No one told me, but I’m here for you, so you don’t learn the dark secret of the digital photo frame the hard way.
My son was looking for a Christmas present for his mother a few weeks ago and also looking for suggestions to accomplish the task. He came to the old man looking for a tip. I said, “Why don’t you get her a digital photo frame, they’ve come down in price, and mom’s always asking where the vacation pictures are.”
He liked the idea so we began the research phase. Like any good shopper we referred to the leading consumer magazine as they say in the advertisements. Well sure enough there they were, right in the most recent edition. Piece of cake. Read all about them and useful features to look out for. So my son heads out to Best Buy to take care of his end of the deal.
Now my dear departed mom always said, “Its not a present until its installed.” Might be one of the few things my wife ever agreed with her on. Knowing this I figured we better load a few images on a disk so come Christmas morning we don’t hear the dreaded retort.
Of course digital cameras weren’t on the market before my son graduated high school, so any pictures of him, when he would be cute and cuddly are in print or negative form. So I wait for a time when my wife is away so I can get to the family archive.
I find a small box on top with prints used for my son’s high school open house and head for the scanner. Add a few more files from the digital era and I’m done. It was about then that it hit me. It’s her present, he bought it, but I’m doing all the work.
Well sure enough Christmas day rolls around and the frame is a hit. And for the record we did hear the “its not a present until its installed” line. Prepared like a boy scout I pull out the preloaded disk.
The frame is as easy to use as the magazine said and all is right in the world, at least for a few days. Well the starter disk was fine, but I’m reminded there are many more candidates in the big Rubbermaid containers that hold archive that will need added to the frame.
Now you know your in for trouble when the negatives from your then five year-olds big fish are in a box with a Jim Traficant for President press conference. This is the dark secret of the digital photo frame that the leading consumer magazine doesn’t warn you about. Before any photos get into the frame, you’ve got to find them.
Should I just scan prints of go for the negatives?
I don’t want to know how may hours I’ve already spent on this project. It’s been some time since I’ve looked at the old family photos and now it seems I’m spending as much time editing at home as I do at work.
This is the portfolio that really matters though. I purchased my first 35mm camera a few months before my son was born so I would could shoot, unbeknownst to me, my first long term project. At this point I didn’t even know what a picture story even was, I just wanted to take some nice pictures and my Kodak 110 Instamatic wasn’t cutting it. So it seems photo-wise things have come full circle.
I you haven’t already done so get yourself one of these gadgets. Don’t say I didn’t warn you though. You are now armed with the dark secret about the digital photo frame. Don’t let that stop you though.
After all pictures should be seen, not hidden in albums and boxes.