Google Photos
Why Google Photos?
Rising to the Challenge
Photography has evolved, and this introduces new challenges and opportunities. In this lesson, we'll learn:
How photography technology has changed the way we manage photos.
How Google Photos fits in to the larger process.
Why is this so hard?
In the good old days, managing your photos was pretty simple. You took some pictures, brought in your roll of film to the store, they printed them for you, and then you stuck them in a shoebox. With all this new-fangled technology, it should make our lives even simpler! Wrong.
Technology means new opportunities and new challenges! These challenges fall into three categories:
Tons of pictures! You can go wild taking as many pictures as you want, and it doesn't have to cost you a cent! Trillions of photos are added each year to the growing stockpile.
Everyone's taking them! It used to be that one or two people in your circle would be the "official" picture taker. Now, everyone is snapping away, even if they have yet to learn how to take a good picture! Not only do you need to organize and keep track of your collection, but good luck trying to get some of the shots other people took.
They're stored everywhere! What happens when you combine lots of people taking pictures—on cameras, smartphones, tablets, etc.—with lots of storage options? Chaos and disorganization. Often duplicate, triplicate copies spread out between various computers, CDs, USB drives, photo albums and, of course, the trusty shoebox. It's a recipe for frustration in trying to find anything combined with growing anxiety about losing something important.
Why bother?
Everyone enjoys viewing good photos and especially revisiting precious memories. But, the challenges with modern photo management can make this a frustrating goal. Thankfully, technology can also help us become:
Better Photographers. Smartphones and camera technology are constantly improving, making huge strides in helping us take good pictures. Add a wealth of online learning resources, and you'll soon bring your photography skills to a new level!
Photo Library Managers. Few people enjoy organizing and working with an extensive photo collection. Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence and image recognition, computers can now do much of the heavy lifting. Now we can switch our efforts from managing our photos to enjoying them.
Creative Producers. Want to make a slideshow, movie or photobook? It's never been easier to liberate those beautiful images and memories into a creative work of art that everyone can enjoy and appreciate!
Google Photos can be a helpful addition to achieving your photography goals. It remedies some key photo and video management challenges and provides access to powerful abilities to enjoy your collection.
Modern Photo Management
To better understand how Google Photos can help you, let's step back and look at the overall photo management process. We can break the process down into three general sections:
Capture. The first step in the photography process is acquiring good pictures and videos. These may be pictures you take, old photographs you scan, or something someone else shared with you. Learning some tips on taking better photos is a great place to start.
Curate. Once you accumulate some great content, the real challenges begin. You'll need to learn how to add content, filter out the trash, and keep track of everything. Plus, you must preserve your collection to preserve all your efforts when you lose your smartphone or your computer crashes!
Create. A well-organized collection frees you to easily use your best photos for further projects. Whether it's a photobook, wall hanging or slideshow, soon, others will appreciate your efforts in new ways.
Google Photos has powerful features that help you find and organize photos in a centralized collection, with powerful editing, sharing and creative opportunities.
