The very first question most new clients ask me is, “How much for a disc of digital images?”

In our current day and age, most people have a digital camera and their computer is filled their memories in digital format. When I first started my business, I simply photographed a session, edited the images and handed them over on a disc. I had no idea what they would look like once my client printed them and can only imagine how many never came back to see me again because they were disappointed.

What other negatives might come from only getting digital images?

Once you receive your disc,  you have the overwhelming task of picking what sizes to print, where to print them and paying shipping. On top of that, you are playing the color lottery with whatever company you decide to print with.

Is a $50 canvas such a bargain if it looks nothing like the image you sent in to be printed? If it turns out green when it should be yellow?

When you purchase prints through me, those images are guaranteed.

I have a calibration tool that calibrates my screen and embeds a color code into the digital image that I upload to the print lab. This ensures that the print your receive is an exact match to what it should be. All color labs are NOT created equal, and big-box retailer labs are especially bad at color matching. Keep this in mind when thinking about where you will go for prints. Do you want to chance it or let me handle it for you and know that it’s being handled by a professional?

Helping my clients find the perfect prints to display in their homes is one of my very favorite parts of being a photographer. Recently, I had the pleasure of presenting this beautiful print order to a sweet family with newborn twins.

Now, not only will they have beautiful prints to remember the birth of their twins and the time their three year old became a big brother, but they also get to enjoy this heirloom-quality gallery on the wall of their home for many years to come.

I read a very interesting article recently about a speech given by Vint Cerf, one of the fathers of the internet, on the topic of how important it is to print out photos if we want them to survive. His point was that digital photos are, at their simplest form, bits of code that require software to be interpreted as an image. If we ever lose the methods to interpret them, we have lost the photographs forever. Considering that in the past, most of my clients end up purchasing a CD of images or another form of digital download, that really got me thinking –

• How many of your digital images ever see the light of day?
• Do you share them with family or visitors in your home?
• How many CDs or DVDs get lost, scratched beyond repair or simply fail over time?

Some of my most prized possessions are photographs of family members who have passed away. How will the next generation remember us? What are we handing down? Terabytes of digital images?

So, all those discs of digital images I delivered to clients in the past – where are they now? All of the digital downloads – what happened to them? It feels like a bit of a disservice to just hand over another pile of digibytes when you come to me to capture precious memories. After my first reveal and ordering session, I realized that I could never go back to the impersonal, disconnected delivery of an online image gallery. For the first time, I was able to see my clients’ emotional reaction to images they will treasure for years to come. In that moment, I realized that my philosophy had changed. I want you to print what you love and truly love what you print. All of this being said, I know that digital images are important and I do offer digital packages as well as a complimentary copy of the digital file you print when ordering a 16×20 or larger print.

Ten, twenty, fifty years from now, will you ever be sad to have these prints to look at and enjoy? Never! The only thing that can freeze time is a photograph. Let’s capture some amazing memories for you to enjoy for years to come.