Sharing Family Photos in Genealogy

You will work with many family photos in your genealogy research and eventually want to share them, perhaps at a family reunion. It used to be that if you wanted to share family photos you had to make extra prints to give out. Today, you can share your family history photos the old-fashioned way, or you can share digital prints in many different ways. If you have a computer and a digital camera, you can share your family photos with anyone else you know that also has a computer without spending a dime on processing costs. You can even share your photos via your cell phone if it works with photos. Though not all phones can do this, most of the newer model phones can handle not only photos, but videos as well.
The problem I have had with sharing family photos is that some of my family is not online. Though most of my relatives used to have a computer, some no longer do. Many have had computers that died long ago, and they have yet to replace them. Others have computers but no internet access. I can however, share my family photos with my parents, my sisters, my brother, and several other family members via the Internet. This makes sharing photos so much easier; it also saves me a lot of money. Though my digital camera was expensive, in the end I save money by not having to make so many prints. For old family photos I have scanned I can email them instead of printing them out.
When sharing family photos online, there are a few things you should remember. When you post pictures of your children on the Internet, you cannot control who sees them, not unless it is a controlled account which you can choose access. If you e-mail them to your family they are likely to remain private. However, if you put them in a public website anyone with access to a computer may view your family photos. Though not everyone is concerned with privacy, many people are. Consider the subject matter and content of your family photos before you post them where anyone can see them. As well you may want to consider posting family photos on the internet but not labeling them. This will keep the subjects names from being seen at least.
There is an even better way to share old or new family photos with those who may not have access to a computer and/or the internet. You don’t have to make prints, but you may have to spend a little money. You can put your old family photos and new ones on CD’s and pass them out at your genealogy reunions. CD’s are only about 50 cents apiece when bought in bulk. Just recently, I saw a new product in the store that I thought was pretty amazing. It was one of those things that made me think I wish I had thought of it first. What I found was a digital photo album that not only stores family photos, but can store videos as well. All you have to do is upload your photos into the frame, and you can give it to anyone you wish. Simply follow the instructions that come with the product and you will have a unique genealogy gift.