Saving families, one print at a time.
So, my Aunt Bette has been scanning and archiving family
photos for a few years now, and every once in a while, I will receive through
snail mail or sometimes email, an awesome photo from years past. Some images I
remember, and some are from well before I was born. I can’t say how much I
appreciate this small kindness, and I have a nice album at home of all these
photos so one day, when he asks, my son will be able to see some of our family
history. I find myself looking forward to any mail from Aunt Bette.
As a photographer, my goal is to make prints of the images I
create so that clients will cherish and hang them in their homes for years, not
furnish them with a digital file that will sit on a hard drive that may
eventually fail or more likely, become obsolete.
I get calls all the time from people who erased a drive,
dropped their phone, or just can’t find the pictures on their own computer. If
there was a print of that oh-so important image on their iPhone, it might not
hurt so much to lose that file…..
Yes, I know, photographers are expensive and the prints from
a session can be costly. But, can I put a price on the family photo from the
1800s where my ancestors are posed in a field like this? No. I can’t. Crazy, right? Would anyone take
an image like this today? I’m thinking no. This photo was PRINTED so many years ago,
found so many years later, emailed to me by Aunt Bette, and then reprinted by
me! What are the odds that an image on a hard drive will be found in 100 years?
Not too promising I think.
So everyone, we as photographers are trying to preserve
family memories one print at a time. Even if you don’t hire a photographer,
take your camera, your iPhone, or your Android phone to one of the few camera
shops left and get the most important pictures printed.
Better yet, make the investment; commission a professional photographer
to make a family portrait for you at least once before the kids go to college. Print
the pictures for your wall, a small frame on the piano, or on the shelf, you
won’t regret it, I promise! You might even want to come back for more!
