Printing Photographs: Why it’s important

Printing Photographs: Why it’s Important

This past Thanksgiving I was at my Mom’s house and one afternoon she brought over a big box and, handing it to me, said, “You need to look through these and see if you want to keep them.” It was a good reminder of why I will keep printing photographs. I recognized the box, a place where I stored hundreds of pictures that I had developed. There were so many, in part, because they were taken with a film camera. I had never gone through and tossed the blurry or poorly exposed ones. So I sat at the dining room table and started sorting through. One pile for throw away, one for keepers, and one for all of the negatives in little plastic holders. As I neared the bottom of the box though, I found something that shocked me…a floppy diskette.

Wall art lasts! What would I have to go through to get information off this disk?

This little yellow square disk stared back at me seemingly saying, “Oh yeah, what are you gonna do about me?” It had been some time since I had seen one of these now obsolete little things. The label on the front told me that the disk held some documents (nothing I would ever need) but it really struck me at that moment, “What if I had photos saved on here? How would I ever get them off of it?”

Digital files are not archival, our prints are

This story illustrates one of the two points I always try to explain to my clients during their consultation. We talk about how they would like to display the photos we will make at their session. Not knowing what their options are, they usually ask for digital files. This is when I shock them. Yes, I am happy to include a digital files of your purchased prints. But is that really what you want? Digital files are not archival. “What does that mean?” is always the next question. Printing photographs on archival materials, such as the prints and albums we offer here at Babies and Beauties Photography, will last 100 years or more. Digital files are corruptible. Have you ever known someone whose hard drive on their computer died and they lost all of their information? Or a USB drive that, for some inexplicable reason, the computer won’t read anymore. This is what I mean when I say that digital files are not archival. That’s when they usually begin to understand the difference. Of course, you can (and should) back up your digital files in multiple locations to try and keep this from happening. External hard drives and cloud storage are both excellent and fairly inexpensive options but they are not absolute. We can always make a new digital copy from a print but you cannot make a new print from a corrupted file.

Beautiful Acrylic Prints are a sleek, modern way to display your art.

Our work doesn’t end with your session. Let us hang your wall art for you.

The second point I always make is this: will you make the time for printing photographs and products yourself? Will that USB or DVD of your memories go untouched in a kitchen drawer for the next 5 years or longer? Our lives are so busy these days that things like this can often be put on the back burner, or even forgotten completely. We always have the best of intentions but it can be overwhelming figuring out how to display your portraits and where to have them printed. You could spend hours just researching consumer labs and all of the myriad products they offer. So instead, the USB stays in that drawer.

So here at Babies and Beauties we solve both of those problems for you. We have a curated list of products available to fit any style and home décor and our home product delivery and installation makes having your beautiful photos all over your home and office an easy option. We are with you every step of the way! From your pre-session consultation (to discuss what you are looking for) to your session and all the way through ordering, delivery and installation of your wall art.  This way, your photos are printed and hung and nothing is stuck on the USB or even the ‘honey do’ list. Visit our website for a complete overview of our Portrait Making Process and fill out our contact form to get started today!

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