WE CREATE toInspire

Need a giggle and a cautionary tale?

Scan the QR code to watch the demise of Allison’s SLR camera.

What is a photo worth?

I’ve now dunked two cameras in the water. The most recent was actually my cell phone, but let’s face it, our phones are our cameras nowadays. We take them everywhere with us and yes, I was floating on the river when it happened and yes, Figure 1 shows the final photo captured moments before the sordid ordeal. For giggles, I thought I’d also revisit the demise of my expensive SLR camera in the ocean a decade earlier. Consider it a bonus cautionary tale!

At least when I drowned my SLR, I was able to salvage the photos from the memory card, but after 3 weeks in rice, my cell phone was still dead. Allison, didn’t you have your photos backed up in the Cloud? Sigh. Nope. Sadly I had run out of storage a few months prior and kept ignoring the annoying warning message, thinking I would clear out some unwanted photos and be good again. I never did.

Allison, there are ways to recover your cell phone photos. Yes, yes, there are, but the quote for my phone was $800 and no promises. I stood there stunned as the tech continued to explain many techie things, and I began to wonder:

What is a photo worth? What photos are on my phone that I NEED and what can I live without? How much am I willing to pay to retrieve them? And I still have to buy a new phone!

I told the tech I needed time to decide. On the way home, I began to cry as I ruminated over all my lost photos… golfing with my 90 year old Dad, a trip to Denver, our summer camping vacation, Creative Scrapbooker Carnivals, and most importantly my epic mother/ daughter trip to New York. Ugh. That one hurt the most.

Once home and calmed down, it dawned on me that I frequently post on social media! After scouring Facebook and Instagram posts, I found photos online from most of the important memories and even a video reel of me golfing with my Dad.

Best of all, I had posted 23 pictures while in New York with my daughter that showcased the highlights of our trip (Figure 2 ). Thank you, Jesus!! Yes I had taken over 300, but maybe 23 are enough?!

If a photo is worth a thousand words, how many photos do I really need to trigger the memories, emotions, and stories?

Even one single photo carries immense power. Partner that with some journaling and we are able to reminisce for years to come!

Although I lost hundreds of photos over the 4 months, I decided I could live with what I was able to retrieve online (Figure 3 ) and instead put the $800 towards a new phone… a waterproof one with the best camera out there to capture even better photos over the next few years! Oh and the nominal fee to increase my storage is the best money spent to avoid this tragedy happening again.