It seems hard to believe, but graduation season is just around the corner... and what better gift to give your graduate than a customized photo product that tells their story, either of their college years, of all their school years, or of their entire life.

Slideshows are a great way to share all their childhood memories at their graduation party. Maybe even throw in a few embarrassing ones to entertain the crowd! I know I have a few photos of my children in mind, already tucked away for that future opportunity... like the ones of my 1-year-old son wearing his older sister's tutus and tiaras. Enjoy these tips from Fotobridge on how to digitize your photos to get them ready.

Another great gift that shows how much you care is a digital photo book that tells their life story. There are so many great photo book providers, including Artifact Uprising, My Publisher, Shutterfly, Picaboo, and Blurb, to name a few. This gift can ground them as they make their way in the world and can remind them of where they came from and of how many people love them.

And don't forget that, fingers crossed, they'll be moving in to their first home (and not back in to yours!) so they'll need some decorations. Canvas wall art depicting close friends or their travel adventures is another great gift idea. Artsy Couture's Couture Canvases are the BEST in the business and were previously available only to professional photographers. I'm thrilled to share that as a member of APPO, I can now provide these products to YOU using your OWN photos!

These days there are so many products to put photos on; the list is endless: Smartphone covers, iPad cases, jewelry, blankets, mugs, magnets, calendars, tote bags, coasters, etc. Do yourself a favor and end the quest for the perfect graduation gift by taking a retrospective look at your family's photo collection and designing a unique and truly priceless gift for your graduate. And, as always, if you like these ideas but have no clue where to start, I'm here to help!

Not all of them of course, but a good many. A few months ago, I shared on Facebook that I came back from our 10-day Christmas trip to Ireland with over 1,000 photos. And once again, I came back from a holiday weekend with 500+ photos on my camera. In just three days, I took 500 DSLR photos and another 100 or so on my iPhone, plus videos. Do you think I NEED 600+ photos to document my 3-day Easter weekend? NOT.A.CHANCE. I have two gorgeous and photogenic children, but I don’t need every single picture I’ve ever taken of them. All I’ll do is clog up the memory on my computer and overwhelm myself the next time I go to make a photo book or slideshow.

Here’s the thing, keep the meaningful photos, maybe even a few of the blurry ones if they help tell your story. But don’t keep 15 pictures of the same scene, when you were just trying to get the right angle or the best expressions. And don’t just keep the best ones, either. I have a series of pictures of my daughter from Christmas and there’s not a smile to be found, but I managed to capture the most hilarious set of facial expressions and I know she’ll enjoy seeing them as she grows older.

It may be too much to ask, but try to downsize your photos by a half. Or at least by a quarter. You won’t regret it and neither will your computer.

Get in the habit of following these three simple steps after each photo-taking event:

1. UPLOAD your photos to your computer. (Don’t just keep them on the memory card and buy a new one.)
2. Review each and every picture and mark down the obvious deletes.
3. Delete the photos on that list. (You can DO it!!!)

If you're feeling particularly daring, you can repeat steps 2 & 3 a few times to pare down your photos even more.

I promise if you can get in this habit each and every time you return home, you will find that your digital photo collection is much more manageable and you aren’t wasting valuable storage space on photos you’ll most likely never use.

If the thought of deleting your photos has you paralyzed with fear, contact me any time.  I'm here to support you!

This post has joined the Blog Hop at A Dish of Daily Life.