You’ve invested in professional photography and you’re the proud owner of a gallery full of beautiful images. What do you do with them now?

If you’re like most of us busy adults, and I know you likely are, you either don’t have the time or energy to think about what to do with your images and they’ll probably live on your computer or phone for way too long, only to be shared on social media. Your investment, memories, and heart deserve more than that.

Your images deserve to live a life that brings joy to everyone who sees them. That’s just one reason why you should should print your images. Here are others:

Current digital formats will become obsolete

I might be dating myself but who here remembers Betamax? VHS? How about computers with CD-drives? These are just a few different formats that have lived and died in the last 30 years.

I recently went through my childhood bedroom and found a box full of old photos I had printed. Had that box been full of photo cds, I would have never been able to time travel through 10+ years of memories looking through my photos because I don’t have a computer with a darn cd-drive.

All of that to say it’s not a matter of “if” but rather a matter of “when” our current digital formats will become obsolete.

If your images are only on your computer, a DVD, a USB drive, or some other digital format we have yet to create, there will be a time when you won’t be able to access them. Physical prints will always have a much longer life than digital images.

Seeing and holding your images strengthens your emotional connection to them

I’m not sure of the psychology behind it, but I know I have a much stronger, emotional connection to printed images that I can hold in my hands than digital ones I look at on the computer.

When I page through an album, even if it’s of people I don’t know, I have a deeper connection with what I’m seeing. And in my own life, when I walk through my home and come across a framed print of my husband, puppy, family, or whomever, I feel a stronger connection to the people (or animals) in those prints.

I’ve even heard that seeing physical prints from your wedding and of your growing family can strengthen your marriage. I totally believe that! Seeing our wedding photos every night before I go to bed reminds me of the vows my husband and I took and how much we love each other.

They are heirlooms for future generations

I wrote about this in an earlier blog post about the power of photo albums but when you print your images – whether it’s a framed print, canvas, or in an album – you’re creating a family heirloom. As a grandchild who has lost a grandparent recently, these kinds of heirlooms are PRICELESS!

My parents can look and hold the images my grandparents left behind, sit with me, and tell me stories of family members who are now gone. I’ve always been someone who feels a strong emotional connection to my family and my ancestry and I think a great part of that is due to the fact that I’ve grown up with photos and stories of the people who made my life possible.

It may seem like a trivial decision to print one of your images from your most recent family photo session, but in 20 years, that decision could impact your child or grandchild in ways you couldn’t possibly imagine! That’s pretty powerful!!

BONUS: Where you print images matters!

I hate to say it but where you print your images matters. Like, a lot. Non-professional labs like Target, Costco, and yes even Shutterfly can’t guarantee the color of their prints. Some come out over-saturated while others are under-saturated. To guarantee your images print correctly (i.e. how your photographer intended them to look and what you paid all of that money on) you HAVE to print your images through a professional lab!

Investing in professional photography and then printing at Shutterfly is essentially the equivalent of buying an expensive piece of prime rib and deep frying it. You simply wouldn’t do that! (Sorry to my vegetarian friends…I love a good steak).

Professional labs only work with professional photographers. So unless you’re a professional, you’ll have to order prints through your photographer. If your photographer doesn’t offer prints or print products, if you’ve been given personal printing rights, you can find another photographer with whom you can place an order (*cough* me *cough*).

And I get it, trying to save a few bucks on prints is tempting. But at the end of the day, would you rather have cheap prints that may or may not look right and probably won’t last generations OR would you rather have professional-quality, true to color images that are guaranteed for life and can truly become an heirloom for future generations?

I hope you said the latter.

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Want me to photograph your wedding?

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