Organizing photos from the past 13 years for your child’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah montage may feel like a daunting task. Where do you even start? How do you decide between thousands of photos and videos?
We went to an expert and got some advice. Images4ever is a full-service video montage company, but more than that, they are storytellers. They have this organizing thing down pat, and thankfully they’ve put together a comprehensive list of instructions and categories for you to follow.
So, here goes…
HOW TO ORGANIZE PHOTOS FOR A BAR OR BAT MITZVAH MONTAGE
There are two options on how to organize photos for your child’s video montage:
1. By Category
2. By Chronological Story
Most people choose the “Category” option. By dividing your pictures into 6 categories, it is easy to make a great photo montage. There is no exact number of pictures for each section. The focus should be on the end number. Images4ever believes 100-125 is the right amount of pictures. The goal is to make a montage that is about 9-11 minutes long.
Watch Charlie’s Bat Mitzvah Montage here
Here are the six categories they recommend:
CATEGORY 1: PICTURES OF BAR BAT MITZVAH CHILD
Baby pictures and pictures of your child at different ages. By going through the years, you can show how much your child has grown. You can include pictures from a pre-Mitzvah shoot. You do not need to show pictures from every year of your child’s life.
CATEGORY 2: PICTURES OF BAR BAT MITZVAH CHILD WITH MOM AND DAD
Images4ever recommends pictures of mom and dad with the child together, in addition to mom and dad alone with the child. You’ll want to avoid a larger number of photos with one parent or the other.
CATEGORY 3: IMMEDIATE FAMILY PICTURES
These pictures should be of brothers and sisters with Mitzvah child and family pictures. Mom and Dad should be in these pictures too. Pictures from special family memories like trips or special events work really well.
CATEGORY 4: EXTENDED FAMILY PICTURES
This category includes pictures of the child with their cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and close family friends (those friends your kids call “aunt, uncle, and cousin”). Try not to leave anyone important out. Be mindful of feelings when choosing pictures and try to include an even amount of each family member.
CATEGORY 5: SCHOOL FRIENDS PICTURES:
School friends pictures can be throughout the years or just current friends, whichever is more appropriate for your child.
CATEGORY 6: CAMP FRIENDS OR SPORTS/ACTIVITY/HOBBY PICTURES
From camp, you probably have tons of pictures as most camps take pictures throughout the summer. If your child doesn’t go to camp, include pictures of the child playing sports, musical instruments or other hobbies.
Watch Ben’s Bar Mitzvah Montage here
Dividing your pictures into these categories should make your life a lot easier and hopefully save you some time.
To learn more about Images4ever, please visit their extended profile page in our Vendor Directory.
