as long is I live – and I was blessed to have a photo of the event.

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Lastly, don’t just haul out the projector to watch the slides, have your slides converted to a digital file so the whole family can have a copy of these special memories to pass down to their children and grandchildren.

At Pixologie, we have scanned anywhere from five slides to thousands of slides for our clients. Let us know if we can help!

http://www.pixologieinc.com

email: contact@pixologieinc.com

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