Today I’m sharing with you why you don’t need more digital images in your life from a professional portrait standpoint, but why you do need printed heirlooms of your family images.

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, quality over quantity. A few years ago, I as a family photographer, found this to be so true with family pictures! Trust me when I say, you don’t need more digital photos, but you do need quality heirloom pieces to hold those photos. It is my passion to not just end your photographic expeirence with a gallery of images (although you will get that). I ensure you walk away with your images in your hands! Your images will be made into custom-made, professional heirlooms for you to enjoy immediately and every day in your home! Isn’t that why people usually get professional family pictures taken anyway – to have them framed and displayed throughout their home to see and enjoy?

I am breaking down some reasons as to why less is more when it comes to preserving your family legacy. This is not an exhausted list by any means. And some of these points may not apply to you. But I think they are still very much worth considering and speak to the majority of us. Let’s dive in below! 🙂

Digital image storage is often unorganized and complicated.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say they want more clutter in their life. Haha. Let alone have to pay for clutter (i.e.: the Cloud or other online storage.) We really do not want more clutter! It makes for a very chaotic lifestyle. Digital images accumliate too easily which can sadly turn into “digital clutter”. It is a convenience to be able to photograph images so easily in this digital age. We do not have to wait for film to be developed and printed for every single image we take. But the downfall of the digital age is we end up with more digital items than we know what to do with. If you were to look at my Camera Roll on my phone, there’s 1000s of images!!! As a professional photographer, I don’t want to add to digital clutter you may have. I truly believe that would be a disservice on my part.

Professional family portraits is both a legacy and art. Let me finish the art piece for you. Like I said, you will not receive just a digital gallery. You will receive your images organized via prints, an album, and/or custom framing! And you don’t have to do any of it!! I do all of the heavy lifting of designing & organzing for you. So even if you do lose the link to your gallery or forget where you saved the digitals, it’s OK! Because you already have them professionally printed and on display to view the way they were intended to be enjoyed.

Your children can’t access your images now and, most likely, not later on.

Growing up, my mom would take all the prints from the film images of family vacations, baseball games, etc… she had developed at the store and place all those prints in albums (the kind you slide 4×6’s into each pocket). These albums would be stored on a bookshelf in our family room. My brothers and I would often grab them and flip through them. If I’m being honest, I loved looking at pictures of our family and mostly me. 🙂 We wouldn’t have professional family portraits taken every year, but when we did, my mom was so good about having them framed and placed on the fireplace mantle and hung around the house. When my brothers and I became high school seniors, she also invested in professional albums and prints. To this day, those images still hang proudly in our home. I LOVE getting to see them (even if younger me is a little cringy, haha) because we’ve all grown so much since those image. And someday, my three year old daughter and 6 month old son will be old enough to see those images and say, “Hey, that’s mom when she was younger!!” (Also, shout out to my awesome mom!)

Have you ever considered this for your own children? How do your children view your family images right now? How do they view your wedding images? Little hands can’t access the Cloud, but they can access your bookshelf! Something else to consider, will your children be able to access their family images 10-15 years from now? Hard drives sadly go corrupt after so long. iPhones die out. Hire a photographer who will take your family images from digital to legacy! Give yourself and your children the gift of a legacy to pass down. I truly believe digital is not a legacy. And your children will thank you!

Good intentions aren’t enough when it comes to printing photos.

Momma, you do not need one more thing added to your to do list. In this stage of life, you should focus solely on your family every chance you get. Don’t add more to your plate. Do you have good intentions to? I have no doubt you do! But are good intentions always enough when preserving your memories and legacy? Not really. When it comes to organizing your images, designing an album, sourcing a good quality framer, etc… that is a lot!! Why not find a one-stop shop like myself to take care of all of this for you. I take all of this off of your plate and make the whole process seamless. 🙂 When you hire me as your photographer, you get to remove these tasks from your ongoing mental to do list. Whoo hoo for freedom and peace of mind!

All in all, I share these points with you to seriously consider your needs when next seeking out family portraits. Your job as a mom or dad is already so overwhelming, both with joy and craziness. So anything I can do as your photographer to aliviate tasks and make sure you are leaving a legacy for your family, I’m here for you. This is the best way to serve you as a photographer.

If you are on the hunt for a family photographer or you’ve been telling yourself a number of times of the past year “oh, we need some family pictures taken”, reach out! I am here to answer any of your questions and make family portraits a fun expererience.