Two strategies for getting your photos ready for a life story video slideshow

​I think I drove my son-in-law's mom a little crazy when I was making the slide show for our children's wedding reception. I asked her for scanned photos of her son but I had no idea how many that I needed. I know at one point I sent her an email telling her that I had about 280 photos of my daughter. I didn't hear it audibly but I'm sure there was a "Yikes!" from her end. You don't need hundreds of photos to make a video slide show to tell a life story but how do you take a lifetime of photos and get them ready to use? My two strategies for approaching this depend upon how much time you have.

Make a digital archive of all your photos
If you have several months before the event for which you need the slide show, you might want to spend some time to digitize all of your family photos. As you are scanning, sort the photos into folders by decade or era. To keep your family's photo history ultra safe, back these up with an online storage service. You can then share your online folder with your family members or copy to discs to distribute.

Scan 90 - 120 photos that tell the life story
If you only have a month or so before your event, or if you only want to scan enough photos for your show, focus on telling the story. I usually recommend three chapters of 30 - 40 photos each for a video slide show that is 10 - 14 minutes long. As you go through your albums, use post it notes to mark the pages that have a possible photo. If your pictures are loose, set them out on a table. Eliminate very poor quality pictures unless they are somehow unique. As you choose photos, focus on the person who is the subject of the show and not on showing him or her with all of his family members and friends. 

Learn How to Become a Family Storyteller