Preserving Your Summer Harvest

Summer is a time of abundance and if you have a high produce yield this year you will want to save as much of it as possible from going bad. You also may want to replicate your success this year to following years. There are several ways you can do this. First, keep copious notes of what you have done. When did you plant your seeds, what did you sprout ahead of time and what went right into the ground? How often did it rain or when did you water your plants. Take pictures and add them to a web photo album as your plants grow so that you can see the progress year to year. Don’t forget to label and date all pictures! You will love the fact that you can go back and review your web photo albums.

Once you begin to pick fruits and vegetables decide what you’ll use right away and what you might want to preserve for later. Many fruits can be made into preserves or frozen. There are several different ways people do this. Try a few different methods if you’ve never done it before. Then stick with the way that works the best! For vegetables pickling and freezing are two of the most common methods for putting up items. For root vegetables like potatoes, beets, and onions a dark, cool cellar may be all that is needed to keep vegetables several months to use in their natural state. You can also make your produce into things like breads or muffins that can then be frozen and pulled out to use later on.

If you still have more than you know what to do with, chances are good you have a neighbor or two that would love to have some of your excess! You might consider setting up a road side stand and making a small profit on some of the food you have remaining!

Last Minute Summer Road Trip Ideas

If you’re still hoping to get away this summer consider a last minute summer road trip as a fun activity and a way that you can actually save money on your vacation. You often don’t have to look very far to find something fun to do and depending on where you live summer can actually be the low season, allowing you to snag great deals.

First, do a little research to look at nearby areas – within driving distance – that are of interest to you and your family. Many websites allow you to put price alerts in for different locations. Do this for your selected spots. You’ll now get an email whenever a hotel is available at or below your listed price. Each week set aside some extra money to purchase gas cards. This way when it’s time to hit the road you will have a good chunk of money set aside for gas, one of the biggest expenses. You can even store photos of the places you want to visit in an online photo gallery.

When it’s time to hit the road don’t forget your camera or smartphone to capture memories for your online photo galleries. You’ll also want just the essentials so that you’re not weighed down with lots of luggage. Contact the tourist office at your chosen destination to find out what there is to do in the area and hopefully pick up some last minute discounts on attractions and food. Along the way stop in the small towns or interesting restaurants you see advertised. Make the trip as much about the journey as the destination. You won’t be going out of your way and you’ll have a great time exploring places you normally might not visit.

If you’re still not sure where to go, a local lake may be just the thing to see. Or perhaps there’s a waterpark nearby that you’ve never visited. Be creative!

Preparing Your Child for College

For many parents, this is the time of year that they start to prepare for their newly graduated student to go off to college. It can be stressful for parents and children. While there’s no way to alleviate all of the worry there are some things you can do to send them off on the right foot.

A lot of time and attention is paid to registering for classes, securing housing, and purchasing items to decorate a dorm or room. All of these things are important but parents can also take time to create something for their children to have after the dust has settled. Spend some time putting together a web photo album your child can pull up when they get homesick – because they will get homesick. Gather some of your favorite pictures and memories and organize them. Write notes and captions that are memories of the time or place. When your child is homesick or just needs a little bit of something familiar this will be an easy way for them to be comforted.

Along with all of the physical preparations for school you also will want to take time to prepare your child mentally for this new change. Different children are at different places of maturity when they prepare to go away to college. Some may be more than ready while others are more apprehensive. Reassure them that everything will be fine and give them solid, honest advice about the situations they may find themselves in. No longer are they under mom and dad’s roof but they are largely on their own and need the knowledge and skills to make the best decisions possible. Most importantly let them know that no matter what you’re still there for them and that they can always call you when they are in need and when they are just missing you a little they can glance at their photo album.

Making Memories Close to Home

If taking a summer vacation isn’t in your budget this year, you can still have a great time close to home. Play tourist in your own city and discover some unknown corners. No one wants to sit at home all summer so get out, explore and make memories for your online photo galleries!

Everyone loves water, check out local pools, lakes, and rivers for places to swim or just relax near the water. Make a list of all the different places and spend all summer exploring what’s nearby. You can create a web photo album to save all of your pictures. At the end of the summer take a family poll and decide which your favorite was. You may even consider submitting your list and suggestions to your local tourist board to share with visitors.

Are there museums or historical monuments in your city? You probably overlooked them as points of interest but take this opportunity to visit. Learn a little more about local history and have a good time. Some may even offer day camps for kids that are low cost or free. Parks are another great thing to explore. Visit your local and state parks nearby and see what they offer. Pack a picnic and make a day of your adventure.

While you’re rating things why not have an ice cream eating contest? Make a list of all local ice cream parlors or shops that sell ice cream. Then tackle one each week. Vote on your favorite flavors and make notes about what you did or didn’t like. This is a low cost way to spend time together and enjoy a snack. You could do the same thing with restaurants or another local specialty.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money or go far from home to create fun summer memories!

Inexpensive Ways to Show off Vacation Memories

You’re home from an amazing week in the Caribbean or month in Europe. Now it’s time to unpack and sort through the hundreds of images you took to remember your time. Don’t fall victim to leaving the pictures for months on a memory card or stuck in your camera! Instead try one of these ideas.

Upload Them

The easiest way to save your pictures is to upload them to online photo galleries. You can create your own web photo album quickly and easily. Break down the pictures by destination or event. Add as many notes as you can so that you won’t forget what was happening. As time fades, so will your memories!

Shadow Boxes

Even though printing photographs has decreased in a big way, why not print off a few of your favorite pictures and include them in a shadow box. Add in shells, receipts, tickets, and other odds and ends that remind you of your vacation. You can then hang this on your wall and have an instant reminder and conversation piece.

Hardbound Album

It is possible to order a printed photo book of your vacation pictures for a lot less than you might think. Sort through your online photo galleries and pull out your favorite images. You can either print them and add to a traditional photo album or you can use an online program to create a physical book. Some programs give you a lot of options on how you want to set up and edit the pictures, what text you want to include, and even more. Your imagination is the only limitation!

Whether you opt to put together a web photo album, hardbound photo album, or a shadow box be sure to take the time to preserve your most treasured vacation memories.

EBooks: A Low-Maintenance Business that Can Deliver Big Profits

One profitable idea to make money online is through the sale of eBooks. They require very little cost upfront and can provide great revenue. You will need to invest time and energy to make it happen but once the book is written it can deliver income continuously with very little effort.

So, What are EBooks?

If you’re not familiar with EBooks, they are digital reading media that is easy to pass along to others. Many people are opting for electronic books over printed books for several reasons. EBooks can be long or short, and can be published by a publishing house or you could self-publish your own eBook. EBook files are stored on your computer or digital device and don’t take up physical space. You can have access to an eBook in seconds after purchase.

Do you like to write? Then this is right up your alley. But eBooks don’t have to be limited to the written word. Clear out your online photo galleries and set up a photography book. If you have a way with words or photographic talent for capturing readers, you can use eBooks to bring a profit to your blog or website.

You’re probably wondering what is this going to cost. The good news - the cost to you is negligible. If you already have a website, you have access to the Internet and likely the software that is needed to make an eBook. There are lots of websites and books online that can guide you through the process of writing, formatting, and publishing your eBook.

When it comes time to start thinking about pricing there are a few variables. You may be able to charge more for longer books or you may command a good price for shorter eBooks that provide very concise and valuable information. If your book is packed with high quality images and advice from your online photo galleries then people may be willing to pay more.

Selling EBooks

Now that you have gone through the hard work of writing and formatting your eBook you have to get it into the hands of people. Marketing your eBook follows the same lines as marketing your website or blog. Some ideas might include creating an article series for your website that are based around your eBook. You can also write guest posts for other websites or purchase advertising on other websites to get out the word. Don’t give away everything in your articles, give just enough information to have the reader wanting to know more. You want them to purchase the full book! So don’t forget to mention the eBook and link to your website in each article.

To make things easy for customers, link your eBooks with your checkout process. Once a payment is processed, they should receive a link via email to automatically download the product. It might seem daunting to tackle writing an eBook but start small and work your way up to larger projects.   

Creating an Online Time Capsule

When a major milestone occurs either in day to day life or according to the calendar, creating a time capsule is a good way to remember the event. How many traditional time capsules were buried in the year 2000? Or when a town celebrates 100 years of existence-or more? What about high school graduating classes that bury their memories for future generations to unearth.  Today there's no need to bury physical objects when online photo galleries can be created to do the same thing.

Instead of relying on physical objects photographs of important items need to be gathered. This can be done through a web search or by actually photographing the desired objects. Include a good variety of items. What was popular in music? Clothing? What did your city look like? What were people doing for work and for fun? What were some favorite foods? You may want to include recipes too. Think of what people 50 years ago would have eaten, chances are it has changed today. People in the future may want to try making your favorite foods! Don't forget to include highlights of items in the news both Iocal, national, and international.

You don't have to stop at images.  You can also include video. Maybe a short tour of the  local schools, parks, or hot spots would be interesting. Interview some prominent people in your community as well as the everyday “man on the street” to get their perspective. Have questions prepared ahead of time so that you are able to of get an interesting sample of similar questions. You're only limited by your imagination! When everything has been collected assemble it in your web photo album.  Leave directions with your local library or somewhere that it will be remembered and checked on regularly. Over the years updates may need to be made to save the information.

Create a Grab and Go Emergency Pack

What do you do as soon as an emergency strikes? What if you only had a few minutes to get the most important things to you and leave the house? Most of us wouldn’t know where to start and would be grabbing at straws. Instead create a pack that is stocked and ready to go in case of an emergency or sudden evacuation happens. You can even prepare your documents ahead of time by creating dedicated online photo galleries where your important documents and photographs are scanned and saved. Here are some tips for things to remember when planning your own family's emergency packs.

Each member of your household should have his/her own pack with essentials, plus any specific items they need.  If you have children, prepare the essentials for their packs first and then talk with them to discuss any special items they would also like to include – items like a stuffed animal for comfort can be just as important as emergency survival gear.

Purchase or find a durable backpack for each survival pack. If you have small children you won’t want to over pack their bags. They won’t be able to carry as much weight as an adult. You may have to walk a distance, so it's important to plan for this comfort. Backpacks with lots of pockets are very handy to separate and store specific items.

Some of the items you should make sure to include are;

Water - FEMA recommends that each person have 1 gallon of drinking water per day. It’s important to be sure everyone stays properly hydrated. You may struggle to find clean drinking water. One gallon of water is 128 ounces, which is about 6 to 8 store-bought bottles depending on the size of the bottles. You can purchase portable small filters and water cleaning tablets which will take up less space.

Food - Pack nonperishable airtight packaged food. Things like granola, trail mix, snack and protein bars, beef jerky, nuts, dried fruit, or individually canned meat along with a manual can opener are good ideas. Plan enough to last several days.

Clothes – You’ll want to have a few options including plenty of clean socks, underwear, thin layers of shirts, a windproof and/or waterproof jacket, and a hat.  In a disaster situation you may have to walk for long distances, so, if your budget allows, pack an extra pair of good walking shoes.

Shelter - If you have a small pop up tent, this is the best solution. Include one small roll of plastic sheeting in each person's pack to form a waterproof layer on the ground for sitting and sleeping just in case you need to sleep outdoors.

What else should you pack? 

Besides water, food, and shelter, there are essentials that everyone should have access to when an emergency situation occurs. You’ll want to have a notebook with a list of all of your important passwords to things like your web photo album. If you’ve scanned your important documents you’ll need access to them.

Copies of identification, or any other important papers you may need, in a Ziploc plastic bag or waterproof containers can be very important. Write out and laminate one card for each person with important information.

Pack each bag carefully and mark with each person’s names. Regularly evaluate and update your packs. In the event of an emergency evacuation, each person can easily see which pack is theirs and will be able to grab it. You may never need to put these packs to the test, but isn't it better to know that they are ready if you do?

Budget Dorm Decorating

Heading to college this year? It’s an unwritten rule that dorm rooms are boring. Typically the 12 x 12 boxes are plain with bad lighting and if you’re lucky you have a bed and a desk – oh and maybe a closet too. But think of it is a blank canvas to add your own touch to. Start by creating a web photo album now with ideas of styles you like. You can pull up the images while you’re shopping to get inspiration and find the right pieces for your room.

You won’t be able to paint your walls, but you can add reusable decals, posters, or other wall art. Add the items that speak to you – but don’t forget you may need to check with your room mate before you go overboard. If you want to make an investment your bed may be the place to do it. Dorm beds are not known for being comfortable. Buy some bedding that you love, throw pillows, and maybe an accent rug to dress things up.

Ask if you’re allowed to loft your bed. Make sure to include images in your online photo galleries that show rooms in this style. You’ll get a lot more room by raising your beds. Don’t forget storage is at a premium so buying organizers or a dresser is something to consider.

Floor lamps and mirrors are a few other pieces that can really make your dorm feel homier. Don’t forget to bring items which remind you of your family or life at home. Pictures and plants are a few things that may help you with homesickness but also make your dorm feel more like a home than a hotel room. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to achieve these things. Watch sales during the summer and hit up thrift sales to find great deals.

Creating Books Using Your Images

Have loads of pictures taking up your online photo galleries? Why not turn them into a book? There are many services that will help you turn your digital pictures into a printable photo album but what I’m talking about is a little different. There are many ways to take web photo album to physical book. Here are some great ways.

Alphabet Board Book

If you have a little one you can create a unique board book that will not only help them learn their alphabet but also recognizing family members or other objects. Purchase a board book, they’re often sold at craft stores or can be purchased online. Then scale and print the images you’ll be using. Use craft seal to adhere them to each page. You can either hand write or print each alphabet letter onto the picture. Try to have them correlate to something in the picture. Let the book dry and you have a unique and wonderful book!

Picture Book

Have you looked at the cost of picture books lately? A hardcover book can easily cost $20+.  Instead why not make your own? Take a series of images, maybe it was your last trip to the zoo or vacation. Sequence them together and add text onto the pictures just as you would find in a picture book. Print and have it bound or do it yourself. Your child will have a truly unique book. If your children have names that aren’t often found in books this can be a great way to give them a story that has a character with the same name!

There are lots of other ways to turn your images into books. In fact you may be able to sell your creations to publishers or others looking for something similar! A great money making opportunity to consider. 

Think Beyond Food and Water When Planning Your Emergency Kit

The first thing we often think of when it comes to preparing for an emergency is evacuating our homes without the usual comforts and where we’ll be able to find food and water. However, there are times when an emergency situation lasts longer than a day or two. In those cases other skills and needs emerge.  When you’re preparing for an emergency keep these things in mind.

Along with food and water, shelter is a basic need that should be put at the top of your list. It’s hard to know what kind of shelter you’ll need as you can’t be sure what the emergency is. Being prepared with a variety of materials and supplies that work in different situations is the way to go. Some things that may be helpful include; tarps, rope, nails, hammer, and a handsaw. If you have the means purchase a pop up tent or two for your family. Don’t forget you’ll also want documents related to your home.

Keep a hard copy in a waterproof folder or bag. You also can scan your home owner’s policy, rental documents, and anything else relating to your home to a web photo album. This will live online and be accessible wherever you end up.

Tools make life easier and when a disaster happens knowing you have these already on hand will make everything easier. Make sure to have plenty of things that will let you move debris and cut through materials that may have fallen on your home. Consider looking into purchasing lightweight, multi-use tools that can easily be taken in the case of an emergency evacuation.

Unless you’re facing a very short term evacuation or emergency you won’t be able to carry enough water with you. This is where a filtration system comes in handy. You don’t need a top of the line system but you will need something. A large pot can be your best friend by allowing you to boil water you’re able to acquire.

People often forget the little things that make day to day easier and more comfortable. While priority should be given to the items needed to survive having personal care products will make life in an emergency situation easier. Put together a kit with things such as toilet paper, soap, toothbrushes, lotion, shampoo, a hairbrush, feminine care products, sunscreen, and a basic first aid kit. Even though they seem like basic everyday items it’s very easy to overlook adding them to a survival kit.

When thinking of personal effects saving your family photographs and important documents can be overlooked. Take the time to save everything to a web photo album before disaster strikes. While it may be sad to lose the original copies of heirloom photographs you can rest at ease knowing the photos aren’t lost forever and you can have new copies printed. The same is true for things like diplomas, certificates, and other paper artifacts that can easily be ruined in an emergency. 

8 Ways for Parents to Use Online Photo Galleries

While most people think that photo albums are just a place to dump and drop all of the images saved on your camera it can be so much more! If you’re a parent (and even if you’re not) here are some other ways online photo galleries can be maximized to make the most of them.

Keep Kids Artwork

You know how your kids’ folder comes home at the end of the week crammed full with art projects, drawings, and other accomplishments. You probably wonder what you’ll do with all of those papers. It seems wrong to just throw them away but…. Now you don’t have to! Scan or photograph your favorites and upload them to an album. Title and date it so that you can remember how old your child was. You can even add other information so that when you recall it years down the road you’ll remember the story behind the project.

Keep Track of School Pictures

Every year children have their portraits taken at school. These are great gifts to hand out to grandparents, aunts and uncles. Make sure you also scan one and add it to your web photo album. Keep one album that’s just for school pictures and by the time your child graduates you’ll have every picture there at the click of a mouse.

Birthday Albums

When birthday time rolls around, don’t miss a moment. Capture the party, events during the day, and other details that make that birthday special. You might include a photo interview series with your child on their favorite things- don’t forget to include pictures of them!

Vacation Memories

Vacations often yield hundreds of pictures and left on their own they simply take up space. But if you create an album dedicated to each vacation and make sure the right images go where they belong you’ll have a nice reminder of the time you spent.

Identity 

There’s nothing more frightening than the thought of a child going missing. To be prepared have photo galleries for each child featuring a recent image (that you regularly update), scans of their finger prints, and pictures of any identifying marks they have on their body (within reason). If something ever were to happen you have the information ready immediately and can provide it to the proper authorities.

Share Special Events with those Far Away

So many families are spread all around the world so rarely is it that everyone can get together for special events. Instead build a web photo album for your special event and share it with everyone! Encourage other family members to do the same things so you can enjoy their events too.

Learning Activity for Kids

There are hundreds of ways kids can use photo galleries to learn. Whether it’s creating their own stories, researching a project, or learning to read the options are endless.

Creating Holiday and Birthday Lists

Do grandparents always struggle to find the things that your child wants for the upcoming holiday? Even if they’re given a list chances are they won’t know what half the things on the list are. Have your child find pictures of the things they would like and create a visual wish list to make shopping easier for everyone. 

Great Image Editors to Help You Enhance Your Online Photo Galleries

Few of us possess the natural talent to consistently take amazing photographs. Even the best professional photographer’s user editing programs to make their images even better. There are many different programs for all levels of comfort with digital editing and what you want to accomplish. Take your online photo galleries from good to great by using one of these programs.

PicMonkey

This is a free service available online. You’ll be able to upload only a single image at a time and it has basic services like resizing, recoloring, and retouching. You can overlay text onto the images, include frames, and “stickers” to make your pictures enhanced even more. Even those brand new to image editing will be able to easily use the program. It also offers a royale option for a small fee of $4.99 a month for even more editing tools and options.

Canva

Many people who want to do more than simply edit their images but add an additional dimension to them such as posting the image and text online, or creating a brochure or other type image enhanced item like canva.  This program is also free but there are some paid templates and options included. The program still has a few bugs but is a good option.

Adobe Photoshop

This program is not online, making it a good choice for people who want to edit photos without needing to be online. The downside is that it does have a fairly steep learning curve and a high price tag. While some people find it easy to use and quickly learn how to make it work best for them, others struggle with the terminology and plethora of options. If you simply want to do basic photo editing this program is probably overkill – not to mention you’ll have to purchase the program, it’s not free. However, if you want to do a lot of retouching or are interested in learning how to retouch photographs this might be an option worth considering.

GIMP

GIMP is a free, open source photo editing program that is similar to Photoshop. You download this program directly to your computer and do not need to be online to use it. Just like Photoshop there are a lot of options with this program and it has a steep learning curve. The plus side is the program is free so if you don’t like it, you aren’t out any money. If you want the options of Photoshop but aren’t ready to make the big purchase give GIMP a try.

Apple Aperture

If you’re a Mac fan then Apple’s editing software should be of interest to you. This program integrates into the Apple suite easily and costs much less than Photoshop. The plus sides of this program is the quick loading and editing times, and that it efficiently organizing your images until you are ready to upload them to your online photo galleries.

Whichever program you select, spending a little time touching up your pictures for your web photo album will be worth it in the long run. 

Teaching Children to Read with Photo Galleries

No that’s not an oxymoron, you really can teach your children to read by using photo galleries. It’s not a secret that we are visual creatures. Images are the first “reading” children are exposed to. They learn to identify facial expressions as a means of communication. They learn that when they see their bed it’s time for sleep. They also use word association with objects. When they hear the word apple, the associate it with a red or green shiny fruit. So, it makes sense that when they begin to learn words, having strong visual cues will aid them in the process.

Picture books are a seminal childhood experience. Children love to look at illustrations and discoverer the story or create their own. But you don’t need to invest buckets of money in purchasing a library of books. Instead why not create your own picture books. Gather several different images that all work together to build a story. Create a web photo album and place them in order. You can access the album on a tablet and share the story with your emerging reader. You may want to start by creating your own story that goes with the pictures. This way children will begin associating the words that you are using with the pictures they are seeing. As they grow or become interested they can create their own stories or edit your versions.

Flashcards, love them or hate them, are a valuable tool for many children. Attaching a word to an image lets children see the picture and the word that matches that image. You may want to highlight sight words that you are targeting or larger words that children may not be familiar with. The repetitive process of seeing an image and associating it with the written version of the word is powerful.

You could create a photo album that focuses on a word or several words. Then help your child search for images that they thing describe or aid that word. While really small children may struggle with this, older children may enjoy the challenge more. If you’re teaching a second language to an older child this could be a great way for them to stretch their learning muscles with a fun activity. They can create their own picture stories based on the words and pictures they have collected.

If your child has a learning disability imagery may have an even greater importance. Not only can you use web photo albums to teach reading but to get across ideas and points on other subjects as well. Describing a historical event may leave them in the dark, however if you can present photo galleries of images of the event, coupled with an audio description or hands on project, the lesson will likely sink in much easier.

All children learn in different ways, and finding what works best for your child can be a struggle. Web photo albums provide endless opportunities for teacher and student-driven learning and should be an integral part of any curriculum or learning setting. 

3 Ways Online Photo Galleries Help Keep Your Information Safe

You can’t turn on the news today without hearing about the latest online security breach, and it’s true there are many every single day. But, that doesn’t mean the internet is the new wild, wild west. Technology has made it easier than ever to secure information especially when it relates to providing a safe place to back up important documents and photos. Here are 3 ways online photo galleries can help you keep your information safe.

1. Photographs. People today rarely print images, but they do have thousands if not millions of images saved on digital devices. But, what happens if the thumb drive is lost, or the hard drive becomes corrupted? Sadly, this happens every day. Instead, upload your images to an online album. No matter where you are, you can pull up and have access to your images. 
2. Important Documents. Not all documents belong online, but items like copies of diplomas, transcripts, etc can easily be storied in an online photo gallery. When you’re applying for a new job or need to provide a copy of these documents you’ll know where to look! 
3. Natural Disasters. What happens when a tornado rips through town or your basement is flooded by an encroaching river? All of the paper photographs and documents you had been saving are blown away or destroyed. But, if you had backed them up with an online web photo album you would have a way to recover them. 

Everyone should continue to take precautions and spend time researching the right company to host their galleries. Be sure to find out what their privacy policy is and how often their servers are backed up. If you feel uncomfortable with their answers, then keep looking. Your information is important and any company you work with should feel a responsibility to keep this information protected as well. 

History of Photo Albums

Did your grandparents have dozens of photo albums lining their shelves? Or perhaps your mom took scrapbooking your family memories to an extreme? For as long as photographs have been in existence people have looked for ways to hold onto these cherished memories. Today there are more options than ever including online web photo galleries. But how did this idea of creating an album or photo gallery come to be?

Estimates are that the photo album as a concept came about around 1850, making the idea over 150 years old. At one time they served as a historical document – and to some degree they maintain this function today. The first albums were highly treasured, and expensive, artifacts to record family history, often including a genealogy tree in the front and/or back that was updated as new members came into the family or were deceased. It could take decades to fill a single album. Very early albums had highly ornate covers and as the times changed so did the image styles and materials.

As the cost of cameras, film, and developing tools became less expensive more images were produced with a wider range of subjects. At one time images were reserved for the very wealthy, but by the first few decades of the 20th century more middle class people were able to have pictures taken of themselves or their children. While certainly images were not created as they are today, it would have been more common to have a family photograph taken, or to have several pictures of children taken as they grew up. Major life events like weddings, births or christenings, or graduations were the most documented.

Another popular style of photo album in the early years was a combination of photographs, sketches and other clippings, arranged in a much more creative way – and very similar to our idea of a scrapbook today. The mid -20th century brought about the advent of the snapshot, and amateur photographers who wanted to document daily life. With more pictures, meant the need for more places to store them and the advent of multiple albums documenting specific events like family trips began.

It’s safe to say that in the last 20 years photography has transformed dramatically. Few people today rely on actual film instead opting for digital images. We possess the ability to take thousands of pictures in only a few hours on countless devices. The creation of digital photo galleries and web photo albums means we’re able to catalogue and chronicle our lives more than ever before. But, what about those who still long for an album they can hold? One option is a digital web photo album that can be displayed on a tablet or phone. Another option is to create a digital album and then have the book printed. This offers the best of both worlds!

We’ve come a long way with photographic technology and there’s sure to be even more innovation in the years to come. 

Memories-The Fabric of Our Lives

We all have memories that we treasure, all the moments of life are spliced together.
That is what we keep, what we share in those photo albums we hold so dear.
Even the memory photo albums of our past hold those magical childhood memories.

For example moment shared when sitting with mother or grandmother, watching how she lovingly pasted each picture in place. Suddenly a comment or a tale flowed from the tip of her tongue caressing each child like the soft feel of a warm fleece blanket. These are the childhood memories we keep and cherish for all time, long past the day when she remains.

But are they forgotten? Now that we have digital images, cameras, computers and tablets, we snap more photos than we ever did before. We hurry to capture the moment, just as we hurry to be entertained, to enjoy the kids, to do so many things...because there is no time.

What Happens to Those Beautiful Images - The Memories We Cherish So Much?

More often than not, those pictures remain in the virtual world… buried and crammed together in virtual memory space. Never to be seen or remembered again. Often we forget to look again…to see those moments so precious…the ones we were wanting to recollect.

With photographs, we framed them and showcased them all over our living spaces. We walked into a room and smiled at the memories the images brought. But where are they now? Those images no longer don our coffee tables, bookshelves and walls; they all seem to be in the old 'hard drive,' that mess of jumbled files, pictures and outdated software.

Some people create beautiful memory albums. But not all of us have the time to do that. We often can’t even get down to the pharmacy to get those pictures printed out.

There isn’t a mom or dad out there who doesn’t want to see their kids’ photos. Every school video presentation shows parents with teary eyed memories. You want to preserve those pictures. You don’t want them lost on an old computer or hard drive that can’t be accessed any longer. Unfortunately, for many of us that is exactly what happens to those old pictures. They get lost on those old computers or on disk we can never find.

The solution lies in Web Photo Albums. These are photo albums like those you buy in the store, but they are stored on the Internet You can access a web album from any computer or any location at any time. So 30 years from now, when you are in your 60s you can still project that cool web album you made in your 20s onto your television or in some cases even have it as your screen saver.

So web photo albums don’t sound very imaginative, crafty or artistic. But that’s because you’ve never really seen one. These albums allow your artistic soul to shine, you can get as creative as you want with tons of background colors to choose from, and now some even allow you to make collages or add frames.

Making an online album is just as creative as making a scrap book, maybe even more so because you can add in high tech features, colors, and designs that are impossible in a traditional scrap book.

This is an age of innovation and change. Our kids live in a virtual reality. They are known as digital natives. So it just seems logical to convert the more conventional photo album into an amazing virtual memory book, one that can be projected to any screen, computer, tablet or phone and shared across many social channels with those you love. These are memories you can share at a moment’s notice or display through innovative digital frames. Don’t let those memories get away. Share them with people in your present and future. They will never come again.

The Benefits of Online Photo Galleries

Have you ever considered using online photo galleries? Some people are reluctant to use them because of privacy concerns. However, the risks are usually minimal if you do not label the photos with your name and most galleries have privacy settings to control who sees your photos. Further, the benefits of using these online photo galleries can outweigh the privacy concerns.

One major benefit of using online photo galleries is the ability to share your photos with friends and family easily. Sharing paper photos costs both time and money. You have to get them printed, you have to buy envelopes and stamps, and then you have to mail them out to anyone you want to share them with. With online galleries, you can share them without any hassle. In fact, many of these galleries are free to use. You can upload them to the gallery and save both the time and money it takes to send them through the postal service.

The other major benefit of these photo galleries is you can back up your photos off-site. This means that you will always have a copy of your photos stored at a location separate from your house or computer. That way, if your computer happens to crash or your basement or store room floods, you have not lost all of the photos of your precious memories. All you have to do is find them online and print them out again.

Since most online photo galleries have privacy settings and are password-protected, you can control who gets to see your photos. Further, most of these sites lets you label or "tag" the photos with whatever words you wish. Therefore, if you do not wish for a photo with your or your kids' names all over the internet, all you have to do is change the privacy settings on your account and label the photos with a different tag. So, the next time you want to share your photos with friends and family, consider sharing them on a photo gallery website or app.