One of my favourite things to do as a child was to go through my parents banana box full of photographs, all printed at Boots and in those brightly coloured folders with a space for your film negative at the end – if you’re from the UK you will understand this reference! It was pure magic for me, to be able to see all our family and friends captured forever, there whenever I wanted to have a look. I remember being taught to only hold the prints at the edges, if at all. The glossy 4×6 print would be ruined if I wasn’t careful. Still to this day, it is one of my favourite rainy day activities.

In this digital age, I can not think of anything more important than to create memories together, in the real world. Investing in albums and prints is almost as important as taking the photographs themselves. Let us not leave them on computers to be forgotten about, or left on a USB stick only to find it gathering dust five years later.

So, to answer the question ‘Should I print my photographs?’ the following points are my personal reasons:

1. To preserve my memories in physical form – I have enormous faith in my iCloud, hard drives and google drives and I have to remind myself to be careful and make sure my favourite personal photographs are in multiple places. This takes time, and effort, especially as photography is also my full-time job. One quick way to ease this worry is to create a photo album or print these photographs. It really is that simple. Check out my blog post on how to design a brilliant photo album here.
2. To remind me and my family of good times – We all have days when we’re feeling low, some more than others. On those types of days, I find it really therapeutic to open up my photo albums and be reminded of all the adventures I have been on so far. Sharing this moment with a friend, family member or partner brings me so much joy.
3. Conversation starters away from a digital screen – So often, the first thing someone picks up on our coffee table is our latest photo album. Most recently it was our ‘year in review’ album. This album had a lot of change and I had added comments under each photograph so my partner and I wouldn’t forget specific moments of this year. When we have friends and family come round for dinner or a drink, it is so much fun to go through our albums with them.
4. Personalised home decor – photo walls are a particular favourite of mine, they are your own completely unique art gallery, no one will have one like it. There is something so special about having a bespoke piece of art in your home. I always gift family and friends printed photographs, whether in album form or in a frame – these gifts are one of a kind and are treasured far longer than a bar of soap! I can’t wait to have my own house one day where I can hang photographs and fill the whole wall!
5. Your legacy – Photographs connect us to our past. They tell the stories of people who came before us and gave us the life we have today. Looking at pictures of my grandparents growing up, getting married and having children was such an important part of learning where I came from and why. Yes, the digital world has come on so much since I was a child, we can now share photographs quicker and easier than ever before – but do you want your loved ones going through an old mobile phone to find photographs of their adventures with you? or do you want them to have a physical print, album or frame with a beautiful picture of you and them, laughing and enjoying each others company. I will always choose the printing option.

When you book a photography session with me, this is my end goal – for those precious moments to be captured eternally and printed for your family and friends to see, in physical form. I hope that you and your loved ones can one day look through the photographs we took together and remember the time we went on an adventure to the beach or took Grandma out for ice cream. Mum wasn’t behind the camera and missing from the shot and Dad’s eyes weren’t shut, this is because you invested in my time.

Invest in your memories – you won’t regret it. Questions? Contact me