If you love photography but feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of your images, you’re not alone.

Over the years, my photos have piled up into what feels like a towering photo mountain.

Now, I’m about to climb that mountain to select the very best — the gems worth printing, sharing, and preserving.

During the next 15 months (yes, that’s how long it’ll take with the amount of photos I have), I’ll be working through about two months’ worth of photos each week — sorting about 10 years of images to select only the best.

So this is not a day stroll (or scroll), but an ultra-marathon climb. Yet the goal is to keep this conquest simple, fun, and focused. I’ll be reporting on the trip through blog posts, newsletter updates, and Instagram.

Join me on this expedition — either with your own photos or by following along!

How to make it happen?

Find the system that works best for you — this is just mine as an example. I’ll be updating it as I go, if needed.

1. Define Your Mission and Prepare Your Setup

Set a clear intention

Pick only the absolute best photos. Don’t worry about creating a perfectly organised gallery — just choose your favourites and use them to print and share your stories.

Have your setup ready

Have a simple log to track progress. Use both cloud storage and an external hard drive to back up your selected photos.

Create clear categories for your best photos. For example:

1. Personal – private memories, just for you or your family
2. Sharing – photos to post on social media, newsletters, or with friends
3. Gallery – your strongest artistic work, selected for printing, framing, or selling

2. Do the Day’s Climb

Pick a focused batch (e.g. one month) and set a timer — 30 minutes is a good start.

Review the photos quickly. Flag your favorites, and delete only the clearly bad ones or duplicates. Skip videos for now to save time.

When time’s up, stop. Then

• Back up your selections,
• move them into the right category folders, and
• update your log.

Keep the Pile from Growing

While climbing your photo mountain, set a simple habit to quickly sort new photos regularly.

Make it enjoyable! Start treating this like a creative ritual, not a backlog chore. Create a nice, relaxed atmosphere. Maybe add some music?

“A journey of a million photos begins with a single glance.”

– Abroadland –

3. Savour the Milestones

From your flagged photos, pick the very best and interesting ones to share or print regularly. My plan is to share highlights every few weeks and print a selection each month.

Create slideshows, digital collages, or social posts, and reward yourself with small treats to celebrate each step forward.

Like campfire stories, take moments to reflect on the memories that surface. Write, blog, or share your thoughts with others — this journey is as much about remembering as organising.

After bigger milestones (such as finishing a season or a full trip) print your top photos as physical prints or photo books, and treat yourself to something special: a nice dinner, a day trip, or a break from photos.

Let the mountain rest and enjoy the view before climbing further.

4. At the Peak: Pause and Party!

Congrats on conquering such a massive photo mountain! It’s time to celebrate but also to pause.

Look back at the stories you’ve preserved and the memories and beauty you’ve brought to life.

For now, enjoy the view from the summit — you’ve earned it!

When you’re ready, consider inviting friends over to view your photo gems projected on a screen or hosting a pop-up gallery to showcase your work. And why not plan a trip to an inspiring place… to take more photos to sort out next time? 😉

Mt Photo Climber’s Code

Stay consistent — small steps add up.
Break your work into manageable chunks.
Celebrate milestones with prints, shares and breaks.
Missed a day? No worries, keep going.
Don’t seek perfection — just focus on picking some of your favourites.

“Enjoy the view as you travel through your life in photos.”

Join me on the photo climb

• Use #MtPhotoGems for your own favorite photos and tag @abroadland on IG if you wish me to share them on my Stories.
• Follow along on Abroadland’s Instagram Gallery
• Sign up for the Newsletter to get updates:

Let’s climb together…

Helena J. / Abroadland
📧✍️ hello@abroadland.com

© Illustrations and photo by Helena J. / Abroadland