Getting another shot: reuniting with your lost camera

Lose your flashlight, book, or toothbrush and it’s a cinch to pick up a replacement. But lose a camera and the details of your favorite travel memories are all but gone.

But cameras don’t just disappear completely, right? If they haven’t been stolen, they end up being found by someone. I now know where they go: Found Cameras and Orphan Pictures. Traveling Mamas tipped me off to the website that reunites recovered cameras and memory cards with their rightful owners.

It works this way: if you find a camera, you just send in a few photos to be posted on the website. If you’re the owner, you can check the website to see if you recognize the photos. If you do, you’d email the website’s founder to be connected with the Good Samaritan.

And they have success stories! About 100 sets of photos have been posted, and 10% of them have been claimed. The website is fairly new and still growing, but it has listed cameras found in most of the 50 states, plus 17 other countries. Check it out every Thursday, when new photos are posted.

Here’s a good idea for avoiding the hassle in the first place. Ask MetaFilter recently sung the praises of Found Cameras and Orphan Pictures, and someone responded with this idea for labeling a memory card:

“If I picked up a memory card, the first thing I’d do is pop it into my computer and look at the photos. Tonight, I’m going to go write my name and contact details on an index card and take a photo of it on every memory card I own. When I transfer photos off the card, I’m keeping that photo on.”