Recently, my uncle tragically passed away from pancreatic cancer. To commemorate his life, I helped prepare a slideshow for his memorial service.

It was a labor of love, and I'1000 forever grateful for the experience of putting it together. Going through all of the old photos and deciding how to tell his story gave me the chance to revisit his life. Only it too immune me to connect with the people who shared their photos of him, people who had wonderful stories and memories.

I'k sharing my process here to help anyone who wants to honor their own loved ones get a sense of how to get started. While putting the memorial slideshow together, I was able to relive parts of Uncle Rich'southward life, and I found myself hoping that information technology might help the people who watched it relive his life, too. Because that is what memorial services are for: a final visit earlier saying goodbye. A celebration of life. For me, the process was a mixture of tears, laughter, and photos.

Step 1: Get together photos

I started by collecting photos from my uncle'southward friends and family. I'd recommend creating a Dropbox account if y'all don't already accept one. A shared Dropbox binder is the easiest way for people to add photos. Y'all can easily share the folder via electronic mail with friends, family unit, coworkers, and whoever else you think might contribute photos for the occasion. It's simple to fix and keeps everything in 1 place; nosotros were able to collect nearly 1,000 pictures this way.

Step 2: Find the best photos

I used Mylio to sort through the 1,000 pictures. This was piece of cake considering with Mylio, I could encounter the contents of the Dropbox and know right away when new images were added. I could and then rate images insert using stars to denote which images would make the concluding cutting. (Learn more than about photo rating and sorting strategies.)

I did a first pass for the slideshow, rating photos I like best as iv stars. On my 2d pass, I reviewed all those images and upgraded the best to five stars. That got me down to most 100 photos.

Here are my tips for making the final cut:

• Look for photos that tell the all-time stories. Often, these turn out to be photos of people in groups. Moments in which people were interacting with each other felt like they had so much more than life than those where my uncle was by himself.

• Choose photos that capture honest emotion. Chances are, you lot'll have quite a few pictures where people are continuing together posing for the camera with plastered grins. These pictures can be nice, but the photos where people authentically engaging with each other and truly joyful were more powerful. Never underestimate the affect of a genuine smile.

Footstep iii: Categorize the photos

I continued to utilize Mylio for organizing, or moving selected pictures into folders I labeled past theme: family, travel, solo, and more.

Step 4: Think about the arc of the life story

At this point, you could simply assemble pictures in random or chronological order. But if you're putting together a memorial slideshow, I'd encourage you to think of it as a story with a beginning, center, and an terminate. It's worth taking a few moments to consider what story you'd most like to tell.

If you lot're creating a slideshow for a wedding, you'd probably tell the story of how the two people came into each other'due south lives. Only if you're prepping for a memorial service, you lot'll want to tell the story of who this person was and how they lived. And perchance tell about the other lives they touched. For my uncle's story, the photos I collected seemed to break naturally into three chapters. The first was the story of him growing up in Billings, Montana. The second was the love he had for his family unit. And the 3rd was all of the things he enjoyed doing — adventures, travel, and motorcycles. With these categories to guide me, I had a clear plan for putting the photos in gild.

Footstep five: Select music for your slideshow

With the photos selected and a plan for the story yous'd similar the photos to tell, it's time to consider the music that will help express that story. The music is your opportunity to prepare the emotional tone for the slideshow. The vocal or songs you choose should exist meaningful and intentional.

For my uncle Rich's service, we asked my aunt LouAnn (his married woman) what music was meaningful to him. She recalled that he'd often tell his kids he was "Proud to be Your Onetime Homo." This Merle Haggard song perfectly captured how proud he felt nearly his family unit and seemed like a natural complement to the photos. Yous may think y'all should cull a solemn song for a memorial slideshow, simply in fact, the attendees are there to celebrate the life of the departed person. I'd recommend choosing the song as if you were choosing the person'due south theme music. Information technology doesn't have to exist somber.

Step half-dozen: Finalize the slideshow

You'll probably want to have the photos and music play as a video. To put all of the pieces together — the photos, the music, etc. — I recommend using iMovie past Apple. One reason: The Ken Burns Effect. This is an iMovie setting that will automatically apply a zoom in or out to your images. This saves a lot of fourth dimension and adds life to static images. Plus, it'south easy to share a link to the video with anyone who wasn't able to make the memorial service.

And that's information technology. I hope that this is helpful for anyone trying to fix a memorial slideshow. Remember to keep information technology short and sweetness — mine ended up being around 2:thirty minutes. It'southward better to go out those in omnipresence wanting more than take them looking at their sentry. I concluded my slideshow with a fadeout slide of Uncle Rich and Aunt LouAnn above the words "In loving memory".

To try Mylio yourself, download the app now.