Print Photography For a Lifetime

Two weeks ago I attended a portrait photography seminar hosted by Gold Coast Professional Photographer's Association.  The speaker, Tim Meyer, started out the day discussing a disturbing trend in the photography business.  The discussion wasn't about trendy photo editing that wont last the test of time or hobby photographers pretending to have the skills of a professional; it was about the importance of having artistic, professional photographic prints to display in your home or place in an album to be cherished for years to come.

Think back to your childhood home.  It's likely that somewhere in that house the walls were decorated with personal photos of loved ones.  My wife's childhood home in Lompoc is wall to wall with family portraits, baby photos, elementary school photos, high school photos, and wedding photos.  My father in law was in the Marine Corps and there's even a photo of him, nearly 30 years ago, in his dress uniform.  Those photographs are some of the most cherished items in their house.  Thanks to those photographs, Ashley can look back on her father when he was only 17, serving his country.  She wasn't there the day her parents were married but she can look through the photos and experience it as if she was.  In a couple of years our little girl will look through those photos and experience grandma and grandpa's wedding too.

We live in the era of digital photography.  Where are your photographs?  They're probably on your computer's hard drive, Facebook, or a CD-ROM.  None of those are good answers.  

• Computer hard drives fail constantly.  I've lost two hard drives in the last 5 years and I'm extremely glad my wedding photos weren't on them.  
• Your great grand children won't have a Facebook.  I doubt your grand children will, and even if they did, you will probably have forgotten your password.  Websites come and go.  Don't depend on them to keep your cherished memories.
• CD-ROMs are the best of the above options...for the short term.  Why do I say that?  If you're 30 years old or greater, you probably remember the 5.5 inch floppy disks.  If you don't remember them, you're helping to prove my point.  Digital media changes frequently and there's no guarantee that you'll be able to read that format in the future.

Photography that you can't access is useless.  For your sake, I implore you to demand more than just some files on a CD.  Invest in print photography so your memories can be shared with the future generations of your family.  Those photographs are just as important to them as they are to you.

Here's a photograph of my great grandparents on my dad's side.  Both of them died before I could get to know them.  This photograph is my only connection to them.  Everything I know about them, I know from this picture.

Check back next week for part 2: the difference between consumer photos and professional print photography.