KIDS

Photo Flurry

What on Earth to do with all your pics STORY: Karina Antenucci

Kate Byars, founder of Lo & Behold, helps families create custom, framed wall galleries from their thousands of digital photos.

We love to capture every moment on our smartphones. But then what? The purpose of picture taking is to preserve memories, especially when the images are of your children. Yet so often our photos go into the digital universe, never to be seen again. If you’re looking for clever ways to organize and actually use your photos,

Kate Byars, founder of concierge framing and family photography service Lo & Behold on the westside, has creative and practical advice.

Storage Solutions

“Use the most automatic thing you can find,” says Byars. Both Google Photos and Apple iCloud can be connected to your devices to upload and store your photos in real time and organize them by date. From there, you can also create and share albums for specific life events or to use for a printed photo book.

Organization Trick

No matter which one you choose, Byars recommends favoriting your photos by clicking on the heart icon in the moment or going through them once a week to do the same. “When you start a print project, it’s so much easier to go back to favorites. We all shoot five times as many photos as we actually need to get the best shot. Heart one thing per moment, and when you go back through, you’ll save time by knowing that’s the one you like the most.”

Digital Viewing

Put that smart TV to good use as a digital photo album, suggests Byars. Connect your favorites folder to your television and use the slideshow as the go-to screensaver.

Album Routine

“We enjoy our photos much more and much more frequently when they are in some sort of tangible format,” says Byars, who advises creating an annual printed photo album. “Give yourself a week or more to get it done so the process isn’t stressful. That’s why favorites are important!”

Time Capsule Framers

Instead of adding to a plethora of framed photos or buying new frames each year to feature your family and kids as they grow up, Byars says to reuse the frames. “Put in the most recent photos but keep the others in the frame. If you do this for several years, you end up with a little time capsule.”

Gallery Wall

“The reason I created my business is because I heard from moms over and over that they wanted the family gallery but just could not approach the project. It seemed too daunting,” says Byars, who offers a comprehensive service to create the custom, framed wall galleries of your dreams for around $2,500$6,000, which can include everything from going through your 20K disorganized photo file to selecting images to installation.

Not in the budget? She offers this DIY sequence: Measure your space; buy the frames; hang the empty frames each with two nails spaced apart by a couple inches; stick bumpers on the bottom of the frame that grip the wall. Next, allow the empty frames to stare at you from the wall. Then, sit down in front of the wall with your laptop or phone, pick the images and sizes and send them to print. When the prints come in, pop them in the frames. “Break it down into manageable steps that can be done over several Saturdays,” she says.

Special Gifts

Use your now-organized photos as holiday gifts, such as ornaments. “It’s a little capture of that child or family in time that can be brought out once a year.” Grandparents in particular also love a beautifully framed 8-by-10-inch photo. “They want a forest of those on their piano,” Byars says. n

LO & BEHOLD • 678.820.0404 loandbeholdhome.com • @loandbehold.atl

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What does True G.R.I.T. look like? You might be surprised. By Tara Mays, The nsoro Educational Foundation

In 2005, my husband, Darrell Mays, founded a non-profit organization after watching a documentary on a plane.

The documentary, “Aging Out”, taught him about the stark realities that youth experience as they age out of the U.S. foster care system and head out into adulthood without a plan, a support system, income, or even a home. That movie ignited the philanthropic passion of our family and of the now more than 600 youth who have been lifted up by The nsoro Educational Foundation.

The odds for TAY (Transition-Aged Youth) are bleak: • 20% become homeless at the age of 18. • Only 55% earn a high school diploma. • 51% of TAY women are pregnant by the age of 19. • 70% of foster youth require government assistance by the age of 22. • 50% are unemployed by the age of 24.

nsoro Foundation has changed this for hundreds of youth. By providing college gap funding for youth and wrap-around services, our Scholars achieve an amazing 81% college graduation rate (vs. 4% without our help). We match Scholars with a certified executive coach who teaches one-onone about Emotional Intelligence, Financial Literacy, and Workforce Readiness skills. Our volunteer mentors, led by the LINKS of Azalea City and other metro Atlanta volunteers, provide guidance and a listening ear, even beyond graduation.

Serving as the head of our scholarship selection committee has changed me. The challenges, chaos, and family loss our applicants have suffered are overwhelming, but I am constantly impressed by their G.R.I.T. (Greatness Rising in Time) in the face of these obstacles. There is a part of aging out of foster care that most of us do not see and will never understand.

Education is the great equalizer and with the right tools and focus, nsoro Scholars can do anything! I’ve found that changing the minds of young adults who thought “they couldn’t” is powerful and rewarding.

But the reward isn’t for us, it’s for our young adults. We are just the vessels.

As we move into the fall, we need new mentors to match with our 121 current Scholars. Mentors meet with them once a month via phone, Zoom, or in person. All it takes to be a great mentor is the ability to listen, guide, and support. nsoro staff provide short training on trauma-informed mentorship and support our volunteer mentors every step of the way.

nsoro means everything to our family, and I see that same passion in the board, volunteers, staff, and donors we are lucky to have joined us in this mission. We invite you to consider volunteering for our scholarship selection committee or being a mentor. G.R.I.T. is contagious!

Could you be a mentor? Contact us by October 31 at monica@nsoro.foundation or by calling 404.524.0807.