The Best Family Photo Sharing Option

"So, how are we Irish again?"

We all come to this moment in our family history and genealogy research, I think. For some, it comes sooner.

For me, it came later.

When I first started doing genealogy, my family just didn't want to know about our family's history. They thought it was cool that I liked it so much, but when I started to get into explaining all the ins and outs of finding information and all the stories {You know, all the important stuff.}, they'd tune me out.

Or yell out, "Look at that squirrel over there!"

Me being smart and all, I concluded that I needed to say less. Show less. And only answer questions when asked. And only the questions they asked. No more.

However, lately, I've been on the receiving end of out-of-the-blue family history texts from my siblings like, "So, how are we Irish again?" {Just after they've posted a picture on Facebook of their green beer on St. Patrick's Day.}

Or I'll get a call out-of-the-blue with a question like, "How are we German again? I've got this German group I'm joining and I don't have to prove I'm German to join it, but I'd like to be able to tell them, you know, something about how I'm German." {I wonder if German beer is involved in this group?}

Or this one {which blew me away} in a text conversation, I mentioned that I'm coming to San Antonio to do some research at the courthouse and the archives, and I was asked, "Is it for our family or a client? 'Cause, you know, it sounds cool and I'd like to go with you." {And I know green beer was not involved because it wasn't St. Patrick's Day.}

Or I get a LinkedIn private message from one of my siblings before 7am who has connected with someone on Linkedin who has the same {somewhat} unusual name as our Mom's maiden name and lives in Houston, and they ask me, "How are we related to this person?" {This happened just this morning. You know, out-of-the-blue. Like I'm the Family Historian On-Call or something. Which, now that I think about it, I guess I am.}

Or they just want to be able to see the family photos. They don't necessarily want a story. They just want to look. {Which is cool too because with some people, that's all it takes, baby. That's all it takes.}

So either they're getting older and just naturally becoming curious about our family history, or I've been especially good in the eyes of the genealogy gods and goddesses and they've decided to reward my good behavior. {Personally, I'm going with the latter because if they're getting older, it only stands to reason -- since I'm still breathing -- that I'd be getting older too. And? I'm not. Duh. I've been good. Dammit.}

So, I've been scanning a lot and organizing my scans. And I've been doing that for a while now thanks to my Scanning Support Group that meets {almost} every Sunday -- Sunday ScanDay. {And, wow, has that Facebook group helped a lot. Accountability works, folks. That and, you know, just doing it.}

And since my siblings have been hinting at seeing the family photos and since a picture is worth a thousand words and yada, yada, yada, I thought it was time to figure out the best way to share these family photos I have scanned, am scanning, and will scan. So, like any good researcher, I assessed the situation.

• My siblings want to see the family photos.
• I have the family photos.
• My siblings are connected {not mob-wise, but Internet-wise} and like tech gadgets.
• So am I and so do I. {We get this tech gadget obsession from our Dad.}
• They have Macs, Windows laptops, iPhones, and iPads.
• I have a Windows laptop, Samsung Note 2 Android smartphone, and an iPad.
• All of our kids are equipped with either iPhones or Android smartphones. {Obviously, we passed the tech gadget obsession gene down to our children.}

So I did some comparison shopping on photo sharing sites and decided on Flickr. And here's why:

• It's hard to beat 1TB of free storage.
• There is an iPhone app, an Android app, and web interface.
• If they can setup accounts on Facebook and LinkedIn, then they can setup an account on Flickr. {And who knows? Maybe they'll use it for their own family's photos.}
• I can make albums {called Sets on Flickr} private so I that only they and I can see them.
• Comments are allowed on each image. {So they can help identify the unidentified. Or I can make fun of my sibling's hair. Or clothes.}
• No one is bored with family tree info.
• I can place a link to the boring family tree info in the comments so if they're curious...{I'm sneaky like that. But I'm sure they'll just text me and ask. Green beer tends to make them text me more.}

Really? The only thing missing was a good native iPad Flickr app. And my siblings and I love our iPads. A lot. And while the iPhone app is usable on the iPad, it's, you know, small and not all that great. So? I researched further and found a 3rd party Flickr app for iOS devices with great reviews called, FlickStacker. It's definitely pretty and iPad-worthy.

So, now when I go to San Antonio, it'll be tech show-and-tell time. {I have visions of us sitting in the living room and them downloading these apps together.}

But the idea is to assess the situation and use the right tech tools to not only get the job done, but get it done well so that everyone can do what they want with the end result. And in this case that's looking at the family photos. {And if you have a similar situation to mine, then these are my recommendations. Totally borrow my ideas if you want.}

But? If you're like me and mowing the lawn, you totally don't like even doing that much. My Dad always told me to never learn how to mow the lawn and then you'll never have to do it. Which is kinda funny because he knew how to mow the lawn. My Mom knew how to mow the lawn. And they taught my older siblings how to mow the lawn. And? They'd all done it more than once. {Which is to say all the time.} Until we had a yard crew come in and do it all and do it rather affordably. So, my takeaway was this: Don't learn to do something you don't like when you can pay someone else to do it for you affordably. {Which is why I get my yard done for $20 every 2 weeks.} That's a no-brainer for me.}

And maybe you're like that too, but with scanning, photo organizing, and picking out the right tech tools that fit your situation. And that's where I can help. Contact me for a free consultation. We'll get a photo sharing system figured out that's right for you and your family. And if you don't want to set it up, I can do it for you at an affordable price.

~Caroline

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