Notes on Retirement: Suggestion 7: Photo Books

This is another one of those ideas I wish I had known about while so many memorable events in our lives were happening. Oh, we took loads of photographs and have them in numerous albums and boxes. I look at them now and then and marvel just how many times we took basically the same picture so many times in a set. Really, how many standing next to the “fill in the blank” pictures do you need? When someone would look at one of our albums we would have a running commentary, usually filling in what the pictures left out. We have changed.

We still take loads of pictures, and digital cameras have made that so easy. What we do differently is take pictures with a finished book in mind. It makes us focus on the images that will tell the story of whatever we are experiencing be it a trip, a gathering, or even just everyday happenings. Of course, I’m describing photo books. I am by no means an expert on the subject, but I am very knowledgeable about two companies; Sam’s Club and Snapfish. I use Snapfish the most because it allows me more options than Sam’s Club. However, options cost money. Sam’s is by far the cheapest I’ve found. There are others you can try. Just google it.

The process requires some computer skills and an internet connection, but it is predictable and simple. That does not mean this is a fast, easy job. I’ve made 20 or so photo books and am working on more most months now. First, you sign up online for an account at the service of your choice: snapfish.com or samsclub.com or whatever. The Sam’s one is a little confusing at first since you have to go to the Photo tab to get to the right place. Once you have an account you’ll need to upload the pictures you will use. I usually upload many more pictures than I’ll actually put in the book, but it’s nice to have the options. You can always upload more at any time, until you pay for the book! The upload will take as much as an hour if you have a bunch of pictures, but 30-40 pictures takes just ten minutes or so. Second, you’ll choose layout options and background options. At first, I used thematic layouts like travel, but I choose now just a simple one with simple backgrounds. I have gotten leather before but not lately. I do like the ones with a photo covering the entire cover. It just defines the event immediately, but I like them all. This is the end of the easy part.

I’ve gotten much better at putting the book together just from experience, but it has also helped that we take photos with a finished book in mind. That really helps. You aren’t just taking a bunch of pictures; you are getting shots that tell the story. I look at all the pictures, lay out a natural progression in my mind, and start placing pictures. The templates allow you to put as many as 4 pictures on a page, and I do sometimes. My wife suggested early on to only use layouts that let you use as much of the page as possible for your photos. Of course the real work is composing the descriptions throughout the books. About half my pages have something written; pictures can tell most of the story, but they do need some help! Again, I keep my layouts simple with most pages having one picture, some with words, and the rest are just shots I couldn’t leave out even if they are somewhat repetitive. That’s when I use the four on a page layout. You can add as many pages as you want. You get charged by the page after the basic charge for 20 or so pages. I almost always have to add some pages, but that just means we have too many great photos to leave out.

I’m sure some readers might feel an album will do the same storytelling, and they can sure stay with what works for them. I can tell you we love these books! They take up little room (they’re the size of a spiral notebook) and tell just one story at a time. Our albums are great collections of memories, but they were designed to be just that: a place to store a load of photos.

I hope some of you give this a try. I have ten more I’ve started in my head!

I am including some photos of two of our books.