When’s the last time you printed a photo? 

If you’ve worked with me before, then your answer to this question is likely more recent than most. As a maternity, newborn, and family portrait photographer, I am very passionate about printing photos! Photos were meant to be seen, not cooped up on your computer. Which is why I run a full-service portrait photography business. When you work with me you will walk away with a tangible product that you can hold in your hands. Whether that is an album for your coffee table or framed portraits for your wall, or both! The choice is yours. 

I want to take the stress of the printing process out of your hands. I don’t want you to have any homework or “to-do’s” after your family photography session. Together we’ll bring your photographs to life in your home. And today, I’m sharing with you my top three reasons for why printing photos is so important. 

1. Printing Photos Brings Memories to Life. 

We live in the digital world where we scroll through photos on our phone, but rarely do anything with them. It’s really easy to even forget about many of the photos we’ve taken and they just end up taking up space on our devices (or in the cloud). And while it can be fun to go through them, we often scroll so fast that we don’t actually take the time to look and remember the specifics. 

Photography allows people to relive their happiest moments in life. This is often lost in the quick scroll of the digital world we live in.

Printing photos, brings them to life in a tangible way. Taking them off our computer screen gives us the ability to hold that physical image in the palm of our own two hands. Printing photos and displaying them in our home gives us the opportunity to view images that bring us joy every single day. Allowing us to relive those memories every time you look at them.

2. Technology is Ever-Changing. Printing Photos Creates Keepsakes for Generations.

Photographers used to deliver only printed photos. Then the switch to digital came. First as images on CDs, then USBs, and now online galleries. JPEG, the long time standard for  compressed images, is beginning to give way to the newer HEIF format. We have no idea if the jpeg images we are saving on our computers now will be usable in 10, 20, or 30 years. We know one thing is certain, our way of storing photographs will continue to change and evolve. 

Unlike digital images, we know an archival inkjet print can last for over 100 years when stored properly. I will always recommend having a  digital backup, but for your most important photographs a printed copy is priceless. 

There is no guarantee that our technology of tomorrow will be able to read the photos you take today, but printing your photos will mean that they last for generations. They’ll be handed down to your children, your grandchildren, and your great-grandchildren. Giving your family visual keepsakes of your family history. 

3. Family Photographs Boost your Child’s Sense of Belonging

Children get a sense of belonging and security when they see photographs of their family on the walls of their home.

There is a well-known study called Phototherapy in Mental Health by David A. Krauss and Jerry L. Fryrear. David Krauss, a licensed psychologist, says, “I think it’s really important to show a family as a family unit. It is so helpful for children to see themselves as a valued and important part of that family unit. A photographer’s job is to create and make the image look like a safe holding space for kids where they are safe and protected.”

I find that statement to be incredibly powerful. Everyone wants their children to feel secure in their family and home. This one small act of printing photos and displaying them in your home does wonders for a child’s security and sense of belonging. 

Photographs of our children and our families in our home communicates to them, You’re a part of this family. You’re important. You belong here. You are loved.’ 

Ready to Print Your Photographs?!

I make printing photos easy for you! Here are some examples of what a family wall collage would like like in your home. As well as some of the albums that I offer. Love what you see? Let’s chat about creating and documenting some memories for your family that you all can cherish for generations to come. 

P.S. Have your wedding photos on your computer but haven’t done anything with them yet? I also create heirloom albums for weddings and other special occasions – even if I wasn’t the one who photographed them.