The Executor Advisor   ~ Logistical tips for settling your parents' estate

Photographs.  My father was the photographer in our family. He had a camera at every family event.  First it was a Brownie and then a Polaroid and eventually a Nikon with a zoom lens.  He wasn’t focused on composition or artful photographs, he was chronicling the events. When he died, he left behind over 15 albums of Polaroids and 85 sleeves of 100 color slides each dating back to 1957. These photos and slides take up a lot of room and are currently occupying a closet in my house.

This is in stark contrast to the over 8000 digital photos I have of our daughter which are all housed on my computer and various back-up cd’s and portable disc drives, none of which would fill a bread box. I have long imagined that I would some day digitize my father’s photos.  However, that would be a long and tedious process.  There are services now that will do the scanning for you, but you still have to organize your photographs and it is quite costly if you have a huge volume of photos.

We do look at the pictures and thoroughly enjoy doing so.  We recognize virtually everyone since they all family members and close friends.  My father was meticulous about labeling the Polaroids so in the event we don’t know, we can look on the back and find out.

Tips: If you are taking the slides, don’t forget to take the slide projector.  Store the photos in a cool, dry place to minimize further degradation. Enjoy the photos.

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