How to weed your mobile photographs
Admit it, your phone is bursting with photographs. Someone asks you what you have seen on your travels or you suddenly think of that sunshine moment on holiday and you start to scroll through your photos.
And you scroll, and scroll and scroll until it becomes embarrassing and the conversation moves on.
How about we make life easier and get rid of the junk? Not just once, but every day, week or month depending on your camera habit. This is how to weed your mobile photographs with ease
Photos that you don’t need to keep on your phone
Let’s start easy with the things that can go!
Getting Started With Deleting Photographs
I know, it’s scary. What if I delete that photo now and in a few months I want it? Think rationally, will you even remember you took it in a few months’ time and if you did will you be able to find it amongst the piles of other pictures in your photo gallery? We take far too many pictures because we can. However, because we can take them doesn’t mean we have to keep them all.
By getting rid of the duff photos we get to keep the special ones that mean something and rather than being embarrassed scrolling through thousands, hoping no one sees the mindless meme you sent to your friend when drunk, you can go straight to the moment you are trying to describe.
If you work through this list on a regular basis you will find that it becomes an easy habit to maintain, your phone storage is not pushed to its limit with you frantically deleting images to take the perfect sunset moment (which will have gone by the time you have freed up space) and you can go straight to your favourite photograph and enjoy reliving the moment.
Work quickly without emotion, the photograph either means something and needs to be kept or isn’t right and can go. It isn’t that difficult once you get into the right mindset and have a small number to do on a regular basis.
If you are an Apple user this process can be simplified. In your photos app clicking on the albums tab will bring up all your photos collected into types.
This means you can delete screenshots or bursts without having to scroll through everything else. This doesn’t mean you can ignore your main camera roll, but getting these gone quickly makes the rest easier to work through.
Selfies
Selfies are a modern thing. Instagram and Snapchat have changed how we view ourselves and in pursuit of the perfect angle, we take lots of pictures. However, once you have the perfect shot to share do you really need to keep all the rest? Selfies can quickly dominate your camera roll if they are your thing so be ruthless. Keep your favourite and bin the rest. If you needed to take another one then it clearly wasn’t right in the moment.
Screenshots
We all do it. Screenshot something to send on or save. I know I screenshot online confirmations and reservation numbers in case the email doesn’t arrive or the funny comment a relative made on Facebook to send to my mum. These are needed initially but once forwarded or confirmed they aren’t needed and can be deleted. Apple allows you to automatically delete a screenshot once it has been sent to someone which makes life a lot easier. If you do need to keep it consider using an app like Evernote that will keep it safe and organised.
Near Duplicates
Near duplicates come from a number of sources and are probably the biggest source of unneeded photos in your camera roll. These can be selfies, bursts and live photos or just from taking lots of photos and angles to be sure. It is tempting to take lots of photographs to be sure you have the expression right on someone’s face and that is fine. But, how many times do you go back into your camera roll later and choose the one that you love to keep and delete all the rest? If you give your phone to someone else to take a group shot with the landscape behind you or a waiter in a restaurant to capture the perfect evening out go back afterwards and delete their outtakes. We always take too many for someone else, it’s only natural. A couple of shots getting used to the phone and then a couple more while you get these strangers to look at you and then just a couple for luck and before you know it there are another 20 shots on your camera roll.
Bursts and Live Photos
Bursts and live photos take up loads of room on your phone. A burst mode when you keep your finger down on the home button or slide as you take the shot can add 15 photos in a couple of seconds to your storage. Live photos take short 3-second videos which again soon add up in your storage. Make sure you delete burst modes and as with the duplicates just keep your favourite and turn live photos off unless you are using it for the effects it gives. I like to use it for slow-motion water but always turn it off once I am done.
Rubbish Photos
Moving blurry photographs, a child that doesn’t stand still, a cat that has other ideas or a photobomb that really isn’t funny. Why are you keeping them on your camera roll using up valuable space? Just delete it. There is never going to be a way to make it better. The indoor shot where the flash didn’t want to play is never going to have enough light to make it worth keeping. Just delete these, don’t even think about it!
Unintentional Photos and Videos
The pocket shot can go! The video of the ground as you walk along can go. The photograph of your knees on the beach can go. Just delete them all now.
Memes
Oh, how I love a good meme! And my friends love them too. We send a fair few to each other and these can soon mount up. The usual technique is to download from the source to your phone and then share in your favourite way. However, much like a screenshot do you really need to keep that funny meme? Once the moment has gone, delete it and move on!
Recipes
That yummy biscuit you had at a friend’s house that you really were going to make has sat on your phone since you photographed the recipe from their expensive cookbook. However, six months later it is still unmade. Are you really going to make it or was it just a fantasy life moment (you know, like the ice cream maker purchase?)? If you still want to make it, save it to a recipe folder on your main computer, iCloud Google Drive or into Evernote. If not, delete away. You can always go back and find it again.
Letters from School and Kids Stuff
Being a mum to two teenagers, my mind is pretty full. Letters come home from school which I photograph for reference so they don’t get lost, I photograph their really good pieces of work (or not so good), artworks and screenshots of text messages. I then have the thousands of face shots where they got hold of my phone while I was missing for a nano-second and pulled every face possible on burst mode. As with everything else delete the outdated information (easy if you review weekly or monthly) and save anything special to your main storage whether that is Google Drive, iCloud, Evernote or your computer hard drive.
Reminders
Yes, I have photographs of car park signs. Was it A13 or B2 where I left the car? What time is the train home? These are short-term photographs. Delete as soon as you can so they don’t linger!
Information
These are the quick shots to send to someone or to save for later. I snap the front cover of books that I like when I am out to find out more about the author. I photograph statements when the bank needs a copy of a form. I have photographs of my insurance documents and passport when I am travelling just in case a disaster strikes. Once you have transferred the information or found out the information required these should be deleted especially where sensitive personal details are included.
Your lunch
What is it with photographing your lunch? I just want to eat mine and unless you are a professional food photographer or blogger it is never going to look as good as it tastes. Some food is a work of art and deserves a photograph and other times it is so hideous a photo is the only way forward. But, at the end of the day will a photograph of your dinner be important in 10 years’ time? If the answer is no then share the photograph and then delete it!
Landscapes and Buildings
Like the selfie, do you really need 20 photographs from every angle of Land’s End? Is the castle wall really that interesting? If there is no person in the photograph the add to the memory and you are not a photographer employed by the owners then there is no need to keep 20 shots of a building. Pick your favourite one or two and delete the rest.
Flowers and Creatures
I am totally guilty of this one! My phone is pretty full of flowers, bugs, butterflies and any other living thing that catches my eye. As with other things, do I really need 20 shots of this flower? One, maybe if it is really special but beyond that the rest can go. Believe me in 10 years’ time that forget-me-not flower really isn’t going to matter in the grand scheme of things unless it is an award-winning shot. Delete everything except for the best or your favourite.
Other Ways to Stop Photos Building Up
Photos can be saved automatically to your camera roll by some apps. The biggest culprits are WhatsApp and Instagram. Make sure that the automatic download option isn’t checked. You can still download things that you want to keep, but you choose what you save to your camera roll. The images are saved in your app and are safe so why do you need to clog up your memory with these pictures?
Some photos can be kept but don’t need to be on your camera roll. Save these to your computer hard drive, a memory stick (but make sure you have a backup somewhere else as sticks corrupt or can be lost) or a cloud storage such as Google Drive or iCloud. This way you still have them but they aren’t on your phone.
Taking a mindful approach to photography is also a good way to be. Think about what you want to take and why you are taking it before snapping away. How about, for a change, enjoying the moment and taking maybe just one photograph to keep the memory alive…
Backup
Now, I know I am like a stuck record on this, but backing up is essential. Once you have lost your phone and none of your photographs were backed up you will soon start to back up on a regular basis. I use both Google Photos and iCloud to save my photographs safely. With a little bit of setup, this can happen automatically and you don’t really need to think about it.
If you are travelling or have bad internet access, still sort and week and make sure you back up as soon as you have enough data to get the job completed. This is one thing you need to stay on top of if you are travelling for an extended period of time.
Want to learn more about photography? Read more on my photography page.