My life changed forever in 2000. I can remember the excitement that hit me surrounding the birth of my daughter, Chloe. The significance of that event changed me as a person and motivated me to do things I wouldn’t normally do. I felt compelled to reach out and bring my family and friends closer, using the powerful medium of photos. When we gave our daughter her first birthday party, it was amazing to me how many of our friends referred to the stories, memories and photos that we had shared throughout the year. Grandparents, friends and colleagues had become more immersed in my daughter’s life and felt closer to us as a family. You too, can be a story teller.

• A body of work is built in pieces. Think about the small things you can do already. If you’ve ever kept a journal, you know that the daily entry by itself isn’t as impressive as when the entries for days, weeks, and months come together to tell the bigger story. Realize that documenting the events of your life and those around you will become a body of work. Take small steps first, get comfortable, and then take on larger projects like photo books.
• Create an online journal by writing a daily email … to yourself. Or share photos with yourself as you take them. Use these new habits to capture notes to yourself about recent memories and photos you’ve taken. You can use these emails as a reference later.
• Schedule a “meeting” … for yourself. Set aside a 30-minute slot at once a week. Give yourself some time to browse your photos and organize them as well as your thoughts.
• Organize and edit photos. When you upload your photos, do you look at them? Try to group them by category and edit them (crop, correct red eye, etc.) when you upload them, if you can. Add comments to the pictures as a reminder of how you were feeling that day. This will save you time later when you are creating a photo book. A weekly routine can generate a body of work before you know it. Ask yourself what you can do today as a natural part of your daily routine. Find a way to capture those efforts. Pretty soon you’ll have narrated a photo book before you know it, and then the fun part will be designing the pages and bringing the thoughts and pictures together!

Read an exerpt from Dane’s book, The Future of Memories.