How to Organize and Manage Pictures: Part 2
Culling
Let’s get to work! In Part 1, we discussed some common issues with managing your photos. Now, we’re diving into the first actionable step: culling. This is the process of selecting the best photos and deleting the ones that don’t make the cut. It sounds simple, but it’s not always easy.
If you're like me, you’ve probably overshot a bunch of photos during a family vacation, or snapped multiple pictures of the same thing because your child is so cute. But let’s be honest—do you need all 25 of those similar photos? Probably not. Culling helps you reduce the clutter and only keep the best ones that you’ll actually enjoy later.
I remember mentoring a photographer and showing her how I cull images. I selected the best ones and immediately deleted the rest. At first, she was panicked, but I assured her that it was the only way to keep things manageable. With digital storage and time management, keeping everything just doesn’t work.
The Story of Over-Shooting
When we were younger, we had limited rolls of film, so we had to make every shot count. Now, with digital cameras and smartphones, it’s easy to shoot hundreds of pictures. But this actually creates more chaos, not memories.
I realized this when I went through my old photo prints—there were so many redundant shots of race cars and butterflies, photos that didn’t hold any emotional value. I began to cull them, and it was a freeing experience. Let go of the clutter, and you’ll be left with only the truly meaningful photos.
How to Cull Photos
The next time you’re on your phone or looking at photos from a trip, take 10 minutes to sit down and look at them. Don’t rush—take your time to go through each image and be critical. Keep only the ones that hold the most significance, the ones that you can imagine in a frame or album.
For example, if you’ve got 20 photos from a weekend trip to the beach, pick the one that best captures the feeling of the moment. Don’t get caught up in the same photo over and over again. Once you’ve selected the winners, delete the rest. This step will make managing your collection much easier.
Tip #2 - Take Fewer Photos
Here’s the second tip: take fewer photos. This is hard in today’s world where we can easily shoot hundreds of images, but you’ll thank yourself later. I recommend limiting yourself to just a few pictures in a specific moment. Put your phone or camera away and enjoy the experience instead of worrying about capturing every single second. When you come back, cull the photos and enjoy the ones that matter most.
Getting Started
Start with the photos you have right now—don’t go back through old SD cards just yet. Focus on what’s current and work your way through the images you’ve already captured. Compare them, swipe left, swipe right, and delete anything that’s redundant or unnecessary.
In the next post, we’ll talk about organizing and editing your digital collection. Let’s get to work on this and make your photo collection more enjoyable to manage and share!