As my daughter is less than a month away from turning 6, I’ve found myself looking back on her first years. Sadly, I have only a few precious images from her first year and a handful from the next few. I only have those images because I put a few on my Facebook page. The quality of those images are not the best, but they are all I have.
My hard drive completely failed when Lilly was 2. I lost everything, but what made me burst into tears in the Apple Genius Bar, was the fact that I lost all my photos. Specifically all the images of Lilly in the hospital, our first family photo, the month to month documentation of my pregnancy. I hadn’t printed anything out, and I was devastated. I got a new hard drive, backup drives and promised to print out pictures monthly. There is something so wonderful about digging though photo albums or stacks of images. While visiting my dad recently, he found a Tupperware container filled with old pictures. My brother, dad and I had the best time looking though them. It led my dad to bring out his scrapbooks and albums from when he was a Marine. I can remember seeing these twice before in all my 30 years, and my brother could not put them down. It was a whole new glimpse of our dad. One of my daughters favorite things to do is look through the photo album my MIL gave my husband for his 30th birthday. She loves giggling at his crazy hair, clothes, pointing out that he still never smilies or how much she looks like her dad.
Which brings us to the great debate; prints vs digital files. One of the first question clients ask is about digital files. While I do sell them, I always encourage my clients to choose printed products to display around their home. Photographs are pieces of art and should be viewed & admired. Wall art and albums will become family treasures and heirlooms. Computers, hard drives & CDs not only fail, as you’ve learned from my story, but technology changes so quickly. I remember when my husband and I got married in 2005, I thought I need all the image files. I worked in the photo lab of a local CVS and printed a few out while working one day. Out of over 300 images, only 7 have been printed. Looking back, I really didn’t need all those images, I just thought I needed them. I wish I had invested in a beautiful album to share with my children and reminisce. All of the images I did print have been reprinted at the same pro lab I use for my clients. The difference is crazy. There are a few great blogs posts about this issue, here & here.
What’s the take away here? Print your images. Whether it’s professional portraits or images you take on your phone. Print them and have tangible, lasting memories in your hands. Don’t rely on digital technologies, and back up! Lol.
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Colleen MacMillan Photography is currently booking newborn and family sessions. Located in Sharon, CT, she serves all of Litchfield county as well as sections of Fairfield, New Haven & Hartford Counties. Colleen also serves parts of New York and Massachusetts, including Dutchess Country and the Berkshires.
